![Kansas City postcard showing cable-powered streetcars in front of the Post Office, prior to 1908](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Kansas_City_postcard_showing_cable-powered_streetcars_in_front_of_the_Post_Office%2C_prior_to_1908.jpg)
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
, like most North American cities, operated streetcars in Kansas City as their primary public transit mode.
[
Kansas City once had one of the most extensive ]streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
systems in North America, but the last of its 25 streetcar routes was shut down in 1957.[ Indeed, all but five North American cities – ]Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and – replaced all their streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
networks with buses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
, including Kansas City; three other cities, Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, and Cleveland
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. ...
, operated rail lines more akin to modern light rail that are still in operation to this day.
History
Horsecar and cable car era
The first streetcars introduced in Kansas City in 1870 were horse-powered.[
On some early routes the streetcars were propelled by gripping moving underground cables, like San Francisco's cable cars.][
The city granted its first franchise to the Metropolitan Street Railway Company,
owned by Thomas Corrigan.][ ]William Rockhill Nelson
William Rockhill Nelson (March 7, 1841 – April 13, 1915) was an American real estate developer and co-founder of ''The Kansas City Star'' in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri. He donated his estate (and home) for the establishment of ...
, publisher of the ''Kansas City Star
''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...
'', believed Corrigan was corrupt, and used his paper to lobby against renewing his franchise.
Electrified streetcars
By 1908, all but one of the city's streetcar routes had been converted to being powered by electricity.[
When the ]Kansas City Public Service Company
The Kansas City Public Service Company was the most well known name for a series of public transit operators in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, until being sold to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority in 1969.
Streetcar operations in Kansas ...
(KSPS) was created in 1925 it inherited over 700 streetcars that had been owned and operated by private companies.[ The streetcar routes operated by the KSPS also served commuters across the state line in ]Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
.[
The KSPS planned to replace all its older streetcars with new, state-of-the-art ]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, an order that would have required 371 vehicles. Only 24 were delivered prior to World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposin ...
, which put a hiatus on new streetcar construction. The KSPS ultimately acquired 184 PCC vehicles.
Well-known Kansas City developer Jesse C. Nichols was known for constructing streetcar lines to serve the new communities he built.[
]
Modern streetcars
A modern streetcar was installed in 2014 and opened to the public in 2016 — KC Streetcar
The KC Streetcar is a streetcar system in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Construction began in May 2014. The system opened for service on May 6, 2016. The KC Streetcar is free to ride, as it is funded by a transportation development district ...
. It runs a similar, but shorter, route to the last line that ran when service ended in 1957.
KCPS 551
Kansas City Public Service streetcar 551 is a PCC
PCC may refer to:
Science and technology
* Pearson correlation coefficient (''r''), in statistics
* Periodic counter-current chromatography, a type of affinity chromatography
* Portable C Compiler, an early compiler for the C programming language
...
(President's Conference Committee) streetcar preserved for static display in the River Market
The River Market (formerly known as Westport Landing, the City Market, and River Quay) is a riverfront neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri that comprises the first and oldest incorporated district in Kansas City. It stretches north of the downto ...
neighborhood of Kansas City. It was built in 1947 by the 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 ...
for service in Kansas City. When the city closed its streetcar service, it was 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 ...
in 1957 and became TTC 4762. In 1973, the streetcar was sold to the San Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni), is the public transit system for the City and County of San Francisco. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cable ...
, renumbered as Muni 1190 and ran as a tourist attraction. In 1979, the streetcar was sold to the Western Railway Museum
The Western Railway Museum, in Solano County, California is located on Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Suisun. The museum is built along the former mainline of the
Sacramento Northern Railway. Their collection focuses on trolleys, as it is ...
remaining as Muni 1190. In 2006, KC Regional Transit Alliance purchased the streetcar, restored it as KCPS 551 and put it on static display at Kansas City Union Station
Kansas City Union Station (station code: KCY) is a union station opened in 1914, serving Kansas City, Missouri, and the surrounding metropolitan area. It replaced a small Union Depot from 1878. Union Station served a peak annual traffic of mo ...
. In 2016, the streetcar was put into storage as its Union Station site was to be repurposed. Finally, in 2017 the streetcar was moved again for display on its current River Market site next to the modern KC Streetcar
The KC Streetcar is a streetcar system in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Construction began in May 2014. The system opened for service on May 6, 2016. The KC Streetcar is free to ride, as it is funded by a transportation development district ...
line.
There was some thought to restore 551 to operating condition and run it on the KC Streetcar line for special events. However, the idea was abandoned because 551 was a single-ended car, and the KC Streetcar line had no turning loops.
Streetcar 551 is located on a lot at 426 Delaware Street at the corner of West Fifth Street. Denver-based Epoch Developments owns the streetcar as well as ten buildings along Delaware Street. Epoch plans to use the streetcar interior for retail and a cafe.
References
External links
*
{{Public transportation in Kansas
History of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...