Trolley Thursday 4/30/2020 - The Denver RTD A, B, & G Commuter Interurban

The era of the interurban may be gone, but that doesn't stop cities from resurrecting the same flavour and usefulness from modern electrified "commuter rail". Though the Denver & Interurban and Kite Route are names long-consigned to history, the new RTD now boasts three heavy-rail electric commuter lines connecting Union Station with Denver Airport and the outer reaches of the city's suburbs in Westminster and Wheat Ridge. Come along for a brief history on the RTD's A, B, and G lines, and do keep a lookout for that damn blue horse...

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The RTD "A" Line Map
(Fastracks)

The Denver "Fastracks" project is, currently, a Regional Transportation District (RTD) initiative to bring 122 total miles of light rail, heavy commuter rail, and express bus lanes to improve commuter congestion within the city and its surrounding suburbs. One of the more recent additions to the Fastracks project was the electrified commuter lines of the A, B, and G, but planning for these began long before in the 1980s, when the light rail was first being planned as well. However, no serious plans were drawn until 1997, when a new Major Investment Study encouraged construction of a "fixed-guideway mass transit" system; or, in other words, a fancy way of saying "trains."

Colorado Railcar's DMU sets, bound for TriMet WES
(Dave Scheart)

When Fastracks was approved for commencement in 2004, the new commuter rail project came with it. A route was found in a spare Union Pacific alignment out of downtown from Union Station to Coors field, then east along Peña Boulevard east, past Peoria where it meets the "R" Light Rail, before terminating at Denver International Airport. Before it gained its letter designation, the project was titled the "East Corridor", coming after the "West Corridor" interurban light-rail. The project also specified using locally-sourced Colorado Railcar DMUs to run the line, but pollution concerns, as well as general speed and reliability concerns, changed this to using electric multiple unit cars.

An RTD A-Line train skirts the UP alignment en route
to Union Station
(Colorado Public Radio)

Groundbreaking commenced on the "A" Line on August 26, 2010, with the new letter designation sponsored by the University of Colorado; confusingly, the "A" line ran nowhere near the University. By April 3rd, 2015, the new fleet of 66 Hyundai-Rotem "Silverliner V" paired electric multiple units would arrive in Denver for testing. These modern interurbans found popular use with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Administration , and were rated to operate at 25kV AC. Due to the "A" line serving a major international airport, the 91-person capacity per car was a welcomed feature.

The line officially opened as the second Fastracks project on April 22, 2016, and immediately the system was beset with problems. Due to a software malfunction in both the new crossing gates and the ones shared with Union Pacific, the gates could not come down in time for the new trains, or at all. The main issue was that the gates were all proprietary to the RTD system, and thus was unable to qualify for state or federal approval. With these frequent delays for both car commuters and rail commuters, crossing guards were hired to manually stop traffic while RTD, even today, continues to solve the gates' timing issues. Despite these continued setbacks, the A line has maintained an annual ridership of 7 million, earning its importance as one of Denver's most important commuter arteries.

B Line test train at Westminster Station, prior to opening.
(KUNC)

The current RTD "B" line compared to the "Flatiron Flyer".
The plan is for tracks to cross Flatiron to Louisville, then
Boulder, giving one half of the original kite.
(RTD Fastracks)

The "A" line opened with 8 stations along 23.5 miles, but can't be considered as an interurban because most of it remains well within the city. The B Line, on the other hand, is both a modern and resurrected interurban, as it plans to reach Boulder, CO, by 2042, stretching 41 miles along what used to be the Denver & Interurban's "Kite Route". Currently, it terminates in the Westminster suburb, 6.1 miles out from Union Station, while the "Kite Route" is served by the "Flatiron Flyer" express bus service. Disappointingly, the recent economic downturns forced the B line to operate in a truncated state when it opened on July 25, 2016, but both Denver and Boulder, as well as the cities of Longmont, Louisville, Bloomfield and Westminster all plan to have the interurban finished at some point.

