Posts tagged Streetcars
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Three transportation gems in our region
Even though White’s Ferry is in limbo, these three other transportation gems are still here for the exploring! Keep reading…
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A 1944 proposal for a DC streetcar subway would have been the largest in the US
In 1944 there was a proposal for a DC streetcar subway that would be twice as long as other US systems. Keep reading…
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What lies beneath DC? Many more tunnels than you might think!
Have you ever wondered what’s under your feet in the District? Everyone who rides Metro regularly has some sense of where the subway tunnels in the region are, but may not know that DC also has a number of former streetcar tunnels, currently-used railway tunnels, and a collection of road tunnels as well. Keep reading…
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Advocates have pushed for a subway in DC since FDR and WWII
Between 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected, and 1941, when the US entered the war, the District’s population rose by nearly 50%. This spike in population led to overloaded buses and streetcars, as well as severe automobile congestion. The city was in desparate need of transportation alternatives. Keep reading…
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It’s part streetcar, part bus, and it ran in Arlington and Fairfax in the 1930s
The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor is a famous example of early transit-oriented development because of the Orange Line, but the area was home to an innovative transit experiment long before Metro. From 1936 through 1939, a streetcar-bus hybrid provided service from the City of Fairfax to Rosslyn and into DC. Keep reading…
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Did Baltimore have the first electric el?
A while back I wrote about Baltimore’s Guilford Avenue el, which opened to electric streetcars in May 1893. It’s sometimes described as the country’s first electrified el and its first elevated trolley, but that isn’t strictly true. However, it was electrified before the better-known New York and Chicago elevated lines. Keep reading…
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Here’s how a DC newspaper covered traffic safety just before World War II
The defunct Washington Evening Star ran a series of punchy, illustrated columns called “Why Must They Die?” Keep reading…
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The Chevy Chase Trolley station that moved to the country
When the Chevy Chase Land Company started developing land north of Rock Creek Park in 1890, they built a streetcar to connect it to Washington, DC. That streetcar line ended at Chevy Chase Lake on Connecticutt Avenue, just south of the Georgetown Branch, where a small building on the west side served as a waiting station and office. Keep reading…
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This 1944 proposal for a DC streetcar subway would have been the largest in the US
A swelling population in the District between the late 1930s and the early 1940s resulted in a lot of traffic congestion — as well as calls to fix it. Many officials and companies were excited in particular about the prospect of building a subway system. Keep reading…
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Advocates have pushed for a subway in DC since FDR and WWII
Between 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected, and 1941, when the US entered the war, the District’s population rose by nearly 50%. This spike in population led to overloaded buses and streetcars, as well as severe automobile congestion. The city was in desparate need of transportation alternatives. Keep reading…