#bcer

The Sunset neighbourhood’s worst streetcar accident was like something out of a Mission: Impossible action sequence.

Workers were on their lunch break on September 30, 1914 when they spotted two flatcars loaded with wooden cobbles begin to roll south on Main Street from 44th Avenue. The brake had been released on one of the cars by 11-year-old Willie Law who was playing on the tracks with other boys from Van Horne Elementary. He tried to replace the brake pin he had pulled, but it was too late – the freight cars were gathering speed. He jumped to safety.

Workers threw planks onto the rails in an attempt to halt the runaways. The steel wheels chewed through the boards like buzz saws through balsa. The massive wood-block loads continued unhindered.

Meanwhile, climbing the hill from Marine was a streetcar driven by Charles J. Geall, who was assisted by conductor William Price. They were transporting five passengers. No one onboard could see anything happening north of 57th because  of the crest of the slope. By the time the two runaway flatbeds came hurtling towards them at 65 kmph, all Geall could do was put his gear in reverse and shout for everyone to bail. The freight cars plowed into the tram, obliterating the vestibule and killing the motorman instantly. Conductor Price leapt out the back door and suffered only a sprained ankle. Most of the passengers leapt clear, but some not far enough. The flatbeds flipped onto their sides and came to a rest just north of 58th, but not before they had caused grievous injuries to some of the passengers. Mrs. James Green later died at VGH. Her 11-year-old daughter Gladys required both legs to be amputated. Mr. Green also had broken legs, as did Mrs. Symonds. Mr. Salter had head injuries and, had he been conscious, he would have watched as the streetcar, propelled by the collision, rocketed back down the hill. Onboard, was Charles Jong, the only survivor not to have jumped.

He clung to a seat back as the tram flew down the slope. When the car hit the flats, it was going too fast to negotiate the sweeping turn that joined the Main tracks to the Eburne-New Westminster interurban line. The streetcar flipped off the tracks and barrel rolled. When the dust settled, Mr. Jong climbed out of a broken window. He had only scratches and bruises.

Both the B.C. Electric Railway and the Dominion Creosoting Company were later sued and found guilty of negligence.

via Wikipedia:

Reddy Kilowatt is a cartoon character that served as a corporate spokesman for electricity generation in the United States and other countries for over seven decades. Reddy Kilowatt is drawn as a stick figure whose body, limbs, and hair are made of stylized lightning-bolts and whose bulbous head has a light bulb for a nose and wall outlets for ears.[1]

Reddy Kilowatt made his first published appearance on March 14, 1926, in an advertisement in The Birmingham News for the Alabama Power Company (APC). The character was the brainchild of the company's 40-year-old commercial manager, Ashton B. Collins, Sr.[2]

via http://www.okthepk.ca/publicArchive/200808bcElectric/reddy.htm

“BC Electric introduced "Reddy Kilowatt, the Housewives' Pal" in radio and print advertising during 1944.”

The above ‘trolley advert’ sign is up for auction at the Mad Picker April 26, 2022. While it might come from any number of transit systems, there’s a CHANCE it came from Vancouver or Victoria, as the artifact is now located here...

Here’s the link to the auction, which has the item incorrectly dated to the 1950s, but this lingo is clearly WWII era.

https://www.icollector.com/1950S-Cardboard-Electric-Power-Sign_i44886346

And here’s Reddy’s theme song:

1500 Block Despard Ave.

About two metres of completely isolated sidewalk. Served at least at some point during the 50s/early 60s.

Date of abandonment: unknown

The Carrall Street Gas Plant, an illustrated booklet showing the operations of the new Carrall Street gas plant illustrated by KEN and published by BC Electric in 1932. I believe the plant went into service in 1933, and the plant obtained gas from coal until some time in the 1960s? I'm not sure; not much has been written about this former Vancouver landmark. If anyone knows, feel free to comment. The current Georgia Street viaducts were built over top of the site in 1972. This has left something of a toxic legacy, as stated on page 11 of this PDF report on the Georgia Street viaducts.

The activities and wastes associated with this former gas plant have significantly influenced the environmental conditions in the area, and will be an important factor in future remediation planning.

This comment by Alex Mackinnon noted on the Skyscraperpage bulletin board sums up the problem:

I was talking to Andy with Bing Thom at the Viaducts or Viadon'ts event, and according to him, the land underneath the viaduct in 1986 was estimated to cost $180M to rehabilitate due to contamination issues from the coal gas plant that used to occupy the site. CPI adjusted this is $372M in 2012 dollars.

While the industrial waste has left it's toxic mark in the soil, it also affected the city skyline for many years with this ginormous gasometer jutting out of False Creek. I've decided to include a photograph from the Vancouver Archives just to give you an impression of the scale of this structure. You can also see the silo in the top left of the Goranson/Fisher/Hughes mural here. And Tom Carter seems to recall someone - probably Arthur Irving - said the whole city smelled like coal gas while it was being demolished.