Page 3 - When the Employees Owned the Trams

ISSUE : Issue 24

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1979/12/1

Three trams meet at the junction in Reserve, 1913; overhead at Dominion in 1903. Glace Bay and Sydney, and we had, well, all the traffic we could handle then. Gas was rationed • so people travelled by tram or bus or any other way they could travel. Then when the airport was finished and all the airmen came in there and, jeez, it was all the business you could handle, between soldier and airmen and all the local peo? ple travelling and everything going full bloom in Sydney and the mines going full slick and everything. Some nights you had a job to squeeze on or get off • the time of the war and even be? fore • especially in the wintertime. That time, nobody ran cars during the winter? time. Put their cars up on blocks. Then everybody travelled by tram. Had quite a traffic. Hockey night or a skating night in Sydney or a big show, something going on, be packed to the door. I remember Old Home Week, the last car going out at night, great big car • must have held 120-130 peo? ple. We left the Isle Royale Hotel coming out. Well, I thought we couldn't put any? body else on, so I told the motorman, "There's no use stopping anymore, we can't take anybody else on • they'll have to get home the best way they can." When we got up to Ashby Corner the buzzer started ring? ing, somebody wanted to get off. There were about 20 people waiting to get on. You had to stop for those two people get? ting off • and that whole 20 got on. Well, look, you could hardly breathe. And you Roddy Anderson, motorman, Jack MacKay, conductor imagine the conductor in there, trying to collect fares through that crowd. (Was there ever trouble?) Oh yes. Saturday night was the big night. It was nothing for 5 or 6 to be thrown off on Saturday night. Drunks was the biggest trouble. Drunks would get on and be saucy and pick a row and then there'd be a fight start. And I'd have to throw them off. I don't think the crowd ever helped us. But we were fortunate, we had pretty big men on the Glace Bay line • and the two of us would throw them off, could handle a pret? ty burly man. -I was the smallest • but we had some big men. Big Dan Ferguson was a MindowSt Doors9 Awnings, Railings?? Siding Modern Aluminum Products Melton street, Sydaer 563-1104 / 562-1105 Better Health Centre 36k Charlotte Street, Sydney 40 Commercial Street, Glace Bay Offers a Large Range of Health, Vegetarian, Special Diet & Diabetic Foods and Vitamins C.O.D.Orders Accepted/Bulk Rates SYDNEY:562-1237 GLACE BAY:849-6222 Health is Happiness OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY *Se seillean a*phosas daoine ri lusan Ftenvming' Hoaey Truro and Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia isle Royale Beverages Limited Your Mrfherizta COCA-COU bolfkr 564'30 562-4439 14S W?ltwi St. Sy*My' N. S. Cape Breton's Magazine/3

Cape Breton's Magazine