__NOTOC__ Like most large cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, there existed a large network of streetcars in Cleveland in the first half of the 20th century. The

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 a ...

lines in

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

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

were operated by the Cleveland Railway, which was formed in 1910 with the merger of two companies. The Cleveland Railway converted a few streetcar lines in the 1930s, but the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

stopped any further conversions. In 1942, the

Cleveland Transit System The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is t ...

took over the operation of all streetcar,

bus 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 ...

and trackless trolley lines from the Cleveland Railway. Following the war, CTS undertook a program of replacing all existing streetcar lines with either trackless trolleys or buses. The last CTS streetcar ran on January 24, 1954 with a free ride celebration on the Madison line from Public Square to West 65th and Bridge.

List of streetcar lines

The following table lists the conversion of the Cleveland streetcar lines to trackless trolleys (or trolleybuses) or buses in reverse chronological order, with the last date of streetcar service, the line name, the modern line number, the type of vehicle replacing the streetcar, and the length of time that lasted. Shuttle lines or "dinkeys" are not included. {, class="wikitable sortable" , - style="vertical-align: top;" !Date !Line !No. !Replaced with !From !Until !Then !Notes , - style="vertical-align: top;" , January 25, 1954 , Madison , 25 ,

Bus 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 ...

, January 26, 1954 , Present , — , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , August 15, 1953 , Clark , 23 , Bus , August 16, 1953 , Present , — , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , August 15, 1953 , West 25th , 20 , Bus , August 16, 1953 , Present , — , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 20, 1953 , Superior , 3 , Trackless trolley , March 22, 1953 , April 12, 1963 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 7, 1953 , East 55th , 16 , Bus , March 8, 1953 , Present , — , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , June 14, 1952 , Lorain
(Public Square to West 140th) , 22 , Trackless trolley , June 15, 1952 , November 14, 1958 , Bus , Also used by the Cleveland, Southwestern and Columbus Railway , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 26, 1952 , Euclid
{Public Square to Windermere) , 6 , Bus , April 27, 1952 , Present , — , Also used by the Cleveland, Painesville and Eastern Railroad (Main Line) , - style="vertical-align: top;" , November 3, 1951 , St. Clair , 1 , Trackless trolley , November 4, 1951 , May 4, 1962 , Bus , Also used by the Cleveland, Painesville and Eastern Railroad (Shore Line) , - style="vertical-align: top;" , August 25, 1951 , Detroit , 26 , Trackless trolley , August 27, 1951 , November 14, 1958 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 7, 1951 , St. Clair
(East of East 129th) , 1 , Bus , April 8, 1951 , Present , — , Became Bus # 5
Now Bus # 1 again , - style="vertical-align: top;" , July 1, 1950 , West 25th
(Broadview branch) , 20 , Bus , July 2, 1950 , Present , — , Became Bus # 67
Now part of Bus # 35 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , June 17, 1950 , Lorain
(West 140th to Puritas) , 22 , Bus , June 18, 1950 , Present , — , Became Bus # 85
Now Bus # 22 again , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 25, 1950 , Kinsman , 14 , Trackless trolley , September 6, 1950 , October 19, 1962 , Bus , Also used by the Eastern Ohio Traction Company ( Cleveland and Chagrin Falls Railway) , - style="vertical-align: top;" , September 6, 1949 , Mayfield , 7 , Bus , September 7, 1949 , Present , — , Also used by the Eastern Ohio Traction Company (

Cleveland and Eastern Traction Company 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. ...

) , - style="vertical-align: top;" , August 15, 1949 , Euclid
(Hayden branch) , 6 , Bus , August 16, 1949 , Present , — , Became Bus # 30 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , July 31, 1948 , East 55th
(Washington Park branch) , 16 , , , , , Shut down because of construction of Willow Freeway (now

I-77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...

). , - style="vertical-align: top;" , July 31, 1948 , Fairmount , ? , Bus , August 1, 1948 , Present , — , Became Bus # 32C
Now Bus # 42 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , June 30, 1948 , Buckeye , 13 , Trackless trolley , September 8, 1948 , October 19, 1962 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 30, 1948 , St. Clair
(East 140th Euclid Beach branch) , 1 , Bus , May 1, 1948 , , , Became Bus # 44
Now part of Bus # 30 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 30, 1948 , Fulton , 24 , Trackless trolley , June 22, 1950 , November 14, 1958 , Bus , Now part of Bus # 79 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 15, 1948 , Euclid
(Windermere to Ivanhoe) , 6 , Bus , April 16, 1948 , Present , — , Became Bus # 28 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 20, 1948 , Euclid
(Ivanhoe to East 212th) , 6 , Bus , March 21, 1948 , Present , — , Became Bus # 28 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 15, 1948 , Woodland , 12 , Trackless trolley , February 16, 1949 , October 19, 1962 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 6, 1948 , Harvard–Dennison , 18 , Bus , March 7, 1948 , ? , — , Now replaced by several bus routes , - style="vertical-align: top;" , January 31, 1948 , East 105th , 10 , Trackless trolley , February 1, 1948 , June 14, 1963 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , November 15, 1947 , Clifton , 27 , Trackless trolley , July 5, 1949 , November 14, 1958 , Bus , Also used by the Lake Shore Electric Railway Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Report on a Rapid Transit System for the City of Cleveland, 1919, p. 55
Now replaced by several bus routes , - style="vertical-align: top;" , September 2, 1947 , Union , 15 , Trackless trolley , May 1, 1948 , June 14, 1963 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , August 15, 1947 , Broadway , 19 , Trackless trolley , December 1, 1947 , June 14, 1963 , Bus , Also used by the Northern Ohio Traction and Light Company ( Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad) , - style="vertical-align: top;" , July 31, 1947 , West 25th
(Pearl Road branch) , 20 , Bus , August 1, 1947 , , , Became Bus # 51 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , June 15, 1948 , Cedar
(Downtown to Cedar Glen) , 8 , Trackless trolley , June 16, 1948 , April 12, 1963 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , May 6, 1946 , Scovill , 11 , Bus , May 7, 1946 , ? , — , Now no bus service , - style="vertical-align: top;" , March 15, 1945 , Cedar
(Cedar Glen to Taylor) , 8 , Bus , March 16, 1945 , Present , — , Became Bus # 32 , - style="vertical-align: top;" , November 15, 1940 , East 79th , 2 , Bus , November 16, 1940 , Present , — , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , November 15, 1940 , East 30th , 17 , Bus , November 16, 1940 , ? , — , Now no bus service , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 15, 1939 , Wade Park , 4 , Trackless trolley , December 16, 1945 , April 12, 1963 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , June 15, 1938 , Central , 33 , Bus , June 16, 1938 , Present , — , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , October 31, 1935 , Payne–Hough , 38 , Trackless trolley , March 1, 1939 , April 12, 1963 , Bus , , - style="vertical-align: top;" , April 3, 1935 , Fairfield , 74 , Bus , April 4, 1935 , Present , , Streetcar service ended when Central Viaduct closed
Now part of Bus # 81

References

Inline references

Books

* * {{refend

External links

Tom's North American Trolleybus Pix Cleveland Page
Transportation in Cleveland Transportation in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Streetcars in Ohio

List of streetcar lines

See also

References

Inline references

Books

External links