#henry ewert

[vancouvertrueborns]

St. Patrick’s Elementary School stands behind this streetcar, which in 1949 is doing a turn-around move on a short stretch of track at Quebec Street and 13th Avenue. The school would have been a great place for aspiring juicers – aka tram fans – because the twin-level BCER barn was right next to it, on Main Street, where the Save-On-Foods is today. (Barn seen here in 1923 pic.) Electric cars swirled around the school all day long, like some kind of Tesla fever dream. Note the old tracks still visible in the 2018 photo.

The old images are from Henry Ewert’s streetcar masterpiece, The Story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company.

[vancouvertrueborns]

Henry Ewert’s definitive account of the rise and fall of streetcars in Vancouver and Victoria, The Story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company, contains everything you need to know about urban rail mania in these parts up to 1986 – EXCEPT why these gun-toting yahoos greeted the last run of the Oak Street tram in 1952.

Answer: Oak and 44th was home to the Vancouver Gun Club. The Vancouver Archives’ pic shows the trapshooters in action circa 1919.