The last heavy rail commuter service to open is the "G" Line (or "Gold Line", during construction) which runs from Union Station to the Denver suburb of Ridge Ward. Like the "A" line and the planned B line continuation, the G line has 8 stations running on a shorter 11 miles, and was first ground-broken on August 31, 2011, under the RTD and the Eagle P3 partnership (which also helped build the A line, among others). The "Gold" designation came from the discovery of gold in nearby Ralston Creek, a few blocks from the "Olde Town" station. Regrettably, the G line did not open in 2016, but instead two years later on April 26, 2019, after prolonged approval processes from both the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). All the completed rail infrastructure (stations, catenary) sat dormant on the G line during this time.

The RTD G line, finally open.
(XNateDawgX)

Today, the three lines operate with an average yearly ridership of 9 million between 2018 and 2019. The crossing gate issue has thankfully been stemmed with no major issues or delays reported since the latter year, and even into 2020 the Fastracks project still plans on expanding all three lines for higher peak ridership and longer distances. For now, the Silverliners continue to serve as a stalwart symbol of Colorado's interurban heritage.

And just to be clear, nobody mentioned the horse, right?

Good.

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Thank you for riding with us on this month's Trolleyposting coverage of the State of Colorado! Next week, we hop over west to look at the prominent electric roads of Utah! It was a challenge trying to find all the info, but I hope I can make all of you Coloradans proud despite being a filthy Californian. As usual, you can follow myself or my editor on twitter if you wanna support us, maybe buy a shirt as well! Until next week, ride safe!

Wait, what got in here? What... OH GOD-

*demonic neighing*

Trolley Tuesday 4/28/20 - Denver RTD

Denver Tramway was a rare example of a transit company monopoly that lasted decades, when other companies like it were either bought out under a municipality, or simply given up on by private operators. When the city was able to finally break out of the Tramway's grip by 1969, it left the city without a functioning rail transit system for decades. Now picking up the pieces, Denver is now seeing millions of riders per year on its 58 miles of light rail and 29 miles of interurban, electrified commuter rail. Hop on board today's Trolley Tuesday and find out how Denver's streetcars were able to, again, rise from the ashes.

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A Denver Tramway bus, derelict.
(The Denver Post)

The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) was first conceived in 1969 under the 47th session of the Colorado General Assembly when they knew the Denver Tramway Corp. had nothing left to offer the city. The City and County of Denver continued to sponsor the Denver Tramway up until 1971, bringing almost 90 years of private mass transit to a close when it became part of the Denver Metro Transit (DMT, created by the City and County). The DMT would be folded into the RTD by 1974 and primarily focus on bus route expansion along with an automated "personal rapid transit" system that one would usually find at an airport.

...That damn horse isn't here, is it? Good. Moving on.

A rendering of the once-planned "Personal Rapid Transit"
system that Denver almost got.
(The Denver Channel)

Light rail plans weren't drawn up until 1979, when the new "Transitway" plan drew federal approval. While this gave the city a new express bus corridor, it also gave it something to connect to: the Central Corridor light-rail line. Construction on this portion would begin in 1980 with funds drawn entirely from the RTD itself, another rare occurrence, due to an existing use tax, the capital reserve, and District-issued bonds.With no worries of cost overrunning, the construction went smoothly and, on October 7, 1994, the first passengers rode the new 5.3 mile line and removed 430 bus trips that opening day.

(RTD Fastracks)

RTD's Southwest corridor paralleling the BNSF main.
(The Denver Post)

Following the Central Corridor's success, the Southwest Corridor opened six years later in July 2000, connecting the I-25/Broadway terminal with the Littleton/Mineral suburb 8.7 miles away. The line paralleled BNSF's track on Santa Fe drive, and was used by the Central Corridor until the Central Platte Valley spur opened two years later. The new service was the "C" line, with the Central Corridor adopting "D", and ran 1.8 miles out to Union Station, giving Denverites more transit options to both heavy rail transportation and the nearby sports venues.


