Regina streetcar rail tracks dug out of 11th Avenue construction

Road crews didn’t discover any buried treasure, but a piece of Regina’s transit history was recently uncovered in the city’s downtown.

Crews found streetcar rail tracks on Wednesday while performing excavation work on 11th Avenue between Smith Street and Lorne Street.

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A construction worker told 980 CJME the pieces of worn metal will likely be recycled.

“I think it’s very neat to see this little time capsule that’s been buried underneath the dirt for so long, and nobody knew it was there,” said Dana Turgeon, a historian with the City of Regina.

“All of a sudden you get this surprise, just reminding you of of how Regina used to be.”

The streetcar rail tracks were laid on the sidewalk after they were discovered during construction work on Wednesday. (Regina Downtown Business Improvement District/Facebook)

Turgeon said she suspects the rail lines were paved over as a cost-saving measure when the transportation system was dismantled more than 75 years ago.

Construction crews have previously found chunks of the tracks at along 11th Avenue near Winnipeg Street and at the Pat Fiacco Plaza, she said.

“In all likelihood, they’re going to keep digging out pieces as they go,” she said.

Streetcars ruled Regina’s roads as a mode of public transportation for about 40 years after council voted to build the streetcar lines in 1911.

The inaugural streetcar deployment took place in front of Regina City Hall on July 28, 1911 (City of Regina Archives/ Submitted)

Turgeon said there was some controversy when the lines were built, because the track ran in front of a department store that belonged to Mayor Peter McAra Jr.

She said the lines were mostly clustered downtown, with tracks stretching towards Wascana Park and north of the city’s current railroad system.

Dana Turgeon, a historian with the City of Regina, said its always exciting when a piece of history is revealed during construction. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)

The streetcars began to be phased out in the 1940s in favour of trolley buses.

Turgeon said the buses still used the same overhead power system, but were a better option because they didn’t need to run on tracks.

But in 1949, disaster struck.

An interior view of a burned-out streetcar after Regina’s fleet was destroyed by an electrical fire in 1949. (City of Regina Archives/Submitted)

A catastrophic electrical fire at the Regina Municipal Railway Car Barns wiped out the city’s fleet of streetcars and new trolley buses.

Turgeon said the inferno caused the city to abruptly convert to diesel buses, because all of the existing stock was destroyed.

“(The city) had no intentions at that time of converting that fast to diesel buses,” she said. “We were the first city in Canada to be switched that fast.”

One streetcar that wasn’t damaged in the fire has been restored to its former glory, and it can currently be found in Fort Edmonton Park, Alberta.