"Clang, clang, clang went the trolley ---
Ding, ding, ding went the bell..." - *Trolley Song
STREETCARS are not often the cause of emotional reactions in people - except for the odd case of nostalgia among those who grew up with them and saw them disappear from nearly every city in the United States.
In its heyday in the Roaring Twenties, trolley cars were the way to get around, and one could find them in virtually every city and town - as well as in even very small communities.
Washington, D.C. managed to keep most of their streetcar lines operating up until the very early 1960's, when a variety of factors conspired to eliminate them from the streets of our nation's capital.
As a small boy, I had ridden many a mile on the ancient trams that New Orleans has so lovingly preserved. By the early 1950's, only two lines remained there, compared to a couple dozen lines in D.C. at the same time. In New Orleans up until the 1970's, cash fares were collected and put into a fare till that was accessible by the conductor to make change.
Back then, New Orleans did not allow gambling - but the were certain places in the outskirts of the city where it was permitted. My Uncle Gene took me with him once or twice when I was a wee lad of four, and it must have made an impression upon me.
My mother got a job in Washington, D. C., and when we took the streetcar for the very first time, I noticed the farebox. Passengers entered the car and inserted coins in a slot on the top, and a counter wheel processes it, eventually depositing the payment in a receiving box in the bottom.
I had a tiny but loud voice that carried - much to my mother's chagrin. I piped up so the whole car could hear me: "Oh, LOOK, Mommie: a SLOT MACHINE!!"
Needless to say, my mother was mortified.
Streetcars are not scary things; not usually. But soon after the slot machine incident, I recall going to visit the National Cathedral for Easter Mass. We exited the church, my aunt bought me some candied peanuts, and then we crossed the street onto the safety island to await our streetcar to go home.
Two came along, traveling down the avenue virtually noiselessly and gliding to a quiet stop. We were in line to board the car, and I stood right by the trolley's circuit-breaker, conveniently located exactly eye-level for a toddler. Washington's PCC-type streetcars were constantly popping them when too much current was applied.
As I said, I was right by a circuit-breaker, and it was at ear-level to me. Suddenly, I heard a very loud "POPP!" If the noise hadn't been enough to scare me half to death, the bright flash of an electrical spark provided an impressive visual display as well!
Startled beyond words I naturally began to cry, and we wound up taking another streetcar a few minutes later.
Back in the days before the internal combustion engine, people mostly got around by trolley car. Streetcar routes often had cemeteries on them, and there even was a such thing as funeral streetcars! The casket was loaded onto a streetcar designed and/or designated for the purpose, and family and friends would join the dearly departed for one last ride. (Presumably the "guest of honor" made the trip one-way!)
Another attraction sure to bring on riders was the trolley park, later called an "Amusement Park." Patrons would ride an often lengthy line to go for a day of fun.
One example of just such a park is Glen Echo, located in Montgomery County, MD. It was built in the 1890's by the Baltzley brothers, who also founded the Glen Echo Railroad Company.
Although we had a car back then, my Aunt Lucy did not drive. One day, when I was about five years old, she treated me to a day at Glen Echo, and we took DC Transit's CABIN JOHN streetcar!
It was quite an excursion. We packed a picnic lunch and were well-prepared. Soon enough the car left the cobblestone streets of DC proper and dove into a beautiful, wooded private right-of-way. We ate our sandwiches and talked the whole way, and I saw the passing countryside from my seat. The car gently rocked from side-to-side as we sped down those steel rails.
We sat close to the front, and so not only could I see on both sides, but also the right-of-way through the front windshield. The tracks and adjacent grounds were littered with trash. I went into gales of laughter when we were taking a sharp curve and saw, of all things, a BATHTUB lying on its side.
We went quite a distance, crossing trestles and going around curves. Then, all too soon, the buildings and rides of Glen Echo came into view. We had finally come to the end of the line. But this was only the BEGINNING! Before me lay a great amusement park, with a roller-coaster called the "Big Dipper" and my favorite: a Ferris Wheel.