As the main line was being extended, another project that started in the 1990s was on its way for a 2006 opening. Dubbed "T-REX", or the "Transportation Expansion Project", it originated as a way to ease gridlock along the I-25 and I-225. The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) and the RTD would collaborate to solve this issue, and by 1995, plans were drawn for a revamped freeway-and-transit corridor in collaboration, rather than separate plans.

The "T-REX" extension map.
(RTD Fastracks)

"We weren't going to spend over a billion dollars on this project without involving more highway capacity. It couldn't be a predominantly transit project," Said Bill Jones, the Federal Highway Administration's Colorado Division administrator. "This was the turning point when we realized together that the transit part of the project couldn't be built without the highway part."

With a deadline of June 30, 2008, planning began in June 1999 when the State Department of Transportation was able to use spare funds not yet allocated by the government. Working with the local neighborhoods, T-REX was able to buy six homes, two duplex, and two apartments for clearing, and forced nobody to move if they had no replacement housing yet with just a budget of $100 million. 2001 saw the first groundbreaking of the 19-mile rail corridor and, on November 2006, 13 new stations opened up to Douglas county on the new F Line service, and helped ease what was once the 14th most congested interchange in the nation.

By far, the most historic line would be the W Line that opened in April 26, 2013, with the West Corridor. Originally the Denver & Intermountain mainline between Golden and Denver, the long-abandoned corridor was earmarked for a study and purchased in the 1980s by RTD. One destination for the line was the old Remington Arms factory, now repurposed as the Federal Center station, where original D&I Car No. 25 is preserved, so sometimes the old and modern systems would meet and provide fabulous photo ops. The West Corridor also added 12.1 more miles to the system, bringing the grand total to 38 light-rail miles.

Federal Center Station, prior to opening.
(RTD Fastracks)

When the system first opened in 1994, the fleet comprised of 11 Siemens SD-100 cars. These exclusively North-American cars were found in San Diego, Salt Lake City, Calgary, and Edmonton, seat 190 people at an absolute rush and hit a top speed of 50 miles per hour, while running on the tried-and-true 600V DC overhead. Denver would soon invest in more Siemens cars by 2006, with the fleet ballooning to 172 cars by May 2015. Today, the transit system sees an excess of almost 20 million riders per year, with thousands per week, and with the new "Fastrack" commuter rail, the number just keeps rising, but I'll save the second half for Thursday.

Still no sign of that damn horse, good.
(Traveling in Heels)

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Even though we're discussing modern light rail today, please remember that light rail runs for essential workers only in these dire times. That being said, when isolation does get called off, please give patronage to the light rail as much as possible. Cities like Denver and Phoenix show it works, and they need all the public support they can get. Otherwise, as usual, you can follow myself or my editor on twitter if you wanna support us, maybe buy a shirt as well! Until next week, ride safe!

Trolley Tuesday 4/21/20 - The New Fort Collins Municipal Railway

Fort Collins' streetcar systems holds many noteworthy designations and records, including being the longest-lived Colorado state streetcar and the last all-Birney fleet operating in North America. However, like many cities, Fort Collins never forgot its street railway and made it one of the most popular and most nostalgic street railways in America. Hop aboard Birney No. 21 as we take a Trolley Tuesday trundle down Mountain Avenue aboard the NEW Fort Collins Municipal Railway!

Trolley Thursday 4/16/20 - The Fort Collins Municipal Railway

The Birney Safety Car is as ubiquitous and as comical in the electric streetcar world as the Volkswagen Beetle and Model T are to the automobile world. Though they may be diminutive and drably outfitted inside and out, the Birney was a godsend to electric railways looking to save money on maintenance and manpower. One such town to fully embrace the Birney was Colorado's fourth-biggest metropolis, Fort Collins, and they embraced the little streetcar so much they were the last streetcar system to use Birneys all the way into 1951. Hop aboard today's Trolley Thursday post and bounce along to the beat as we look at the Fort Collins Municipal Railway!

