Birmingham Railway And Electric Company on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Birmingham Railway and Electric Company was both a street car and electricity provider in
In addition to a variety of older cars kept in service, BEC ordered 47 PCC streetcars, at a cost of $25,000 each, from Pullman Standard in 1947. Birmingham's cars were the 17425 model and were manufactured at the Osgood Bradley plant in
Birmingham - Jefferson County Transit Authority
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham Railway Electric Company Defunct Alabama railroads Defunct public transport operators in the United States
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, US.
Created in 1890 after the consolidation of several street railway operators, including the Birmingham Street Railway:
* Highland Avenue and Belt Railroad 1885-1890
* East Lake Land Company 1886-1890
* East Birmingham Land Company 1887-1890
* Bessemer and Birmingham Railroad 1887-1890
* Enselt Company 1887-1890
In 1940, BREC became Birmingham Electric Company.
The company faced increased pressure from car after World War II and ridership declined. By the 1950s streetcar operations gave way to bus service in the city. Forty-seven streamlined PCC streetcars, which went into service in 1947, were sold to the Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...
in 1953.
BEC changed its name to Birmingham Transit Company in 1951. In 1972, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority
Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) is the public transportation operator in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Created in 1972 to take over transit operations from private operators, it operates 109 buses on 38 routes. It also op ...
took over public transit operations.
Fleet
1950s
In addition to a variety of older cars kept in service, BEC ordered 47 PCC streetcars, at a cost of $25,000 each, from Pullman Standard in 1947. Birmingham's cars were the 17425 model and were manufactured at the Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
. The interiors were three shades of green with coffee-colored leather upholstery, stainless steel seat backs and chrome trim. The cars entered service on August 31, 1947. The exterior color scheme was updated to navy blue skirts with cream above, separated by a scarlet stripe.
References
* Hudson, Alvin W. and Harold E. Cox (1976) ''Street Railways of Birmingham''. Forty Fort, Pennsylvania: Harold E. Cox * Clemons, Marvin and Lyle Key (2008) ''Birmingham Rails: The Last Golden Era from World War II to Amtrak.'' Birmingham: Red Mountain Press.Birmingham - Jefferson County Transit Authority
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham Railway Electric Company Defunct Alabama railroads Defunct public transport operators in the United States