Music, candy, popcorn, lots of rides and plenty of walking all around conspired to make one very happy and tired little boy!!
By now it was dark. The time had come to head back home. So we exited where we came in, and there to greet us was a blue and white streetcar, just like the one we arrived on. The car sped off into the dark woods which were illuminated only by the single, white, incandescent headlight that shone from the front.
If the ride TO Glen Echo was interesting, the ride BACK was magical! The summer's heat was cooled by the breeze from the speeding tram, the night's darkness gave a different aspect to everything we saw as we went now through the woodsy way, and the rocking to and fro of the car as it sped along was more than enough to lull a tired little boy to sleep.
Although I fought falling asleep, soon enough all the activities of the day took its toll, and I lay down for just a second to rest - hoping to once more catch a glimpse of that bathtub.
Sleep came quietly, as the swaying of the car and the vibrations of steel wheel against steel rail produced a mesmerizing effect, and in what seemed like only a minute, I felt a gentle nudge from my aunt's hand: our stop was drawing near.
We got off, and in nothing flat, our magic carpet had vanished into the distance, leaving only tiny red lights visible down the avenue.
But I did not have streetcars on my mind, nor did I think of food or drink. It was putting one unsteady foot in front of the other that I concentrated on at that moment, yawning as I rubbed my sleepy eyes, and soon enough, a little five-year-old boy lay fast asleep, snug in his bed, dreaming no doubt of carnival rides, cotton candy, good times with Aunt Lucy, and a nighttime trolley ride through the Maryland woods.
NOTE: The last trolley to Cabin John ran on January 3, 1960. The last streetcar lines in D.C. were closed on 28 January, 1962. The Glen Echo amusement park itself closed in 1968.
Photo credit and for information about the Glen Echo line:
http://glenecho-cabinjohn.com/GE-01.html
Glen Echo - the Conduit Line: http://glenecho-cabinjohn.com/CR-02.html
The Glen Echo Trolley Line: http://humealumni.org/trolley.html
*Trolley Song -Written by: HUGH MARTIN, RALPH BLANE
In its heyday in the Roaring Twenties, trolley cars were the way to get around, and one could find them in virtually every city and town - as well as in even very small communities.
Washington, D.C. managed to keep most of their streetcar lines operating up until the very early 1960's, when a variety of factors conspired to eliminate them from the streets of our nation's capital.
As a small boy, I had ridden many a mile on the ancient trams that New Orleans has so lovingly preserved. By the early 1950's, only two lines remained there, compared to a couple dozen lines in D.C. at the same time. In New Orleans up until the 1970's, cash fares were collected and put into a fare till that was accessible by the conductor to make change.
Back then, New Orleans did not allow gambling - but the were certain places in the outskirts of the city where it was permitted. My Uncle Gene took me with him once or twice when I was a wee lad of four, and it must have made an impression upon me.
My mother got a job in Washington, D. C., and when we took the streetcar for the very first time, I noticed the farebox. Passengers entered the car and inserted coins in a slot on the top, and a counter wheel processes it, eventually depositing the payment in a receiving box in the bottom.
I had a tiny but loud voice that carried - much to my mother's chagrin. I piped up so the whole car could hear me: "Oh, LOOK, Mommie: a SLOT MACHINE!!"
Needless to say, my mother was mortified.
Streetcars are not scary things; not usually. But soon after the slot machine incident, I recall going to visit the National Cathedral for Easter Mass. We exited the church, my aunt bought me some candied peanuts, and then we crossed the street onto the safety island to await our streetcar to go home.
Two came along, traveling down the avenue virtually noiselessly and gliding to a quiet stop. We were in line to board the car, and I stood right by the trolley's circuit-breaker, conveniently located exactly eye-level for a toddler. Washington's PCC-type streetcars were constantly popping them when too much current was applied.
As I said, I was right by a circuit-breaker, and it was at ear-level to me. Suddenly, I heard a very loud "POPP!" If the noise hadn't been enough to scare me half to death, the bright flash of an electrical spark provided an impressive visual display as well!