Trolley Tuesday 4/14/20 - The Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway & Pike's Peak Historical Foundation

The state of Colorado is full of wonderful natural springs that lend themselves to the natural beauty offered within, all nestled within the canyons and crags of the Rocky Mountains. Most of these springs would become hot tourist spots, where the clarity and pureness of the water was said to aid in healing and rejuvenation, while others would serve as a source of bottled water where volcanic activity through the past eons served as natural filters to produce delicious mineralized water. Why mention all of this? Well, as my editor tries to stop me from burning money prior to tax day, we'll be looking at the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway on today's Trolley Tuesday! Just remember: no open liquid containers in the car.

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A Denver & Rio Grande Western train arrives at Colorado Springs, 1915.
Palmer also founded the D&RGW.
(Stauffer and Sons)

Brigadier-General William
Jackson Palmer, 1870
(Denver Digital Library)

The first railroads to enter Colorado Springs came in 1871, when former Brigadier-General William Jackson Palmer surveyed the area for possible railroad routes under the Kansas Pacific Railway. While there with Dr. William Abraham Bell, the two men founded the Fountain Colony for the Colorado Springs Company that July just downstream of Colorado City. The name, Colorado Springs, came from four chalybeate (iron salts) springs that would be discovered in 1880 along Monument Creek. Palmer would later found the town of Manitou Springs at the foot of Pike's Peak as a "scenic health resort" in 1872 with Bell, and both towns would be incorporated that same year. Colorado Springs would later be connected by the Colorado & Midland Railway, not the Kansas Pacific, in 1885, but would be swiftly under Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe control by 1890.

In 1887, the Colorado Springs and Manitou Street Railway commenced horsecar service between the Springs' business district and local Colorado College (which Palmer also founded). Further expansion north and west of the line required a fleet of ten horsecars, and by 1890, the entire company was reorganized as the Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway under new ownership. The new owners would establish the first electric line to Manitou Springs, connecting with the famous Pike's Peak Cog Railway at its base station, and fully electrify the system by October of 1890, phasing out the horsecars. An Eastern extension took the Rapid Transit eastward through Knob Hill and Cheyenne Park to the Santa Fe passenger depot and Harvey House, connecting with the Colorado and Southern as well. By the turn of the century, there were now 44 electric streetcars working the streets of Colorado Springs.

A Colorado Springs Rapid Transit car arrives at Mineral Springs in Manitou, 1900,
it appears to be a Brill standard design.
(Leigh Ann Shriver)

Winfield Scott Stratton, 1901
(Century Engraving Co.)

In 1901, the Rapid Transit was now under the ownership of Winfield Scott Stratton. (No relation to the Briggs or Stratton family) Stratton started as a carpenter in Colorado Springs in 1872, but was soon enriched by the Colorado Gold Rush after prospecting in Cripple Creek and founding the Martha Washington and Independence Mine. After the sale of the Martha Washington Mine for a cool $80,000 dollars (basically rich as hell with inflation added), Stratton was further enriched in 1893 when he found a $3 million gold vein (again, rich as hell) and became the first millionaire of the Gold Rush. The Independence mine would be sold for a mean $11 million after Stratton earned $1 million/a year from the mining operations. (Stupid amounts of rich as hell)

However, Stratton didn't sit on his laurels and bask in his wealth; he put his money where it mattered. Seeing the need to give back to the city he began working in, Stratton donated land for the Colorado Springs City Hall, the El Paso Courthouse and the Independence building. He also bought the Rapid Transit for $2 million and intended to improve the system by consolidating it with the neighboring Colorado Springs and Suburban Railway to form the Colorado Springs & Interurban (CS&I). Stratton would not live to see his dear town grow, as he would die in 1902, but his money was put to good use as the system would expand from the new Stratton Park (another land donation turned into a trolley park) to the Roswell coal-town loop, and out to Manitou Springs through new stops in North Colorado Springs, Ivywild, and Broadmoor (all trolley suburb).

