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Detroit's Street Railways Vol I: 1863-1922 CERA Bulletin #117 w/ dust jacket
Detroit's Street Railways Volume I: 1863-1922 City Lines CERA Bulletin #117 by Schramm & Henning
Hard cover with Dust Jacket
Copyright 1978.
192 pages.
CONTENTS
ChapterPage
1 Before Detroit United 9
2 Early Suburban Operations69
3 The Detroit United Railway85
4 Municipal Operation 137
5 Epilogue 153
6 Roster Of Equipment 158
Electric rail transportation in the State of Michigan was last covered in book form when, in 1959, CERA published "The Electric Railways of Michigan." Detroit's street railway history was only briefly outlined in that book; therefore, this new series should interest persons who want a more detailed history of the Detroit system.
This volume covers street railways in Detroit from their historical inception in 1863 to municipalization in 1922. Detroit, a city of heavy industrial development, was not always a major city. Its history dates back to French and British rule when it started as a trading post, then a sleepy town situated on the Detroit River. It grew rapidly until the early twentieth century, becoming a Great Lakes port and automobile manufacturing capital of the world.
Social changes were being promoted in this growing industrial city by men of wealth who turned politician. As a result, politics played an important part in the city transportation system. Detroit has been described by some as a city that was "planned to death" as each person or group had a "better idea" on how and where the mass transit system should operate. After failure to obtain the famous three cent fare, Mayor Pingree began the long battle to gain city control. In 1922, his successors succeeded. Detroit became America's first large city to own and operate its mass transit system.
Lineage of the predecessor companies, their leaders, politics and social impact on the City of Detroit is studied. Many of the early corporations overlapped, merged or went out of business. Some companies were products of political tactics. Therefore, after analyzing the development of the Detroit trolley corporations, it was decided that its story could best be told by dividing this volume into selected periods of time. Development of the city and suburban system until 1900 is discussed first. Between 1901 and 1920, the Detroit United Railway conducted its operations without competition except for its running battle with city hall. Then in 1920, the City of Detroit built and began to operate a small competing street railway that was commonly referred to as the "Municipal Operation."
Rare pictures taken through the years illustrate the streetcar era in Detroit. The roster of equipment and maps detail the equipment and routes operated by the various companies. Memorabilia completes the presentation.
The complete work should be of interest to historians, rail enthusiasts and the general public alike, thus fulfulling the purpose of this volume as a general reference work on the early history of the Detroit street railway era. Subsequent volumes in this series will detail the history and operation of the Department of Street Railways from 1922 and the interurban railways that were operated by the Detroit United Railway.
ABOUT CERA: Central Electric Railfans' Association was formed in 1938 to encourage study of the history, equipment and operation of urban, suburban, interurban and main line electric railways.
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