From the CBC archives: Winnipeg's last streetcars

Sixty years ago this weekend, Winnipeggers said farewell to the streetcar as the decades-old mode of transportation gave way to brand-new transit buses.

CBC cameras were there on Sept. 19, 1955, as families embarked on their last streetcar rides, and as city officials lifted a section of rail to mark the official end of the service.

"So long forever," reads a banner on one streetcar.

"My last run I'm giving way to transit progress," says another.

According to local historian George Siamandas, horse-drawn streetcars debuted in Winnipeg in 1882. Within a decade, an electric system replaced the horses.

Click on the video player above to see the city's last streetcars and its first buses.