Two new-order cars (one motor, one trailer) displaying the new name of the railway, 1911.
(Priscilla Arnett)

CS&I 70 bound for Colorado Springs, showing off the open
"Narragansett" style with steps but also featuring a rare enclosed
driving compartment, 1906.
(Denver Library)

1911 saw peak ridership for the CS&I, but the rapid rise in automobile ownership saw the 38-mile, 56-motor and 13-trailer system in jeopardy. Over the next two decades, the system would continue operations with no fuss or drama, helped along by Stratton's money, but the Works Progress Administration (WPA) would see the end of the Rapid Transit. In 1931, the first buses began replacing streetcars and the last car would run in 1932. By the mid 1930s, the incoming WPA began a repaving operation in Colorado Springs that necessitated the removal of all streetcar track and wire infrastructure. Many of the cars that weren't sold to scrappers found new leases of life in the city they once served as cheap housing.

One of these cheap houses was CS&I No. 48, part of the original 1901 Brill order made by Stratton himself. The car was built as a "convertible", meaning one end could have its windows removed and made an open "summer" section but also brave the harshness of winter. The end platforms also used the novel "Narragansett" folding-step system found on the eponymous holiday streetcars in Rhode Island, meaning passengers didn't have to climb as high to board the car. After retirement in 1932, the car body was used as a residence until 1998, when it was rescued by the Pike's Peak Historical Foundation.

CS&I 48 prior to restoration, note the filled-in front windows.
(HistoryColorado.org)

The foundation was formed in 1983 by Morris Cafky and John H. Haney, authors of "Pikes Peak Trolleys". In 1990, a local man named Rex Dodson donated CS&I No. 59 to the group, who was now headquartered in an 1888 Rock Island roundhouse in Colorado Springs.  Like No. 48, No. 59 was built to the Brill convertible design as the second order, but was actually built by the LaClede company that same year. Both remain the only original Colorado Springs cars left, but the Pike's Peak fleet grew with the addition of Ex-Fort Collins Birney No. 22 (now Colorado Springs 135) and ex-Los Angeles Railway 3101 (a rare P2-type PCC that was one of only 25 built in the US in 1943). 

Ex-Ft. Collins 22's people catcher is serviced, seen through the window frame of
CS&I 59, 2019
(Colorado Springs Gazette) 

By this time, restoration work on Birney No. 135 and PCC No. 3101 was being done in preparation for a possible heritage streetcar line to again run from Colorado Springs to Manitou Springs. Despite the monetary and manpower support of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), who donated $50,000 for the Birney's restoration, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) halted all plans for a heritage streetcar line (planned to run as the Colorado Springs and Manitou Traction Co.) due to construction work rebuilding the I-25. Due to being surrounded by railroad right of way, the only other option for the foundation was a short 2-mile street loop by 2010, in cooperation with the local transit authority and the city. 

The current campus of the Pike's Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation,
an 1888 Rock Island roundhouse in Colorado Springs, with Los Angeles Railway 3101 at center.
(Pike's Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation)

The Pike's Peak fleet now spans not just the last revenue Birney in America (No. 135) and the last two Colorado Springs streetcars (No. 48 and 59), but also Los Angeles Railway 3101 (which also holds the honor of being the first PCC to operate in Colorado, specifically Cripple Creek), and now nine SEPTA PCCs for eventual heritage streetcar use, as well as one ex-Denver Tramway trolleybus. Still based at the old Rock Island roundhouse, the museum operates on 500 feet of track until they can expand, and is even still franchised by the City of Colorado Springs under "Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway". Though the original is gone, its history continues to live on.

