From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 16 of 36
The Electric Streetcar
1892
In 1892, the first electric streetcars ran in Montréal. No horse: a pole on the roof touched a wire above the street, and electricity drove the car along.
Look together
Where does the pole meet the wire?
An idea to try
Compare the two streetcars in the book. Your child finds what stays the same, then traces around the parts that make the electric streetcar different.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
On September 21, 1892, the Rocket inaugurated Montréal’s electric streetcar service. A pole connects the vehicle to the overhead wire supplying current. The last horse-drawn streetcars were withdrawn in 1894. The Rocket served until 1914, joined the farewell parade in 1959 and entered the Canadian Railway Museum collection, now Exporail, in 1963.
The two colouring pages invite a careful comparison. Where was the horse? What appears above the roof? Your child can follow the path with their eyes, from the wire to the car. The car drawn is imaginary; it carries no route number and no specific model.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
An imaginary electric streetcar with simplified overhead contact; no exact technical model or route number is shown.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Société de transport de Montréal — Histoire des tramways (in French)Montreal Street Railway Company (1886); the Rocket, Montréal’s first electric streetcar, put into service on September 21, 1892; the network fully electrified two years later.
- Encyclopédie du MEM — De l’avoine à l’électricité (in French)The Rocket: September 21, 1892, in service until 1914, a parade in 1959, the railway collection in 1963; end of horse-drawn streetcars in 1894.
Page prepared on September 15, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
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