The renovation of streetcar 696 involves the riveting of hundreds of bolts. An illustration of the streetcar can be seen in the background.
One of Centretown’s old streetcars could be running the rails again within five years, now that a team of volunteers has nearly finished restoring the car’s base.
Rheaume Laplante, the project co-ordinator, says the next step is to transfer the window supports from the century-old original car to the new frame. At that point, the metal base will begin to look like a streetcar.
“We build it to have people in it, as it was originally,” Laplante says.
The plan is to create a working streetcar that can carry passengers or be displayed in a museum.
Built in 1917 as one of Ottawa’s first steel-bodied streetcars, streetcar 696 ran from Lowertown to Britannia Park via Centretown.
After Ottawa’s streetcar lines were torn out in 1959, the Canadian Railway Museum in St-Constant, Que. acquired the car.
A group of volunteers brought it back to Ottawa in 1989, but the restoration stalled until 2000.
Now a team of dedicated volunteers is making slow but steady progress.
Streetcar 696 sits in a garage at the OC Transpo depot on St-Laurent Boulevard.
The car’s once-sturdy frame is rusted through, with holes dotting the dark red outside. The rotten floorboards are covered with plywood.
“It was pretty much a basket-case,” says Bruce Dudley, a former Ottawa streetcar driver and volunteer with the project. “It was questionable whether it could be restored at all.”
The team is building a new frame side-by-side with the original. Its gleaming black and red steel will support the parts salvaged from the old streetcar.
The team is trying to use authentic techniques whenever possible. So far, that has meant hot riveting, which involves using rows of bolts to attach pieces of metal.
Despite Laplante’s decades of experience as an OC Transpo mechanic, he and his entire team lacked experience in riveting. The team had to teach themselves by practising on pieces of scrap metal.
The work is done entirely by volunteers dedicating a few hours a week to the project. They are raising the estimated $300,000 needed for materials and tools through donations and sponsorships.
The Ottawa Car Company, which built streetcar 696, has long since gone out of business. With it went the original records and plans.
Dudley said the group has had to take measurements for new pieces by copying the original.
The team has also acquired streetcar 905, which was used as a cottage for decades. 905 is in better condition than 696 and will be used as a model for restoring the interior of that car.
Holly Layte, who chairs the heritage committee for the Sparks Street BIA, has been pushing for a downtown streetcar line.
“If it worked out and they finished the restoration, we would love to do that on ceremonial days,” Layte says.
That could include Canada Day, Victoria Day or other holidays.
The committee has proposed a Sparks Street line, which would run from LeBreton Flats to the new convention centre at Colonel By Drive.
Layte also sits on the management board of the Sparks Street Mall, and owns the Marvelous Mustard Shop.
The group is still a long way from finishing. Laplante estimates they will be finished within five years, but admits they originally expected to finish five years ago.
Dudley, now in his 80s, jokes about not living long enough to finish the project.
“I’m hoping that I can get a chance to drive the stupid thing before I’m too old,” he says.
“A couple of weeks ago, we looked at taking bets on whether the light rail line or the streetcar will be done first.”