Background

 

BC Electric Streetcar 153 was manufactured by the John Stephenson Company in New Jersey in 1908.  it would go on to serve the North Vancouver Streetcar network for nearly 40 years, retiring in 1946.  After it was decommissioned, it found it’s way to the Chilliwack area, where it would serve many years as a bunkhouse.  In 1982, the streetcar was found, retrieved and stored for 4 years up until 1986.  At the time, North Vancouver retook possession of the streetcar, where they moved it to Mahon Park.  Over the years restoration work was made to the streetcar.

 

BC Electric streetcar 153, a rare surviving wooden streetcar, has found a permanent home as a centrepiece of the Museum of North Vancouver (MONOVA). After years of preservation efforts, the car was formally integrated into MONOVA’s galleries following the museum’s opening in 2021. Today, visitors can experience streetcar 153 as a storytelling feature, celebrating North Vancouver’s rich transit heritage. MONOVA’s exhibition highlights the role of streetcar 153 in connecting communities along the North Shore during the 20th century. Its display is designed to immerse visitors in the era of electric streetcars, while also honouring the volunteers and organizations who helped save the car from demolition.

 

MONOVA has published a children’s book on the exciting journey of streetcar 153; it is available at the museum store: https://monova.ca/the-journey-of-streetcar-153/