Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Farm fields yield city history
Streetcars spawn heritage project
Old streetcar on Peter Heide's farm was originally meant to store grain but proved unsuitable, and now serves a napping place for skunks. (MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
Heide points out the Greater Winnipeg Transit logo. (MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
Sign cautions passengers of long ago. (MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
NEAR WINKLER -- Peter Heide never did find a use for a pair of streetcars his uncle purchased for $350 back in 1955.
"There were a lot of cats born under that thing," said Heide, of the lone streetcar left that's now rotted, fallen in, and surrounded by tall grass and weeds on his farm west of Winkler. Skunks like to take naps under it, too, he said.
But for Steven Stothers that old streetcar is gold.
Stothers is collecting old parts and design ideas to rebuild an original streetcar, Streetcar No. 356, as a Winnipeg Heritage project. His project has captured the public's fancy ever since he appealed to the public for information last summer.
People always loved streetcars, even though they were freezing cold in winter, frequently broke down, and rarely kept on schedule, wrote Jim Pask in On the East of the River, his book about northeast Winnipeg.
"Streetcars were romantic" in a way that buses have never been, Pask maintained. "Streetcars seem to represent the essence of a now-lost, more innocent life, that the city has left behind."
What happened to them? The first electrical streetcar operated in Winnipeg in 1891, and by 1910 streetcars ran as far as Linden Avenue in yet unnamed East Kildonan. But they were replaced by buses in 1955, and virtually all were salvaged for steel.
But 40 streetcars wound up in farm fields like Heide's in the Pembina Valley. Farmers obtained the streetcars from Winkler businessman P.D. Penner: butcher, cattle buyer, jack of all trades, wheeler-dealer. Penner convinced farmers the cars would make great granaries.
"He could sell anything," said Heide. "He could sell garbage and make you think it was treasure."
But the streetcars just turned out to be "a nuisance," he said.
They didn't really work as grain bins. Farmers poured the grain in through a roof vent but their elongated shape meant farmers kept having to climb inside and shovel the grain to the corners.
Another customer was Fred Janzen's late father Jacob, who farmed near Gretna and bought three streetcars off Penner for $150-$200 each. He later declared the purchase "a big mistake, one of my biggest mistakes," Fred said. "People also used them for hunting lodges, machine shops, chicken coops."
The Heide and Janzen streetcars are the first Stothers has found that have steel bodies. The Janzen streetcars still have the old fixtures from the motorman's cab, various switches, the box for the coal-fed stove that heated the cars, and windows, including rectangular ceiling windows.
Janzen cars also have the solid cherrywood panelling and oak framing. "These things were made to last back in 1909," said Stothers. Stothers also found an old sign that warned passengers not to distract the motorman: Information gladly given but no visiting please.
Heide's streetcar still has the door hinges--the streetcar doors would fold open like a broom closet--and the bell motormen clanged to get people to move off the track. The clanging sounds like a Salvation Army bell at Christmastime.
Stothers has found a number of old streetcars on the west side of Lake Winnipeg at Camp Arnes, Komarno, and one at Winnipeg Beach that is used as a tool shed. There are two at Beaconia, one that's in excellent shape and used as a cottage.
Stothers will be hauling away Heide's streetcar next spring and hopes to use parts from Janzen's cars.
The restoration project is still three to five years from completion, Stothers said.
He urges anyone with an old streetcar to contact him through Heritage Winnipeg at (204) 942-2663, or go online to http://www.winnipegstreetcar.com/.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 27, 2009 A10
-
WFP Hockey
Download our new hockey app for the iPhone for Winnipeg Jets updates
-
Editor's Bulletin
Sign up for daily bulletins from editor Margo Goodhand
-
Winnipeg Jets
All things NHL on our Jets landing page
-
Twitter
Follow our reporters and our news feeds on Twitter
-
News Cafe
Check out the menu, read our blog posts or get info on coming events
-
Facebook Fanpage
Follow our Facebook Fanpage for story links, contests and special events
Ads by Google
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
Poll
Most Popular
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- RCMP receptionist told Stobbe wife was dead
- Search is on for man seen leaving the scene where two Alberta Mounties were shot
- City family donates $1 million for endowed research chair in cardiology
- Province rules out reports of cougar in Transcona
- Cabela's to open massive store just west of IKEA site
- US teen gets life in prison for killing 9-year-old; called the murder "pretty enjoyable"
- Slain woman appears before jury on video
- Census 2011 : Immigrant influx boosts Manitoban population
- CNN's Roland Martin suspended for comments that sparked protest by gays
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- Clothing chain pulls Caterpillar boots to protest closure of London, Ont., plant
- Three winning tickets sold for Friday's $50 million Lotto Max jackpot
- Woman sexually assaulted during noon-hour in Exchange District
- Woman's car stolen at gunpoint at St. Vital mall, police say
- Eleven people killed after truck hits van in southwestern Ontario
- 'This is so silly': Mom and Dad tell story of baby Zade, born on side of Highway 59
- Stobbe said slaying during shopping trip 'strange': sister-in-law
- Tactical squad storms St. Vital house
- Restaurant Dubrovnik may be closed for good
- Do you smoke marijuana?
- Driver dead after SUV goes over Disraeli Bridge
- George Clooney's prank could end Pitt's career
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- Tina Maze strips down to her sports bra to send out underwear message: 'Not your business'
- Clothing chain pulls Caterpillar boots to protest closure of London, Ont., plant
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal
- Two children, two women die in fire
- Kate Beckinsale's weight fears over Underworld catsuit
- Harper driven by libertarian ideology, not reality
- Cabela's to open massive store just west of IKEA site
- Tassimo brewers and espresso packages recalled amid rupture, burn concerns
- Task force to review 2011 flood
- Winnipeg software company ranked top employer
- Pardon application fee to quadruple later this month despite complaints
- Province rules out reports of cougar in Transcona
- OMG! Candy kings back at it
- Lesson about war, power told with Shaw's comic touch
- Easy, economical, healthy soup
- Swedish bunny's sheep herding skills becomes click-monster on YouTube
- League encourages hazing secrecy
- Northern fishing lodge destroyed by fire
- Police target drivers talking on cellphones, texting
- Harper driven by libertarian ideology, not reality
- Obama torn by conflicting allies
- 'This is so silly': Mom and Dad tell story of baby Zade, born on side of Highway 59
- Time, it appears, is on Assad's side
- Woman's car stolen at gunpoint at St. Vital mall, police say
- Bridging the gap between suburbs
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Paddler Starkell was modern-day voyageur
- Driver dead after SUV goes over Disraeli Bridge
- Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal
- Canadian woman 'badly injured' in Mexico, local media report apparent beating
- Winnipeg mother watches as car stolen with child inside
- Swedish bunny's sheep herding skills becomes click-monster on YouTube
- League encourages hazing secrecy
- Local shooting spoofed on SNL
- The cost of calories: It's expensive to eat healthily
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.