Streetcars in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Last updated
Kenosha Streetcars
DSC 1097 024xRP - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg
A PCC streetcar touring HarborPark
Overview
Locale Kenosha, Wisconsin
Transit type Heritage streetcar
Number of lines1
Number of stations17
Operation
Began operationJune 17, 2000 [1]
Operator(s) Kenosha Transit
Technical
System length1.7 mi (2.7 km) [2]
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification Overhead line,  600 V DC
System map

[3]

Contents

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Celebration Place
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Kenosha Public Museum
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2nd Ave.
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3rd Ave.
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4th Ave.
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5th Ave.
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6th Ave.
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7th Ave.
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8th Ave.
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10th Ave.
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54th St. │ 56th St.
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Kenosha station UP-N

Streetcars were part of the public transit service in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the first third of the 20th century, and returned to this role in 2000.

Kenosha Electric Railway

The first Kenosha Electric Railway (KERy) was a street railway serving the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, from February 3, 1903, through February 14, 1932. Throughout these 29 years of service, the system operated Birney Safety Cars. [4] [ full citation needed ] Although it had several owners, the original name was used throughout its history and is still attached to the current streetcar line in Kenosha. In 1932 the Kenosha system was converted to electric trolley buses, making Kenosha an early user of these vehicles for all transit operations (both Ipswich and Darlington in the UK converted entirely to trolley buses in 1926). Kenosha also utilized color-coding for transit routes, a more common practice in horsecar days but used by Glasgow on its electric cars from the beginning. [5]

Modern streetcar line

Green streetcar tracks in Kenosha Kenosha July 2022 001 (streetcar tracks).jpg
Green streetcar tracks in Kenosha

At the turn of the 21st century, Kenosha constructed a modern electric streetcar system utilizing historic PCC streetcars in coordination with the HarborPark development on the shores of Lake Michigan. The line has become a model project studied by urban planners worldwide,[ citation needed ] and is used by thirty percent of visitors to Kenosha.[ citation needed ]

Installation of the tram track sub-base was completed in the autumn of 1998 and utilized crushed concrete from the foundations of the 1870-era Simmons Bedding Company/American Motors Corporation office and plant buildings east of Fifth Avenue. As the new streets in HarborPark were completed in the fall of 1999, crews installed new 115-pound-per-yard (57 kg/m) continuously welded rail streetcar track over modern concrete ties (except for standard wooden ties under grade crossings). Electric overhead line construction for 600-volt direct current was completed in April 2000 and energized by a modern solid state substation.

Kenosha's six historic 'Red Rocket' PCC A15-class streetcars were built in Fort William, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario) for the Toronto Transportation Commission (predecessor of the current Toronto Transit Commission) in 1951 by the Canadian Car and Foundry Company under license from the Transit Research Corporation, holder of the PCC car patents, and using car bodies manufactured by the St. Louis Car Company that were shipped to Canada and remanufactured and rebodied from the windows down in 1991. Each Kenosha car is painted in a unique livery (paint scheme) representing an historic North American transit system that also operated PCC streetcars. The first of Kenosha's streetcars was 4610 'Toronto' (originally 4541), delivered on Thursday, May 4, 2000. The six other cities and systems thereby represented include 4606 (Chicago Surface Lines), [6] 4609 (Pittsburgh Railways Company), [7] 4615 (Johnstown Traction Company), [8] 4616 (Cincinnati Street Railways), [9] 4617 San Francisco Municipal Railway, and 2185 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

The ceremonial dedication of the streetcar line and the new Transit Center was held on June 17, 2000, and the memorial ribbon was broken at 11 a.m. by 4610 'Toronto', piloted by Richard Lindgren who had been a motorman for the original Kenosha Electric Railway (KERy) in 1932.

Public rides began immediately after the opening ceremony. Regularly scheduled service started two days later, on Monday morning, June 19, 2000. [1]

Car 4615 in a Johnstown tribute paint scheme in 2005 Kenosha streetcar 4615 on 56th St at 1st Ave in 2005.jpg
Car 4615 in a Johnstown tribute paint scheme in 2005

In addition to its utilitarian purpose, the streetcar system (along with Metra service) has played a major role in the downtown's transit-oriented development (TOD) and immediately became one of Kenosha's top tourist attractions. In December 2005, the City Council voted to study expansion of the current two-mile downtown route (which currently carries over 63,000 passengers yearly) to the city's southwest and through the Uptown business district.

Kenosha's HarborPark Plan, which is served by the streetcar line, comprises over 400 upscale urban housing units and retail, commercial, restaurant and recreational facilities. The streetcar circulator project demonstrates the feasibility of reintroducing zero-emission electric transit into mid-west cities and the application of special short-haul transit applications.

