Clang, clang, clang went the trolley...

Today, the Metro connects Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. As do highways, commuter rail, and even a few bike trails. But once upon a time, neither area was as grown up, and street cars connected the two.

Street railways were once a common feature in metropolitan areas. Few maintain them, but they used to be all over. As the interstate system really took hold and people embraced the freedom of driving wherever they wanted without having to wait on a street car, or walking to the nearest street car line, those trolley cars became fewer and fewer. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

D.C.'s street car system began way back in 1862 using horse-drawn street cars. They ran very short routes, mainly between Federal buildings and nearby residential areas.

About a quarter-century later, Richmond, Virginia installed the nation's first electric street railway, and emulating Virginia's capitol, our nation's capitol followed suit. There were several small such railways operating for a while, until they all consolidated (to settle the very confusing interchanges, differences in fares, etc.) as the Washington Traction Company in 1895. Nearly another quarter-century of prosperity and growth followed.

Then came the buses, the death knell for electric street cars. One last-ditch consolidation maneuver in 1933 created the Capital Transit Company. The company enjoyed some success, mainly from being the only game in town apart from buses, until a worker's strike in 1955 put commuters on foot for nearly seven weeks in the heat of the summer. A new owner took over, but he had a different idea for the company.

The name changed, for starters, to DC Transit. Most significantly, though, the transit changed. Street cars yielded to buses and DC's street railways were no more by1962.

Most of the street cars were sold or scrapped, though some escaped to museums, such as DC Transit 1470 which rests at your Virginia Museum of Transportation. (Come on, I know you were wondering if I was going to make a point.)

#1470 has been part of the museum's collection for years. As a piece of rolling stock, it's best displayed on rails. It sat on rails, indeed, which sat on ties, it's true. But instead of leveled ground, the ties sat on top of the ground for a long time. When the museum built up its outdoor pavilion, it had to do something with this street car on rails on ties on the ground. Because there was only rail or pavement, and needing pavement more than rails, the street car on rails on ties was placed on... other rails. While we're waiting to get some digital pictures up, here's a rough sketch.

Streetcar
Rails
Ties
Rails
Ground

Now, this is silly. Rails on ties on more rails is silly. We thought so, our patrons have thought so, but there it is.

Well, our friends with Allegheny Construction have a big crane, and it just so happens that their big crane can lift our street car. The idea is that we'd lift the street car, drag the upper rails out of the way, then set the street car down on the lower rails. Seems simple enough work, probably less than an hour's worth.

Five hours later, our street car was stuck with its front wheels on the lower rails, and its tail in the air, held up by a crane. For the rest of this story, you'll have to check back later this week.

How's that for a teaser?