Born at the turn of the century out of the promise of rich mineral discoveries, one of the smallest street railways in the British Empire once operated in Nelson, British Columbia. Its streetcars carried passengers up one of the steepest grades of any Canadian system. Unfortunately, these same grades were responsible for the tiny system's more spectacular accidents. With limited funds, a small group of dedicated street railwaymen struggled to maintain service in a city whose size did not really justify a street railway. Despite this, public support for their efforts meant that streetcars were kept on until after the Second World War when the system's aging track and equipment could no longer be maintained.

When buses took over in 1949, no one thought that streetcars would ever run again in Nelson. Fortunately, Nelson's #23 survived, to be restored and returned to operation along the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in 1992.

Distributed for Havelock House
Railway/History, 196 pp, 8½ × 11, 117 photographs, drawings, maps
ISBN 0-920805-02-7, paper, $22.95