Trolley Tales
At the Northern Ohio Railway Museum, we believe history is meant to be experienced, not just studied. Trolley Tales is our digital gallery of stories, photos, and research dedicated to the rail lines that once connected our communities. From the technical details to the memories of passengers who rode them, these tales are your gateway to Ohio’s rich railway legacy. We invite you to explore the archives here, and then visit us in Seville to see these historic treasures in person.
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Cleveland’s Traction Wars
Big Con, Little Con, Con-Con: As with most larger towns, Cleveland had a number of independent horse car operators and, with the coming of electric operation, this situation continued. However, it was soon to change as lines combined or were taken over. Several major consolidations all occurred in May of 1893, leading to creation of…
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Through Routing
We are hearing discussion of adopting through routing for commuter service into New York’s Penn Station. So, just what is this practice? When commuter, rapid transit or trolley cars enter a city center from an outlying point, they may then return back out the same line. Alternatively, they may continue on to another outlying point…
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The Navy and the Introduction of Trolleys
We have previously discussed how Frank Sprague built a trolley system for Richmond, VA, the first that was reliable enough to provide effective urban transportation. But, this success still fell far short of national acceptance of his trolleys, because Richmond was still a fairly small city with a mild climate. Something more was needed before…
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Horse Car and Trolley Car Trucks
On a horse car, the wheels had to do no more than to carry the car at low speeds with reasonable comfort to passengers, and so the method of attaching them could be simple. All that was needed was a set of four journal boxes, able to move vertically in cast iron wheel guides –…
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Trolley Interior Features
As the early car bodies were built of wood, so also were their interiors, and this feature lasted well into the era of steel cars. On both horse cars and the early electrics, comforts were rudimentary. Seats, on enclosed cars, often of plain finished wood, were generally longitudinal along the sides. On open cars, where…
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More About Car Styles
The open streetcar, as the name implies, was a car open to the elements, ends and sides. Although, today, such lack of protection might seem odd, it seemed much less so in the mid 19th Century when many of the horse drawn vehicles were open and, on even closed carriages, the driver and often some…
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The Banker’s Livery
In earlier posts, we’ve briefly discussed street car liveries, the paint schemes used by trolley companies on their cars. Here’s a bit of an oddity. As we have explained previously, what became the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit was begun as the “Cleveland Interurban Railroad” by Cleveland’s Van Sweringen brothers as part of their real estate…
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The Seven Sisters
No we’re not talking about either the women of Greek mythology or the group of seven elite eastern women’s colleges. We’re talking about a set of light interurban cars built in 1923 -24 by the St Louis Car Co. for Illinois’ Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric Co. At first, they appeared to bring business…
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Streetcar Liveries
Previously, we have discussed how the exteriors of cars were finished, both the finishing process itself and some of the detail of decoration. But the paint schemes used on cars, the Livery as it was called, was not random. Rather, it carried a meaning. In earlier days, cars of the same company might have different…
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External Finish
On horse cars, and the early electrics, cars were finished according to the standards of the horse drawn carriages of the time. The carefully constructed and fitted wooden panels and moldings were given as many as 15 hand rubbed coats of paint and varnish, providing both a beautiful appearance and resistance to the weather. Furthermore,…