A tip of the hat to future endeavours, and a nod to history.
(Larry Oolman)

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If you enjoyed the information delivered through this blog post, please be sure to visit the Pike's Peak Historical Foundation websites (there's two of them) if you would like to know more or donate to their projects. As usual, you can follow myself or my editor on twitter if you wanna support us, maybe buy a shirt, and on Thursday, we FINALLY take a look at the current crown jewel of Colorado streetcars: the Ft. Collins line! Until then, ride safe!

Trolley Thursday 4/9/20 - The Denver & Interurban Railway

The Colorado & Southern Railroad is known for many things: their iconic slender moguls that can be found on almost any G-gauge layout, being a subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and being formed out of several narrow gauge mining roads including the Denver, South Park, and Pacific.What is less known, though, is the Colorado & Southern also owned its own interurban and streetcar network with its own unique shape and unique name. Come fly a kite with us on today's Trolley Thursday as we examine the curious and brief history of the Denver & Interurban Railroad.

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Colorado and Southern mogul No. 22, photographed by Otto Perry in 1918
(Denver Library)

The Colorado & Southern (C&S) first organized the Denver & Interurban (D&I) in 1904 with plans to connect Denver to Boulder and, eventually, onto Fort Collins. Despite the northward direction of the name, C&S worked top-down and started instead in Fort Collins by establishing a city streetcar line. Construction began on July 9, 1907, when contemporary reports by the Fort Collins Express reported a "steam traction engine" ploughing up West Mountain Avenue. As Fort Collins was a small town, it took only nine miles built over 5 months to make a substantial transit line. The new D&I railway would open on December 29, 1907, just in time to ring in the New Year. (I would go on here, but Fort Collins is worthy for an episode to itself.)

Official photograph of D&I Fort Collins car M-103 with crew, 1909
(Fort Collins Images)

As the D&I was setting up its streetcar line, its interurban fortunes were being arranged as well with a substantial 51-mile loop line: starting from the Denver Tramway and Intermountain loop at 15th and Arapahoe, trains would run northeast to Globeville before cutting Northwest to Standley Lake in Westminster; it would then continue past Church's, Broomfield, and Burns Junction, before splitting at Louisville Junction. From here, a train could either go to Superior in the west or Louisville in the east, with the Louisville line offering spur-line service to the resort community of Eldorado Springs (famous for its "Radium Pool" and bottled water brand.) Both lines would then converge on Boulder, forming a complete loop that, on a map, better resembled a kite with Eldorado Springs as the string. This earned the D&I its "Kite Route" moniker in advertising and public conscious.

The Kite Route's iconic shape from a company pamphlet
(Worthpoint)

A D&I car sitting in Denver, year unknown but given the horse
and buggy, probably before 1910.
(Museum of Boulder)

The Kite Route would open on June 23, 1908 with the first train leaving Denver at 3PM. Onboard was Colorado Governor Henry Buchtel, Denver mayor Robert Speer, and Boulder mayor Isaac Earl, along with members of the press who would later declare, "Boulder is now a suburb of Denver." Denver & Interurban also promised two-hour intervals between every train on the system, even to Eldorado Springs, and seemed to have lived up to that as contemporary reports sang praises of the line's consistent scheduling and the clean service. The cars and trailers utilized a unique 11K-volt AC system and were built and furnished by the Niles Car Company of Niles, Ohio, using a combination of steam and electric railroad stylings that could effectively sit 64 people in attention-grabbing comfort.

An artistic depiction of Denver & Interurban Motor M-151 and trailer
201,showing a blatant disregard for trucks in relation to perspective.
(Worthpoint)

D&I M-153 looking very pleased with itself after running
over someone's Ford motorcar. The lack of a plow post-strike
is evident.
(Denver Library)

Unfortunately the praises of the railroad end there, as Colorado & Southern was bought out by the larger Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (CB&Q) by the end of 1908. CB&Q had no interest in the D&S's interurban holdings and quickly halted the expansion into Fort Collins; the only additional spur built around this time reached Westminster College. The line continued to see heavy ridership, averaging at 565,000 riders made up of commuters and tourists, but fortunes turned as automobile ownership rose starting in the late 1910s. This turn in fortune culminated on Labor Day 1920, when two heavily-laden trains collided head-on in Globeville and left twelve people dead. While the company would recover financially, further crossing strike incidents and a decline in public utility led the CB&Q to end D&I operations in 1926. Its Boulder service was replaced by the Denver & Interurban Motor Company bus service.