In October 2011, the city of Kenosha received a gift of two more PCC streetcars purchased and donated by John DeLamater. Car 4617 arrived on Oct. 10, and Car 2185 arrived on Oct. 12. These two cars were previously at the East Troy Electric Railroad which had found them unsuitable to its needs. 4617 was built for Toronto in 1951, and finished at the Canadian Car and Foundry with a shell provided by the St. Louis Car Company, one of 19 cars rebuilt for Toronto in 1986. Car 2185 was built in 1948 for the Philadelphia Transport Company by the St. Louis Car Company. Rebuilt in the mid-1980s, it saw service for SEPTA until 1992, when it was acquired by the East Troy line in 1994. [10]

In 2014, the Kenosha city council voted to approve an additional north–south crosstown line, but the expansion was cancelled in 2015 due to unanticipated cost overruns. [11]

Map

Streetcars in Kenosha, Wisconsin

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PCC streetcar</span> 1930s streetcar (tram) design

The PCC is a tram design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful domestically, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the world where PCC based cars were made. The PCC car has proved to be a long-lasting icon of streetcar design, and many remain in service around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halton County Radial Railway</span> Railway museum / Heritage railway in Milton, Ontario

The Halton County Radial Railway is a working museum of electric streetcars, other railway vehicles, buses and trolleybuses. It is operated by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association (OERHA). It is focused primarily on the history of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and its predecessor, the Toronto Transportation Commission, Its collection includes PCC, Peter Witt, CLRV and ALRV, and earlier cars from the Toronto streetcar system as well as G-series and M-series Toronto subway cars.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F Market & Wharves</span> San Francisco heritage streetcar line

The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other lines in the system, the F line runs as a heritage streetcar service, almost exclusively using historic equipment both from San Francisco's retired fleet as well as from cities around the world. While the F line is operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), its operation is supported by Market Street Railway, a nonprofit organization of streetcar enthusiasts which raises funds and helps to restore vintage streetcars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Transportation Commission</span> Former public transit operator in Toronto, Canada

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego Electric Railway</span> Mass transit system (1892–1949)

The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) was a mass transit system in Southern California, United States, using 600 volt DC streetcars and buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenosha Area Transit</span>

Kenosha Area Transit is a city-owned public transportation agency based in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidents' Conference Committee (Toronto streetcar)</span>

The Presidents' Conference Committee Car was a streetcar used by the Toronto Transportation Commission and the Toronto Transit Commission. The PCC streetcar was designed by the Presidents' Conference Committee, a group of transit operators in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKinney Avenue Transit Authority</span> Trolley line in Dallas, Texas

The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MATA), a non-profit organization, operates the M-Line Trolley in Dallas, Texas. In operation since 1989, it is an example of a heritage streetcar running historic cars. The M-Line Trolley operates 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Since 2002, the M-Line Trolley is free to the public, thanks to donations and a joint operating subsidy received from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and the Uptown Improvement District. The main stretch of the line runs along McKinney Avenue in Uptown between West Village and Klyde Warren Park / Dallas Arts District. The M-Line Trolley connects to the DART light rail system at CityPlace/Uptown on the northern end and St. Paul on the southern end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Surface Lines</span> American public transport operator

The Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) was operator of the street railway system of Chicago, Illinois, from 1913 to 1947. The firm is a predecessor of today's publicly owned operator, the Chicago Transit Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Streetcar Museum</span> Streetcar museum in Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum (BSM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit museum. It is located at 1911 Falls Road in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum is dedicated to preserving Baltimore's public transportation history, especially the streetcar era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Railways</span>

Pittsburgh Railways was one of the predecessors of Pittsburgh Regional Transit. It had 666 PCC cars, the third largest fleet in North America. It had 68 streetcar routes, of which only three are used by the Port Authority as light rail routes. With the Port Authority's Transit Development Plan, many route names will be changed to its original, such as the 41D Brookline becoming the 39 Brookline. Many of the streetcar routes have been remembered in the route names of many Port Authority buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnstown Traction Company</span> Former transit system in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown Traction Company (JTC) was a public transit system in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. For most of its existence it was primarily a street-railway system, but in later years also operated rubber-tired vehicles. JTC operated trolley (tram) service in Johnstown from February 23, 1910 to June 11, 1960. Johnstown was one of the last small cities to abandon trolley service in the United States. It was also the smallest city to acquire a fleet of PCC cars and acquired trackless trolleys at a late date compared to larger transit properties. Many of the 1920s-era cars went directly to museums; however, none of the 17 PCC streetcars were saved. Efforts to sell the 16 then-surviving PCC cars intact were unsuccessful, and in 1962 they were scrapped, but many of their components were salvaged and sold to the Brussels, Belgium tram system, reused in the last series of single PCC trams (7156–7171), which ran from 1970 until February 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Railway (Ohio)</span>

