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High Level Bridge Streetcar / ERRS

"What could be a more Edmonton Experience than sitting on the Street Car on the top of the High Level Bridge having a glass of cask beer while you watch the sunset over the river valley. It’s here again for the 2022 season and running from May - October. The Common is starting back up the 7th year of joining good food, and great atmosphere paired with a different Alberta Brewery for each journey."

See more details, dates and times, and purchases tickets on this page.
 
Gonna share this here, because the website is lacking. Here’s the Canada Day (tomorrow, just tomorrow, not the whole weekend) schedule for the streetcar. Note the last car leaves Whyte Ave at 3:30.
Canada Day Schedule
Btw, the website being ‘less than ideal’ is known to ERRS; the social media people (there’s a couple people who watch each site) are pretty on the ball though. Follow the @yegstreetcar for reliable updates.
 
The overhead was fixed in time for Canada Day, and it works great. The ERRS has a bunch of spare trolleybus overhead wire support things at Fort Ed, so they put one on there. They shifted the isolator over, and flipped one of the trolleybus support's arms upside down so that one arm grabs the overhead wire, and the other grabs the support wire.

Streetcar Gateway.jpg
 
The Whyte Ave stop was just jumping with activity during the art walk, and the art booths added a nice atmosphere to the place. On Saturday, dozens of people were lining up for the streetcar, tickets in hand, 15-20 minutes before it even arrived. It was a great place to be on Friday-Sunday! The only unfortunate thing was that due to a shortage of volunteers, we weren't able to have two cars out on Saturday like we normally try to do. But most people were very understanding, and enjoyed it nonetheless :)
Art Walk.jpg
 
CplKlinger said:
The Whyte Ave stop was just jumping with activity during the art walk, and the art booths added a nice atmosphere to the place. On Saturday, dozens of people were lining up for the streetcar, tickets in hand, 15-20 minutes before it even arrived. It was a great place to be on Friday-Sunday! The only unfortunate thing was that due to a shortage of volunteers, we weren't able to have two cars out on Saturday like we normally try to do. But most people were very understanding, and enjoyed it nonetheless :)
Click to expand...
This is @CplKlinger's way of saying we need more volunteers. If you care about Edmonton history, think trains/streetcars are cool, enjoy talking to people, or just have nothing to do on weekends (that's how i got suckered in), new faces are needed for the rest of the season and into the future. here's some info about different areas to volunteer in, and the webpage for memberships. ERRS is entirely volunteer-run, there's plenty of room to learn and grow in the organization.
Other incentive: if we have enough staff, we can get back to running 2 cars regularly (helping tremendously with crowds) and we get to run the Queen Herself Edmonton 33 more often in regular service. She's smaller than Melbourne 930, so on 1-car days Melbourne has to do all the work.
 
I ended up working more on the map; the margins are bare because my printer cut them out, and I wanted to print a couple of copies for the ticket sellers. I also made a version on Google Maps.
HLB Line Map 3.3.png


EDIT: The google maps version is now being used on the website! Now, we just need to fix that pesky default zoom level...
 
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Hey, I know a few people on here have mentioned being involved with the street car, on the board or volunteering?

I’m working with the high level line and would love to connect. Please shoot me a dm! Hoping to get some stuff going this next year we can collab on.
 
A while back, I mentioned that the ERRS museum displays colour footage shot in 1949-50 by Harvard Librarian Foster Palmer. I have a DVD copy now, and the Seashore Trolley Museum gave me permission to upload it for public view, on a personal basis (I didn't ask on behalf of the ERRS).

Here it is if you want to watch it:
 
BrettB said:
Anyone know where the Calder line ran?
Click to expand...
You can see it in the top left of this map showing the 1938 network:
Edmonton Streetcar Map 1938.png


Routes and tracks changed over time, but the ERRS museum states that in the 1930s, the Red/Green route served Calder as such: "From Calder, south on 127/124 Street, east on 107 Ave, south on 101 Street, west on Jasper Ave, south on 109 Street, east on 97 Ave, across the Low Level Bridge to Whyte Avenue and back via the High Level Bridge."

In 1948, the track on 124 Street, south of 118 Avenue, was removed. According to the book "Edmonton's Electric Transit", a small temporary yard was constructed at 118 Ave, along with a turning wye, to accommodate the remaining Calder service. Seven streetcars, a sweeper car, and the library car were placed at this yard before the track on 124 Street south of 118 Ave was paved over. Buses provided a connection between Calder and the new northern terminus of the Red/Green line, and a streetcar was always parked at the southern end of the Calder stub to provide heated shelter (with seats) for people waiting to transfer to/from the stub. The Calder stub line was abandoned completely in 1949.

Streetcar Map.png

Edmonton's streetcar system in 1949 (source)
B= Blue Route, BW = Blue-and-White Route

BrettB said:
I particularly like the blue 'library' train.
Click to expand...
You can learn about it, and some other special streetcars, here! You can also click here to learn about the passenger cars, here to learn about the work cars, and here to see a timeline of Edmonton's (and Strathcona's) streetcar system.
 
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