Today, the only remnant of the original Kite Route is run as RTD bus route FF2 under the moniker, "Flatiron Flyer". Instead of going towards Louisville or Superior, the FF2 cuts through the kite's middle to connect Denver Union Station with Boulder Transit Center. No cars from the original D&I still exist, but a significant portion of the streetcars still lives on in Fort Collins, which is a story for another time.

The new Denver RTD FF2 "Flatiron Flyer" route, now a straight line to Boulder via
Superior with a spur to Louisville by regional rail.
(Moovit app)

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Finding information for this episode was difficult seeing as the Denver & Interurban and Denver & Intermountain were just about interchangeable with each other on the internet. Nevertheless, if you want a more in-depth history of this obscure electric railway, find yourself a copy of The Kite Route; Story of the Denver & Interurban Railroad by William C. Jones and Noel T. Holley. As usual, if you want to follow myself or my editor on twitter, or just want to buy a shirt, follow the links available! Thanks for reading and ride safe until next week!

Trolley Tuesday 4/7/20 - The Denver & Intermountain Railway

There's a few cities in North America that hold the distinction of having a multi-gauge streetcar and interurban network, even though non-electrified dual gauge is more than normal. Colorado is certainly no stranger to it, as both the Denver and Rio Grande Western and Colorado and Southern maintained dual gauge interchange yards and lines where small trains could interchange with larger ones. Denver Tramway was one of a few companies to operate dual-gauge streetcars, and the only one in Colorado, with their Denver and Intermountain subsidiary between Denver and Golden. Come aboard today's Trolley Tuesday and ride the Golden Route! (Like you have any choice...)

Trolley Thursday 4/2/20 - The End of the Denver Tramway

The 1920s were a very tumultuous time for any streetcar service in America, and Denver was no different as the city entered the new decade with blood on the street tracks. An irate public had turned against the streetcar it had loved so dearly because of terrible business decisions that ended up valuing profits over people, and the rise of the automobile meant that a monopoly on public transit was no longer economically viable. What does a transit company do when an angry mob gathers outside, wanting to hear them out or die deaf? Find out on today's Trolley Thursday, covering the end of the Denver Tramway.

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The Denver Tramway Strike hits Colfax Avenue, 1920
(Colfax History)

Mayor Dewey C. Bailey, rocking the
handlebar moustache
(Denver Library)

In 1918, Denver Tramway was sued by the City of Denver for reneging on their 1906 charter promising to keep their 5-cent fare, despite the ridership dwindling and leaving the company's operating costs in the red. In response to a newly-elected Dewey C. Bailey promising to restore the 5-cent fare, Denver Tramway announced mass layoffs and paycuts to whoever was left. This incensed Denver residents further that by July, 1918, the Local 746 of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America was organized.

Due to the organization falling under wartime (World War I), the Local 746 was able to bring War Labor Board regulations to the table and demand their implementation, which included an eight-hour workday and a wage raise. Denver Tramway, ever the corporate rebel, instead cut the remaining workers' pay even more because of the City's position to deny any fare increases. The next year, July 1919, a general strike occurred over four days but failed to make an impression on the Denver Transit. 

By the next year, though the Treaty of Versailles would be passed to end World War I, Denver on the other hand was itching for a war. Denver Tramway again put out a general threat to cut wages further (to the point of just... not paying people?) unless the City of Denver at least acquiesced to a fare increase. The people refused to budge and instead voted to strike by August 1 if Denver Transit didn't back down. The company quickly hired legendary California strikebreaker John "Black Jack" Jerome and his crew as a response.

