Electric transportation in Manitoba is not a new concept, with the first electric streetcar arriving in Winnipeg on November 25, 1890. At that time Winnipeg had a population of 25,000 with a demand for faster transportation. The source of electricity originally consisted of coal fired steam boilers and generators, which was later replaced with hydroelectricity when it became available. Electricity was transported by an overhead wire called a catenary, strung over the centre of the track. The first service route ran between River Avenue and Osborne Street covering a mile in about four minutes. Streetcars remained in use until September 19, 1955 and were eventually replaced by another type of overhead wire transit vehicle, trolley buses, from 1938 to 1970.
Tethered vehicles such as trolley buses, streetcars, and electrified commuter rail are extremely efficient modes of transit that remain among the cleanest options available today, despite the age of the technology. Rail has an additional energy conservation advantage over tired vehicles due to low rolling resistance.
Visit our replica of an electric streetcar at the Manitoba Electrical Museum and Education Centre.
Justus B. Entz, chief engineer of the Electric Storage Battery Company of Philadelphia built the first petro-electric (i.e. gas-electric) car in 1897. In 1898 during testing the vehicle was burned after a driver caught his foot on the ammeter wire (used for measuring electric motor current) causing a spark which ignited the gasoline. Entz sold his patent in 1912 and the concept he developed became the Owen Magnetic Car.
Regenerative braking, which captures and stores the energy normally lost during braking, was first used in 1897 by M. A. Darracq in Paris, France.
