Streetcars are a rare sight in American cities. The story of our loss of streetcars is both checkered and highly debated these days. There are some who content that their loss is a direct result of a conspiracy in collusion with General Motors, Firestone Rubber, and Standard Oil of CA, Phillips Petroleum, and Mac Truck. Others suggest that their loss was inevitable given our love of private automobiles. GM created dummy corporations for the purpose of eliminating streetcars from American cities and replacing them with GM buses and private cars. One of the largest of these dummy corporations was National City Lines, 1938-1950. They converted streetcar systems to buses in L.A., Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego and other cities. This involved the abandonment of tens of thousands of miles of light rail tracks, and thousands of streetcars. GM's dummy corporations directly acquired and eliminated streetcars in over 25 major American cities, and indirectly eliminated streetcars from dozens or other cities through bribery and economic pressure on railroads who owned streetcar systems and banks. GM and its co-comspiritors were brought to court and found guilty of conspiracy to monopolize transportation in the sale of buses, fuel, and supplies. As a result of their guilty verdict they were fined $5,000.
Many cities these days are having to spend billions of dollars to only partly recreate the lost light rail system abandoned in the 1940s and 50s. San Francisco's BART system, Boston's Big Dig, and Minneapolis-St Paul's light rail systems are only some of the examples of new trolley systems. San Diego now has three light rail lines servicing areas of the city running from the Mexican boarder to well north and east of the city.
Which side of this debate are you inclined to support? Would huge corporations conspire illegally to insure they created wide demand for their goods and services? Or is the loss of streetcars the result of individual consumer decisions to stop using public transportation and buy cars?
It looks amazing. Love oldies like this one.
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Great photos and a great restoration. It's nice to see these old streetcars.
ReplyDeletethese remind me of vintage automobiles- nothing today compares with their beauty
ReplyDeleteExcept for power polle located at the front this one looks like the PCC cars that operated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you look at the front bottom you can see a gap. That is where the people catcher is. If someone is laying on tracks the catcher will be triggered and the person should be scooped up and saved from certain death from the wheels passing over. Just a little tidbit from the days when I drove these things.
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting comment from Andy! By street car do you mean trams TFG.. I think its been a very long time since Perth had trams. Such a shame.. your streetcar above looks amazing after its restoration.
ReplyDeleteThese public light rail transports are known by many names, e.g. streetcar, trolley, or tram. They are powered by electricity often from overhead wires.
DeleteI know nothing about the history of streetcars, but I think we need both mass transportation and individual transportation.
ReplyDeleteCities do need inexpensive, non-polluting pubic transportation to survive. Cars are great except they clog streets, there is no place to park them, and they are a major source of pollution in cities. That's why many cities have invested billions to recreate light rail systems. Minneapolis discovered major urban renewal along its Hiawatha line, and ridership far exceeded their estimates. They now have opened a second line to St. Paul. I suspect property values to rise rapidly along that line as well.
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