Energy

The Electric Radial Car
In the early 20th Century, producers of electricity promoted a system of electrically powered rail cars (trams).  One such line connected Hamilton and Oakville through Burlington.

The Cataract Power Company established the Hamilton Radial Railway in 1894 and extended service to the west bank of Sixteen Mile Creek in 1904.  When the Radial Bridge was completed in 1906, the line was carried over to a terminal building that still stands at the southeast corner of Randall and Thomas Streets.

The hourly service was popular - the cars were comfortable and the ride was pleasant.  Commuters, excursionists, shoppers and students attending Appleby College and other schools took advantage.

Originally, the scheme was to connect the Oakville end of the line to one coming out from Toronto, but this never happened.  In 1924, the service came to an end, overtaken by competition from autobuses and mainline railways and lack of government funding.

Refineries
In the 1950s, Ontario was building its industrial base and needed secure supplies of oil and gas.  Through federal-provincial agreements, arrangements were mad for pipelines to be built connecting western Canadian sources with the Ontario market.

In 1957, Cities Service of Louisiana bought farmland on the west bank of Bronte Creek in Trafalgar Township to build a refinery processing 20,000 barrels a day of western Canadian crude oil supplied by Inter Provincial Pipeline.

The refinery was expanded between 1972 and 1974 to 83,000 barrels per day, and was purchased by Petro-Canada in 1983.  The company produces a wide range of products including propane, aviation and motor gasoline, distillates (stove oil, diesel and furnace oil) and asphalt.

A second refinery built next door by Shell in 1962 was in production for only 20 years before it closed.  De-commissioning took seven years to clean the land.  Shell Park, a residential community and industry now occupy the site.