Skyline: Clearing the Tracks

The Ottawa Electric Street Railway’s sweeper number 2 leaves the OESR car barn, 1892

by Robert Smythe

Ottawa’s new light rail trains have turned out to be winter wimps. Our rapid transit system of yore was made of sterner stuff. It operated in all but the most severe weather by employing a variety of snow removal technologies—draft horses, ingenious mechanical devices, snow shovels, and brute force.

The CPR & Rideau Street car conquers snowy mountains at Queen and Kent Streets, 1891

Manual shovelling into horse-drawn snow sleighs on Sparks Street, 1892.

The dome of the Sun-Life building at Bank & Sparks is visible in this winter view up Bank Street. A street car is turning (onto Albert, perhaps?) Bank still has residential housing at this point. Bicycle mural on the Foundry & Machine Shop

The Bank Street run is cleared for action in 1911.

Snow removal via conveyor into improvised snow trucks at Bank and Sparks, 1944.

Photos are from the Library and Archives Canada and the City of Ottawa Archives.

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