The Cleveland Railway Company was the

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

operator in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, from 1910 to 1942. The company began operations with assets of the former Forest City Railway, which operated from 1906 to 1909. The company owned a fleet of

PCC streetcar The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...

s. Though

National City Lines National City Lines, Inc. (NCL) was a public transportation company. The company grew out of the Fitzgerald brothers' bus operations, founded in Minnesota, United States in 1920 as a modest local transport company operating two buses. Part of the ...

never owned the system in Cleveland,

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

did negotiate the sale of buses to the city, resulting in the shutdown of the streetcar system. In Cleveland, complaints were made to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

after the mayor and city councilors were seen driving around in new General Motors cars. Mayor

Ray T. Miller Raymond Thomas Miller, Sr. (January 10, 1893 – July 13, 1966), commonly known as Ray T. Miller, was an American politician who served as the 43rd Mayor of Cleveland, mayor of Cleveland, and the chairman of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyaho ...

did receive a new car within a month of General Motors' winning the contract for new buses. The FBI refused to investigate based on high-profile nature of the people targeted. The city of Cleveland bought out Cleveland Railway in 1942 and used it as the nucleus for the Cleveland Transit System, the precursor to the current Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. The Cleveland streetcars 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 largest ...

, where they remained in service for thirty years until 1982. Others were sold to the Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company.

Fleet

* Peter Witt streetcar - 130 ordered in 1915 and 1916 * Peter Witt streetcar - ordered 1918 and 5 cars sold to London Street Railway in 1923http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/pnaerc.pl?sel_owner_once=London+Street+Railway and re-sold to various operators in 1941 * Presidents' Conference Committee cars - 75 all-electric cars sold in 1952 to

Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was the public transit operator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1921. It operated buses, streetcars and the island ferries. The system was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1954. H ...

: 50

Pullman Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

A11 and 25

St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri. History The St. Louis Car Company ...

A12 (originally ordered by Louisville Railway)

References

External links

History Detectives
- PBS Television show, has an episode about the Cleveland streetcar system.
Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland Railway Ohio Defunct Ohio railroads Defunct public transport operators in the United States History of Cleveland Light rail in Ohio Tram, urban railway and trolley companies Transportation in Cleveland Railway companies established in 1910 American companies established in 1910 Railway companies disestablished in 1942

Fleet

See also

References

External links