The Cleveland Railway Company was the public transit operator in Cleveland, Ohio, 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 streetcars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Capital Trolley Museum</span> 501(c)(3) nonprofit museum in Colesville, Maryland

The National Capital Trolley Museum (NCTM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates historic street cars, trolleys and trams for the public on a regular schedule. Located in Montgomery County, Maryland, the museum's primary mission is to preserve and interpret the history of the electric street and interurban railways of the National Capital region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streetcars in North America</span> History of street cars

Streetcars or trolley(car)s were once the chief mode of public transit in hundreds of North American cities and towns. Most of the original urban streetcar systems were either dismantled in the mid-20th century or converted to other modes of operation, such as light rail. Today, only Toronto still operates a streetcar network essentially unchanged in layout and mode of operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Municipal Railway fleet</span> LRV and Bus Fleet of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni)

With five different modes of transport, the San Francisco Municipal Railway runs one of the most diverse fleets of vehicles in the United States. Roughly 550 diesel-electric hybrid buses, 300 electric trolleybuses, 250 modern light rail vehicles, 50 historic streetcars and 40 cable cars see active duty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto streetcar system rolling stock</span>

In 1921, the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was created to integrate and operate the Toronto streetcar system. It inherited the infrastructure of two separate streetcar operators: the Toronto Railway Company (TRC) and Toronto Civic Railways (TCR). The TTC immediately embarked on a program to connect the TRC and TCR lines into one network. The TTC had to rebuild most of the track to provide a wider devilstrip so that the wider Peter Witt streetcars it was ordering could pass without sideswiping. Between 1938 and 1945, it placed five orders for air-electric PCC streetcars to replace the old, wooden streetcars of the TRC, and to address rising ridership. Between 1947 and 1951, the TTC placed three orders for all-electric PCC cars, with one order equipped with couplers for multiple-unit operation. Between 1950 and 1957, the TTC purchased PCCs from four American cities. By 1957, the TTC had more PCCs than any other city in North America. After the opening of the Bloor–Danforth subway in 1966, the TTC considered terminating all streetcar service in Toronto. However, in 1972, a citizens group led by Jane Jacobs and Steve Munro called "Streetcars for Toronto" persuaded the City to retain streetcar operation. This led to the development of the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and its longer, articulated cousin, the Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV), to replace the aging PCC fleet. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) mandated that the next generation of streetcars be wheelchair-accessible. Thus, to replace the CLRVs and ALRVs, Bombardier adapted its low-floor Flexity Outlook model for the TTC to navigate the Toronto streetcar system's tight curves and single-point switches, characteristics set in 1921 to accommodate Peter Witt streetcars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Line (San Diego Trolley)</span> San Diego Trolley Heritage line

The Silver Line is a 2.7-mile (4.3 km) heritage streetcar line operated by the San Diego Trolley, an operating division of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. It currently operates the "downtown loop"; a circle of tracks around Downtown San Diego, and is operated using renovated historic vehicles. The line is one of four lines in the Trolley system, sharing tracks of the other lines; the other three lines are the Blue, Orange, and Green lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Clair Carhouse</span> Streetcar depot facility in Toronto, Ontario

The St. Clair Carhouse was a streetcar facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located south of St. Clair Avenue on a parcel of land bounded by Wychwood Avenue on the east, Benson Avenue on its north side and Christie Street on the west side. It was opened by the Toronto Civic Railways in 1913, taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921 and closed by its successor, the Toronto Transit Commission, in 1998. The carhouse was subsequently transformed into a community centre called the Wychwood Barns.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kenosah Streetcar". Tramways & Urban Transit : 348–349. September 2000. ISSN   1460-8324.
  2. http://www.sewrpc.org/SEWRPCFiles/Transportation/Files/transit-kenosha/capr-281_chapter-02_prelim_dra.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  3. "Kenosha Transit Electric Streetcar Route Map & Schedule" (PDF). February 8, 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  4. Don Leistikow
  5. Bett & Gillham, Great British Tramway Networks, 4th ed., 1962.
  6. "4606 'Green Hornet'".
  7. "4609 'Pittsburgh'".
  8. "4615 'Johnstown'".
  9. "4616 'Cincinnati'".
  10. Gentner, Margie (October 16, 2011). "Kenosha receives donation of two streetcars". KenoWi. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  11. FLORES, TERRY (2015-07-07). "Streetcar plan hits end of the line". Kenosha News. Retrieved 2020-08-16.