John "Black Jack" Jerome, at right.
(Ekathimerini)

August 1st came and went, and by August 3rd, Jerome and crew had arrived in Denver, armed to the teeth. By then, all cars had ground to a halt and left the city in a standstill, and none of Jerome's crew were "scab" motormen or conductors, instead being college students, guards, detectives, and reformed criminals. Though Mayor Bailey was on the side of the people, he also took a precaution to arm the strikebreakers as city deputies. On August 4, Jerome himself took to the controls to defy the strikers, piloting a car out of the barn at Fourteenth and Arapahoe. The car was later rolled over by a mob, leading Jerome and crew to clash with union strikers.

Two or three Denver Tramway cars rolled over by the mob.
(Colfax History)

August 5th was the worst day for the strike, starting in the afternoon with a parade of demonstrators chased two "scab" streetcars heading back to the barn. The chase led to several organized mobs that began targeting not only Jerome and his crew, but also the headquarters of Denver Tramway, the anti-union Denver Post, and the Union Station. Two bystanders were killed that night and 33 were injured. At 1 AM, August 6, Mayor Bailey found the city's police overwhelmed and immediately called for a citizen's volunteer militia to take over that night, leading to five deaths and 25 wounded at the East Division carbarn.

When the smoke had cleared, Mayor Bailey and Colorado Governor Oliver Shroup appealed for federal assistance, leading to martial law being declared under Col. C.C. Ballou from nearby Fort Logan. His superior, Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, would later state that arming Jerome's strikebreakers was a "colossal blunder". Denver Tramway would file bankruptcy shortly after due to the losses in infrastructure, equipment, and manpower, while the Local 746 was also dissolved.

A Denver Tramway coach passes City Hall, shortly before
mass de-electrification, early 1950s
(RTD Archives)

When the company emerged from bankruptcy, Denver Tramway posted its first trolleybus route from Englewood and Fort Logan in 1924. Despite buying new home-built trolley cars from Woeber Auto Body and Manufacturing that same year, the buses were cheap, flexible, and gave Denver Tramway a loophole to not maintain the roads anymore since they were leaving the trolley business. 1949's roster lists showed 131 streetcars, 138 trolley coaches, and 161 buses under the Tramway, but by next year all streetcars would be removed from service and all infrastructure removed by 1955. Old trolley bodies were offered to sell at $100 a car (almost $1000 in 2019).

From then until the company's incorporation into the Colorado Regional Transportation District (RTD) in 1971, the Denver Tramway remained an increasingly irrelevant monopoly. The rise in car ownership and lack of public say in operations meant many Denverites chose to commute by car, and Denver Tramway soon transferred its assets to the municipal Denver Metro Transit (which was very choosy about which neighborhoods would grant it a subsidy to operate in their area). The RTD would be created in 1974 following Metro Transit's near-bankruptcy, ending the Tramway for good. Today, the only piece of surviving Denver Tramway equipment is Car No. 4, which is under restoration by the City of Arvada and the Arvada Historical Society. Car No. 4 is also the last Denver Tramway streetcar to run in 1950, and requires urgent and intense restoration as it was placed on the "Endangered Places" list by Colorado Preservation in 2015.

A Timken ad from 1950 proclaiming the glories of the new buses,
contrasting with the electrified horsecars from the 1880s.
(Transpress NZ)

Denver Tramway No. 4, undergoing badly-needed restoration.
(HistoryColorado.org)

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Well, that was pleasant! I think. I assure everyone next week will be much happier, as we'll look at the interurban side of Denver Tramway's operations with the Denver & Interurban Railway, and also zoom our camera in and nerd out on the different cars operated by both systems. In the meantime, please give myself  and my editor a follow on twitter to get alerted when the newest episode comes out, and buy a shirt to look good when trolley-distancing. Until next week, ride safe!