PHOTOS: The historical past and restoration of Windsor’s Streetcar No. 351

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Windsor’s most well-known streetcar has taken fairly a visit. With the $10.3-million house for Windsor’s 107-year-old behemoth of public transit historical past lastly open to the general public, right here’s a rundown of Streetcar No. 351’s journey by means of time.

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The timeline

• 1918: Streetcar No. 351 is constructed by the Cincinnati Automobile Firm in Cincinnati, OH.
• 1927: The streetcar is bought and delivered to Windsor for the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Railway line. It operated on a path to Tecumseh.
• 1939: The final streetcars in Windsor cease working when town switches to buses. Streetcars are retired and offered off. Automobile 351 is transformed right into a fishing bait store in Belle River.
• 1954: Automobile 351 is moved to a residential property in Belle River. A cottage is constructed round it.
• 2007: Automobile 351 is re-discovered by native railway historian Bernie Drouillard.
• 2015: Windsor’s Penalty Field Restaurant proprietor Van Niforos and enterprise accomplice George Sofos buy the streetcar, dismantle the cottage constructed round it, and convey it to Windsor with plans to show it at a brand new restaurant location.

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• 2017: When Niforos and Sofos’s plans change, metropolis council accepts the decrepit streetcar as a donation and agrees to have it restored. The streetcar is then trucked to RM Auto Restoration in Blenheim, the place craftsmen spend months restoring it at a value of $750,000.
• 2020: Metropolis council agrees to construct a $7.4-million riverfront house for the streetcar on the foot of Askin Avenue — however the constructing often known as the Legacy Beacon would jut seven ft above the crown of Riverside Drive, going towards longstanding metropolis coverage. The town applies for a “minor variance” from its personal committee of adjustment to get across the subject.
• 2021: Riverside Drive resident Mike Cardinal is profitable in interesting the situation by means of what was then often known as Ontario’s Native Planning Appeals Tribunal. The town skips the LPAT listening to and doesn’t defend itself. Months later, council agrees to maneuver the challenge to the foot of Caron Avenue and approves about $1 million extra to take care of soil situations.
• 2023: Inflation drives the challenge’s price ticket up additional, and council approves a further $1.9 million, bringing the whole price as much as $10.3 million. Development on the Legacy Beacon begins.
• 2024: The restored streetcar is hoisted contained in the Legacy Beacon constructing.
• April 24, 2025: The Metropolis of Windsor unveils the Legacy Beacon, full with Streetcar No. 351, a restaurant, and different facilities. The land is designated Michael D. Hurst Legacy Park in honour of the previous Windsor mayor.

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The story

At 50 ft lengthy and weighing 24,688 kilos, the electrical streetcar now on show at Windsor’s riverfront was constructed by the Cincinnati Automobile Firm in Cincinnati, OH, in 1918. It ran in New Jersey earlier than being bought, together with 19 others, and delivered to Windsor in 1927 for the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Railway (SW&A) line.

The SW&A was operated by the Hydro-Electrical Energy Fee of Ontario — Ontario Hydro’s forerunner. Drawing energy from overhead traces, the streetcars ran on tracks on Tecumseh Highway, Wyandotte Avenue, Ouellette Avenue, Mum or dad Avenue, Faculty Avenue, Lincoln Highway, Seminole Avenue, Erie Avenue and down College Avenue.

No. 351, which had a smoking compartment, was used on a path to Tecumseh.

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Windsor was the primary metropolis in Canada to have a public electrical avenue railway. It was additionally the primary to run an electrical bus — with poles and wires, just like the streetcar, however with rubber tires — beginning in 1922. The SW&A finally grew to become the municipality’s bus system, which was renamed Transit Windsor within the Seventies.

In keeping with town, the streetcar’s Tecumseh line shut down in Could 1938, when Windsor switched to buses. Streetcar No. 351 and its siblings have been retired and saved out behind the automotive barns, massive constructions on College Avenue West in-built 1886 as North America’s first electrical streetcar manufacturing facility and depot, which nonetheless stand right now.

