THUNDER BAY – Does anyone remember the old trolley buses that used to run on Thunder Bay’s streets? They were quiet and probably very efficient, a holdover from the days just following the demise of the fully-electric streetcars that used to run on rails throughout the cities of Fort William and Port Arthur.
The streetcars were gone by the late 1940s, though their rails persisted for many decades after.
Trolleys as well as a\ few gasoline buses then took over all the transit routes. Later, diesel buses came to dominate. This trolley has certainly seen better days but it nevertheless brings back memories.
Remember the sparks that flew from it and how every so often it used to disconnect from the overhead wires and the driver would patiently get out and reconnect it?
Spend some time re-discovering Thunder Bay’s amazing history, visit the Thunder Bay Museum.
Text by Tory Tronrud, Thunder Bay Museum
Photo courtesy of the Thunder Bay Museum