The Toonerville Trolley
By: Les Faulkner
Plaindealer, Winter 1989

Perhaps it would be best to explain just where the name “Toonerville Trolley” originated. It came from a newspaper comic strip. America’s third oldest comic strip, first published in 1908 and syndicated in 1913. The others were “Mutt and Jeff” and “The Katzenjammer Kids”. Fontaine Fox was its creator, and the original cartoon was about “Toonerville Folks”, a gallery of small town characters. Fox introduced a quaint, rickety, old street car which became the centerpiece and was known as “The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All Trains.” The feature was so successful and ran so long that when Fox retired in the late 1950’s no other artist was allowed to continue the panel. The street car and characters like “Aunt Eppy Hogg”, Mickey (Himself) McGuire”, and the bearded driver became legendary because everyone in America could relate to them. So when the Edmonton Radial Railway extended a line from Whyte Avenue through sparsely populated areas past McKernan’s Lake it seemed only natural to call it “The Toonerville Trolley.” There was another spur line on the north side that ran from 124th Street along 102nd Avenue to 142nd Street between 1922 and 1932 was known as the “Toonerville Trolley”.

The new extension of the street car system came into being as part of the Edmonton-Strathcona Amalgamation Act, during the 1911-1912 Session of the Alberta Legislature. The last Strathcona mayor, Arthur Davies, and his Councilors, had asked for and obtained a number of concessions in their favour. This included a new bridge over the river at 105th Street, a preferred position in street paving, and extension of the existing street car service on the South Side. The Edmonton Radial Railway had been extended to Strathcona by December, 1908. The route was south of Jasper Avenue on 109th Street to 97th Avenue, east to the Low Level Bridge, up Scona Hill to 99th Street, south to Whyte Avenue, and west to the C.P.R. tracks. By the end of 1908, the line had been extended to 110th Street. The Amalgamation Act called for, among other routes, an extension south from Whyte Avenue to 76th Avenue, then west past McKernan’s Lake to 116th Street, with return on the same route. An option was proposed to circle back to the University and Whyte Avenue, but the former route was chosen and thus began one of the most controversial street car lines in the enlarged City of Edmonton.

Most of the other routes in Edmonton were laid out as a direct result of pressure from real estate lobby groups both within and outside of the City Council. But the McKernan’s Lake line passed nearly a mile of vacant lots, which remained that way for many years. By the end of 1912 the Edmonton Radial Railway had completed double track on 99th Street, and east and west on Whyte Avenue from Mill Creek to 111th Street. The track was all laid on ties set in concrete. In addition, a car barn for storage and repair was built in Garneau just off 110th Street and 83rd Avenue.

On October 11, 1913 the first car ran south from Whyte Avenue to 76th Avenue and turned west. By November 9 the line was completed to 111th Street and McKernan’s Lake where a turnaround loop was installed. A week later, large crowds went skating on the lake, having arrived on special street cars over the Low Level Bridge, and the newly completed High Level Bridge. Outdoor lights and a toboggan slide were installed at McKernan’s Lake, and on New Year’s Ever, 1913, a gala celebration, complete with a band and fireworks, was held to mark the occasion. Thus began a tradition that was to last for a good many years.

Later, due to system schedule changes, the turnaround loop was removed and the McKernan’s Lake spur settled down to a single double ended car that ran back and forth between Whyte Avenue and 104th Street, to the far end at 76th Avenue and 116th Street. Over its remaining years street car No. 1, 3, 10, and 20 played this role. These trolleys had a pole at each end of the car with a grooved pulley on top that connected to the overhead power supply wire. At each end of the line the motorman had to select the correct pole and tie the other one down. Then he had to move his control handle and reverse key to the “front” end and finally walk down the aisle and flip all the rattan seat backs so they faced the right way. This feature enabled friends to adjust their seats so they could face each other.

The track along 76th Avenue had been laid on ties directly on grade dirt without gravel ballast, to expedite construction timetables. Over the years this led to a ride quality akin to a roller coaster, not to mention occasional challenges to keep the track from sinking out of sight, and loss of contact of the pole with its trolley wire which could lead to unscheduled stops.

Most of the time the schedule called for a leisurely trip over the full mile and a half every half-hour. But sometimes there were delays, like while the motorman finished reading his book at the end of the line. Bob Chambers, a Scot who also ran the “other” Toonerville Trolley from 1922 to 1932, was well known for his passion to recite the works of Robert Burns for anyone who would listen. Other motormen were Harry Hutton and Alec Wilson. All of them shared on thing in common. They were genuinely interested in people, and even the birds and animals along that legendary route. They were known to wait for anyone running toward the line from up to a block away. They often picked up grocery items like a dozen eggs or a loaf of bread on Whyte Avenue for some housewife along the way who requested it. When the weather was uncertain riders stored their rubbers and umbrellas on the Toonerville for the day, and picked them up when they made the return trip. There is even a story about a family of little ducklings being stranded on the tracks when their mother went on without them in search of open water. It seems the motorman noticed their plight, stopped and took them on board, then released them back at McKernan’s Lake safe and sound. But the real excitement came on the night runs. The yellow light from the single headlight was so pale it was hard to see the end of the line approaching in the darkness, The E.R.R. installed a five bulb light there but rabbit hunting kids managed to keep them shot out, and one night the motorman overshot the end of steel by about thirty feet. They got the old trolley back on the tracks by noon the next day. They had found yet another reason for being late.

From time to time the City Fathers would go on an economy kick and look at eliminating the money-losing McKernan’s Lake street car, but they were bound to the Amalgamation Agreement of 1912 and could only get rid of it if the public agreed by a majority plebiscite. But they failed to take into account a powerful lobby group of University Professors and teachers led by E.K. Broadus, a Harvard man and English professor. They lived near the end of the Toonerville Trolley line on Saskatchewan Drive, and despite the $5,000 to $10,000 annual loss by their only means of public transportation, they flooded the newspapers with letters to the editors about loss of quality in their lives, promises by politicians past, and increased usage statistics, The latter was partly due to the free tickets they gave away to patrons along the line. Each time a challenge arose to remove their beloved street car they managed to beat it down. In August, 1948, this civic war finally ended quietly when buses replaced the aging Toonerville Trolley. No one could argue they were left without transportation, but somehow it would never be the same.

The Toonerville Trolley was a part of Old Strathcona culture for 35 years, and I have my own fond memories. In the 1940’s we were still taking the rock and roll ride to skate at McKernan’s Lake. We also rode to the end of the line, walked down to the river and across the ice to Saunder’s Toboggan Slide on the west side of Buena Vista, about 81st Avenue and 133rd Street. After the last hot dog and dance, we made one last slide out on the river, up the hill and down to the waiting trolley. The first one there would pull he pole off the wire so the stragglers would have time to make the last run to Whyte Avenue.

In the summer we also made the run to the end of the line on a Sunday afternoon, then walked down Keillor Road to Whitemud Creek where earlier generation used to swim. It was always nice to get on board for the return trip after all the walking, Yes, these are great memories but thanks to the members of the Edmonton Radial Railway Society, who restored old No. 1, we can still take a ride down at Fort Edmonton Park.

(This story is one of many to be found in the book, “The Best of the Strathcona Plaindealer” put out by the Old Strathcona Foundation. It is available from the Foundation or at the Old Strathcona farmers market for $17.)