Later that 12 months, an advert was positioned within the Windsor Day by day Star for streetcar our bodies — massive physique vehicles for $100 and small physique vehicles for $75, together with all seats and lighting. No. 351 was offered and moved to Belle River, the place it was used as a fishing bait store. Different streetcars have been reportedly transformed to cottages, garages, and rooster coops.

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Streetcar No. 351’s discovery

In 1954, automotive 351 was moved to a residential property in Belle River, the place a cottage was constructed round it, based on a metropolis report. It wasn’t rediscovered till 2007, when native railway historian Bernie Drouillard and a good friend reportedly stumbled upon it once they circled in a driveway throughout a seek for a streetcar that they had heard was within the space.

A number of years later, Van Niforos, proprietor of Windsor’s Penalty Field restaurant, and enterprise accomplice George Sofos, have been working to renovate College Avenue’s former streetcar barn buildings, which had lived for some time because the Junction restaurant. They deliberate to open a brand new eatery inside one of many buildings and supposed to pay homage to town’s streetcar historical past.

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The duo reached out to Drouillard, who instructed them about his discover.

In 2015, Niforos and Sofos have been capable of buy the streetcar, dismantle the home round it, and haul it to Windsor on a 56-foot flatbed, all beneath Drouillard’s watchful eye. They deliberate to revive the streetcar and make it a function attraction on the proposed new restaurant.

Niforos and Sofos later modified plans and offered the buildings however wished to maintain the streetcar in Windsor, opting in the end to donate the dilapidated car to town.

Restoration

In Oct. 2017, metropolis council permitted accepting the donated streetcar and agreed to spend as much as $750,000 to have it introduced again to life by RM Auto Restoration of Blenheim.

When town accepted the 11-tonne trolley, it was comprised of rotting wooden panels and rusted metal.

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The group at RM Auto Restoration painstakingly reconstructed hundreds of elements, matching every authentic piece.

Most of the elements, together with the framing, have been reconstructed in white ash, with cherrywood used for the inside trim across the greater than 70 home windows. A 36-foot by 6-inch roof header board made out of fir was cleaned up and put again into service on one facet. An authentic controller, brake change and conductor’s seat have been mounted in one of many vestibules, very like when Streetcar No.351 rumbled alongside the tracks in Windsor within the years earlier than 1939.

No. 351 is certainly one of three identified remaining streetcars out of 220 that operated in Windsor within the late 1800s and early 1900s. One is restored in a museum in Kennebunkport, ME, and the opposite is owned by the railway museum in Milton, Ont. Restoring the streetcar was seen as Windsor’s final alternative to showcase its electrical railway historical past.

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In December 2019, wrapped in protecting plastic, Windsor’s streetcar returned on a flatbed truck from Blenheim.

Historian Drouillard was acknowledged with an Award of Excellence from the Canadian City Transit Affiliation in 2020 for his volunteer work finding and facilitating the restoration and preservation of Windsor’s streetcar.

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Windsor’s Legacy Beacon

Choices at metropolis corridor about the place to place the streetcar have been mired in controversy. Riverside Drive resident Mike Cardinal scuttled its council-approved location on the foot of Askin Avenue with a profitable attraction to the Native Planning Appeals Tribunal. At a value of $7.4 million, the glassed-in construction housing the streetcar would have stood seven ft above the crown of Riverside Drive on account of flood plain restrictions and the peak required to deal with the hulking piece of historical past. Because of this, it might have blocked the view of the river for close by residents.

Council as a substitute voted in 2021 to erect the construction — often known as the Legacy Beacon — to deal with the streetcar on the foot of Caron Avenue, nonetheless with washrooms and a restaurant. On account of difficult soil situations, the challenge’s price ticket rose by $1 million.

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Throughout an in-camera assembly in April 2023, council greenlit a further $1.9 million for the challenge, bringing its complete price as much as $10.3 million. Inflationary pressures have been blamed for the challenge’s elevated price. Development started that spring.

In July 2024, the tightly wrapped and absolutely restored streetcar was hoisted contained in the Legacy Beacon construction. The remainder of the constructing was then constructed across the streetcar.

Streetcar No. 351’s lengthy, unbelievable journey from public transportation car to rusted relic to historic icon lastly got here to a cease in April 2025 — with a long-awaited public celebration befitting a returning hero.

tcampbell@postmedia.com

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