Black and white photograph shows Kitchener Public Utilities Commission (PUC) trolley bus No. 107 outside the Kitchener PUC barn on King Street East, Kitchener, Ontario. Other trolley buses are visible, also sections of the barn. The photo is dated June 5, 1963.
Black and white photograph shows Kitchener Public Utilities Commission (PUC) trolley bus No. 107 outside the Kitchener PUC barn on King Street East, Kitchener, Ontario. Other trolley buses are visible, also sections of the barn. The photo is dated June 5, 1963.
The Kitchener Public Utilities Commission operated a transit service in Kitchener and Waterloo from 1927 to 1973. Electric trolley buses (coaches) replaced street cars along King Street on January 1, 1947. The PUC barn in the Rockway Gardens area on the north side of King Street East was opposite the passenger terminal building on the south side of King Street East. Street railway depot and "car barn" were located at 1402 King St. E., Kitchener.
The City of Waterloo purchased transit service for that city from the Kitchener PUC. The use of trolley buses was discontinued in the spring of 1973. At the same time, Kitchener Transit was created, replacing the Kitchener PUC transit division. The trolley buses were shipped by train to BC Hydro for spare parts and replaced by General Motors diesel buses.
In 2018 the car barn property is occupied by the Eastwood Community apartments at 1414 King St. E. and the Rockway Gardens Village apartments at 1420 King St. E.
The use of electric trolley buses in Kitchener and Waterloo is described in a story found online at the trainweb.org website. It says trolley No. 107 was a model Brill T44, one of ten the Kitchener PUC purchased from the Canadian Car and Foundry Company.
There are advertisements on right side of trolley No. 107, some of this are legible. One sign says "This Day", 1963, plus "TV13", a reference to the television channel 13 used by CKCO of Kitchener. Another sign is an ad for Lillian's Children Centre of 142 King Street. Another sign advertises the Royal Rug Cleaning Service.
This item is part of the "Public Transit in Waterloo Region" image group.
Copyright Status
Copyrighted: Protected by copyright. Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user
Copright Date
1963
Reproductions
If you would like to obtain a digital or print copy of this image, please see KPL's Photographic Reproduction Policy at http://www.kpl.org/localhistory/photographs