Canadian Car & Foundry-Brill models

Type T-44



The close of World War II in 1945 focused the attention of transit managers on the dilapidated state of the country's street railways, a condition that was exacerbated by the extremely heavy wartime traffic. The fledgling trolleybus systems in Montreal, Edmonton and Winnipeg that had been constructed in the 1930's were joined after the war as city after city initiated a rails-to-rubber conversion. By the early 1950's, trolleybuses were running on the streets of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Fort William, Port Arthur, Kitchener, Hamilton, Toronto, Cornwall, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. Without exception, each of these cities purchased equipment from Canadian Car & Foundry, using equipment derived from designs of ACF-Brill in the USA. Production of the CCF-Brill coaches ended in 1954, but the equipment was so well made that it lasted into the 1980's on some systems. The Canadian trolleybus, that swift, pollution-free, silent servant that rolled up billions of passenger miles in the 1950's and 1960's, survives only in Vancouver and Edmonton, both cities having re-equipped their fleets in the 1980's. But the memory of the Brills lives on, and on...and today is revived by the release of limited edition models from St. Petersburg Tram Collection.

St Petersburg Tram Collection's T-44 models have over the past few years been released for several cities. The line of T-44 trolleybuses is now out of production, and with the exception of Calgary, the models are no longer available. You may be able to locate one of these models on the second-hand market.

All of the following models are sold out. They appear here as a record of models that were offered in the past, and which may be available second-hand from various sources
Calgary
Calgary 422 was destined to be the city's last trolleybus and is faithfully recreated in our newly released model Calgary once had an extensive trolley coach system, but the system succumbed to rapid urban growth and an obsolete fleet.
Model photo
SOLD OUT AND DISCONTINUED
Edmonton
Model photo, Edmonton T44 Edmonton, Canada's northernmost trolleybus system, celebrated 60 years of continuous trolley coach operation in September 1999. Although a wide variety of British and American equipment has been operated in Edmonton over the years, the mainstay of the fleet for many years were these Canadian Car T-44's, and the larger T-48's. Edmonton operated second-hand T-44's obtained from Vancouver and Regina.
Model photo
DISCONTINUED

Halifax

Model Halifax T44 For many years, transit in Halifax was provided exclusively by a fleet of trolley coaches, consisting primarily of these attractive Canadian Car T-44's.
Model photo
DISCONTINUED
Vancouver
Vancouver is known for its large trolleybus system which continues in operation to this day. At the height of the system, 351 trolleybuses, almost all produced by Canadian Car-Brill, provided service throughout the City of Vancouver.
Vancouver 2001, the system's first trolleybus, delivered in 1947 Vancouver inaugurated trolleybus service in August 1948 with a fleet of T-44's, ordered in two batches in 1947, with a third batch following in 1948 to make a total of 82 vehicles. Our first release represents the original 1947 series 2001-2030, which operated in Vancouver until 1961. The first 10 were sold to Edmonton where they continued to be used for many more years; 2011-2030 were scrapped in the mid 1960's after sitting in store at Oakridge garage. These vehicles wore two paint schemes in their years of service in Vancouver, and our first release represents the second BCER "Thunderbird" paint scheme. Available with fleet number 2001, destination sign "11 Stanley Park". (Other options available as a special order.)
Model photo
DISCONTINUED
One of the most attractive liveries ever applied to a Brill trolleycoach was the 1964 B C Hydro overall white with green and blue striping, now available in model form in a limited run only. Our second release of Vancouver T-44's consisted of just 12 models. These represented the second T-44 series, 2031-2042, and one model of each fleet number was available. These were finished in the BC Hydro overall white with green and blue striping livery, and were released in spring 2000. This release included appropriate modifications to the body to reflect subtle changes between the 2001-2030 series and the later series, 2031-2042.
Model photo
This limited run is now sold out.


Restored to its original condition, 1947 T-44 #2040 travels the streets of Vancouver on occasional summertime excursions. Here it traverses the newly opened Stanley Park extention in 2003 Another release of Vancouver T-44's represents the magnificently preserved example, #2040, restored to its original 1947 livery. This coach, and its much younger T-48A stablemate, #2416, make occasional forays onto the streets of Vancouver. Model version of preserved Vancouver trolleybus, #2040, a 1947 T-44 Brill.
Model photo
This limited run is now sold out.


Toronto
Toronto's trolleybus system never measured up to its immense streetcar system, nonetheless, the fleet grew to become the second largest in Canada (after Vancouver). Toronto's trolleybus system was distinguished by having two physically separate divisions, and for leading the renaissance of North American trolleybuses (among the few systems that remained) with its late 1960's rebodying program. When the second generation of trolleys wore out in the mid 1990's, the decision was made to abandon the system, despite having leased some Brown Boveri-GMC trolleys from Edmonton.
1947 CC&F-Brill T-44 Trolleybus (TTC Toronto T1-class 9000-9049 series)

TTC T1 class Canadian Car- Brill T44 trolleybus

In March 1945 Canadian Car & Foundry (CC&F) announced officially the signing of an agreement to built the ACF-Brill buses and trolleybuses under the name Canadian Car-Brill. Many operators placed the orders for new T-44 trolleybus very soon and serial production was started in 1946. The Toronto Transportation Comission had experimented with the use of electric trolleybuses for the first time in 1922 and in 1945 an order for T-44 model was placed to CC&F. In 1947 the first routes using the new vehicles were Lansdowne (June 19), Annette (October 16) and Ossington (December, 8) for which 75 trolleybuses, numbered 9000-9074 were delivered in 1947. 10 more vehicles arrived in 1948 (9074-9084).
Model photo
DISCONTINUED and sold out
1947 CC&F-Brill T-44 Trolleybus (TTC Toronto T2-class 9050-9074 series)
TTC T2 class Canadian Car- Brill T44 trolleybus This model represents the second group of Toronto T-44 trolleybuses, delivered also in 1947. Similar to T1-class and numbered 9050-9074, they had a roof ladder located behind the centre door.
Model photo
DISCONTINUED and sold out


Montreal
Model Montreal T44 Montreal operated four trolley coach lines until 1965-66, when a major realignment of routes in connection with the opening of the Métro resulted in closure of the system. Most of Montreal's trolley coaches went to Mexico City for several additional years of service there.
Model photo
DISCONTINUED



Pullman-Standard trolleybuses
The trolleybus operator in Vancouver BC, the British Columbia Electric Railway, was still expanding its trolleybus system in 1956, but was unable to obtain new vehicles from Canadian Car, its traditional supplier. The BCER therefore bought 24 Pullman-Standard Trolleybuses from Birmingham, Alabama, in 1956, and placed them into service after a major reconditioning. All vehicles had been withdrawn for scrap by 1961, when extensive service reductions allowed the Vancouver trolleybus fleet to shrink by 54 vehicles.
Other Canadian cities had second-hand Pullman trolleys, notably Halifax and Winnipeg, and while we have had models of these vehicles available in the past, they are no longer available.
Vancouver Pullman Model This model authentically recreates a member of the short-lived Pullman fleet that ran in Vancouver from 1956 to 1961.
DISCONTINUED


Revised November 1, 2006