Startled beyond words I naturally began to cry, and we wound up taking another streetcar a few minutes later.
Back in the days before the internal combustion engine, people mostly got around by trolley car. Streetcar routes often had cemeteries on them, and there even was a such thing as funeral streetcars! The casket was loaded onto a streetcar designed and/or designated for the purpose, and family and friends would join the dearly departed for one last ride. (Presumably the "guest of honor" made the trip one-way!)
Another attraction sure to bring on riders was the trolley park, later called an "Amusement Park." Patrons would ride an often lengthy line to go for a day of fun.
One example of just such a park is Glen Echo, located in Montgomery County, MD. It was built in the 1890's by the Baltzley brothers, who also founded the Glen Echo Railroad Company.
Although we had a car back then, my Aunt Lucy did not drive. One day, when I was about five years old, she treated me to a day at Glen Echo, and we took DC Transit's CABIN JOHN streetcar!
It was quite an excursion. We packed a picnic lunch and were well-prepared. Soon enough the car left the cobblestone streets of DC proper and dove into a beautiful, wooded private right-of-way. We ate our sandwiches and talked the whole way, and I saw the passing countryside from my seat. The car gently rocked from side-to-side as we sped down those steel rails.
We sat close to the front, and so not only could I see on both sides, but also the right-of-way through the front windshield. The tracks and adjacent grounds were littered with trash. I went into gales of laughter when we were taking a sharp curve and saw, of all things, a BATHTUB lying on its side.
We went quite a distance, crossing trestles and going around curves. Then, all too soon, the buildings and rides of Glen Echo came into view. We had finally come to the end of the line. But this was only the BEGINNING! Before me lay a great amusement park, with a roller-coaster called the "Big Dipper" and my favorite: a Ferris Wheel.
Music, candy, popcorn, lots of rides and plenty of walking all around conspired to make one very happy and tired little boy!!
By now it was dark. The time had come to head back home. So we exited where we came in, and there to greet us was a blue and white streetcar, just like the one we arrived on. The car sped off into the dark woods which were illuminated only by the single, white, incandescent headlight that shone from the front.
If the ride TO Glen Echo was interesting, the ride BACK was magical! The summer's heat was cooled by the breeze from the speeding tram, the night's darkness gave a different aspect to everything we saw as we went now through the woodsy way, and the rocking to and fro of the car as it sped along was more than enough to lull a tired little boy to sleep.
Although I fought falling asleep, soon enough all the activities of the day took its toll, and I lay down for just a second to rest - hoping to once more catch a glimpse of that bathtub.
Sleep came quietly, as the swaying of the car and the vibrations of steel wheel against steel rail produced a mesmerizing effect, and in what seemed like only a minute, I felt a gentle nudge from my aunt's hand: our stop was drawing near.
We got off, and in nothing flat, our magic carpet had vanished into the distance, leaving only tiny red lights visible down the avenue.
But I did not have streetcars on my mind, nor did I think of food or drink. It was putting one unsteady foot in front of the other that I concentrated on at that moment, yawning as I rubbed my sleepy eyes, and soon enough, a little five-year-old boy lay fast asleep, snug in his bed, dreaming no doubt of carnival rides, cotton candy, good times with Aunt Lucy, and a nighttime trolley ride through the Maryland woods.
NOTE: The last trolley to Cabin John ran on January 3, 1960. The last streetcar lines in D.C. were closed on 28 January, 1962. The Glen Echo amusement park itself closed in 1968.
Photo credit and for information about the Glen Echo line:
http://glenecho-cabinjohn.com/GE-01.html
Glen Echo - the Conduit Line: http://glenecho-cabinjohn.com/CR-02.html
The Glen Echo Trolley Line: http://humealumni.org/trolley.html
*Trolley Song -Written by: HUGH MARTIN, RALPH BLANE
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Sounds like a country music song, "The last tram to Cabin John"
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