Nelson, British Columbia

Principal System

Nelson Electric Tramway Company (27 December 1899 - 27 April 1908)

Incorporated 04 October 1899 and capitalized by the British Electric Traction Company. Leased and operated by the City of Nelson from 01 January 1905. System was closed by a car barn fire 1908. (British Columbia Archives: Visual Records Catalogue, call number A-03146 [122K photo]).

Nelson Street Railway Company (08 November 1910 - 01 February 1914)
Incorporated 07 September 1909. Service suspended 21 December 1910 - 21 June 1911. Acquired by the City of Nelson 1914.

Nelson Street Railway (01 February 1914 - 20 June 1949)
Municipal operation. Variously recorded in the CYB as “Nelson Municipal” and “Nelson Street”. Buses temporarily replaced all streetcars for several weeks in August and September 1937 (Joyce p. 111). (photo courtesy Alex Regiec).

Interior Stage Lines Limited (20 June 1949 - 01 November 1951)
Private operation. Also operated intercity routes and transit service in Trail. Company went out of business in 1956. (John Day 2003).

Nelson Transit System (02 November 1951 - present)
Operation conducted by the City of Nelson, after 1975 under a contract with BC Transit. (Dawes et al. 1972 lists Nelson Transit Utility). NTS is also responsible for the regional connector service between Nelson and Balfour. (Transit Canada 1975, Transit News Canada 1984, BC Transit 1988, BC Transit 1989/90, BC Transit 1997, BC Transit 1996, BC Transit 2000, photo: Peter Cox).

Service area population	8,000 (1989)
Vehicle fleet	6 buses (2000)
Data sources:	BC Transit 1989/90 CTHF/SSG 2000

Secondary Systems

Nelson and Area Paratransit System (01 April 1982 - present)
Paratransit service conducted by Nelson and District Home Support Services Society under a contract with BC Transit and the municipal government(s) (BC Transit 1989/90: 1 bus).

Nelson Electric Tramway Society (01 July 1992 - present (summer seasons))
Non-profit society operating restored streetcar service along Nelson waterfront (Parker). (Photos DavesRailPix and Alex Regiec).

Modes

Electric railway	27 December 1899 - 27 April 1908, 08 November 1910 - 20 June 1949*
Electric railway (heritage)	01 July 1992 - present (summer seasons)
Motor bus	20 June 1949 - present

* Electric railway service suspended 21 December 1910 - 21 June 1911 (Parker).

Note

The West Kootenays Master Plan [BC Transit 12 October 2010] includes that the transit and paratransit systems serving Castlegar, Creston, Kaslo - Nakusp, Trail, Kootenay Lake West, and Nelson be integrated and/or amalgamated. The West Kootenay Regional Transit Committee was constituted in 06 June 2012 with representation from seven municipalities: cities of Castlegar, Nelson, and Rossland, villages of Nakusp, Montrose, and Fruitvale, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay.

References

DavesRailPix: British Columbia, a World Wide Web Site at the URL: http://davesrailpix.com/odds/bc/bc.htm, 2000.
Joyce, Arthur, Hanging Fire and Heavy Horses: A History of Public Transit in Nelson, City of Nelson, 2000.
May, Dave. "The Nelson Electric Tramway,"; Canadian Rail, No. 412, September-October 1989. Canadian Railroad Historical Association, St.-Constant (Quebec).
Parker, Douglas V. Streetcars in the Kootenays: Nelson's Electric Tramways - 1899 to 1992, Havelock House, Edmonton (Alberta), 1992.
British Columbia Archives: Visual Records Catalogue, call numbers G-03140 [113K bus photo], G-03141 [112K bus photo], C-08593 [84K streetcar photo]).

The author is always interested in comments, corrections and further information. Please email to:

dawwpg@shaw.ca

This page last modified: Wednesday, 08-Aug-2012 14:36:42 CDT