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Kansas City Streetcars Remembered by Henry Elsner Soft Cover
Kansas City Streetcars Remembered by Henry Elsner
Soft Cover
80 Pages
Copyright 1991
CONTENTS
Preface4
1PCC FADEOUT
Troost5
Swope Park/Rockhill9
The "Club Line"13
Waldo22
Dodson25
2CONVENTIONAL CARS
Dodson - Before the PCCs28
A Fleet Review: Late 1920s - Early 1950s31
Crowd Pleasers49
Birney Days50
3TWO SPECIALTIES
8th Street Elevated and Tunnel54
Cement Service63
4WORK CARS66
5COMMENTS (R. C. Moseley)75
6ROUTES (1939 - 1957)77
Route Map (1939)79
Preface
Among students of urban rail transportation Kansas City is probably best known for its distinctive postwar PCC cars which lacked the standee windows characteristic of the all-electric design elsewhere. Not only were the cars unique, but their useful service outlived the Kansas City years as many were shipped to such scattered destinations as Philadelphia, Toronto, San Francisco, Tampico, and (as components) Brussels.
Kansas City routes and operation were as fascinating as the vehicles themselves. Scenic rights of way, two sections of elevated, a tunnel, and carload freight intermixed with passenger service were long-time hallmarks of the KC trolley era. The large roster of conventional pre-PCC rolling stock, while in most respects typical of the period, had distinctive features too. And a fleet of 4-wheel Birney cars served almost as long as anywhere in the country.
This book is neither a history of Kansas City transit nor a comprehensive coverage of its routes over the years. A thorough treatment is forthcoming in a work by Terence Cassidy, research for which has been underway for many years. It is hoped that this sampling of views will whet the reader's appetite for his study. In the meantime, some reminiscences of the Kansas City streetcar scene can be shared.
The material is arranged in a reverse-history series of snapshots. Attempts to convey the flavor of the final years of PCC operation are followed by earlier glimpses of some of the same locations, serving as an introduction to pre-PCC equipment. Next is a pictorial review of the conventional car types which composed the Kansas City fleet after a massive rebuilding program in the late 1920s. Some of the more unusual highlights of KC traction are then reviewed:
the 8th Street elevated and tunnel complex, the unique cement-hauling operation, and the wide variety of work equipment.
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