The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) was a mass transit system in Southern California, United States, using 600 volt DC streetcars and buses.
The Connecticut Trolley Museum is the oldest incorporated museum dedicated to electric railroading in the United States, as it was founded in 1940.
New York State Railways was a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad that controlled several large city streetcar and electric interurban systems in upstate New York. It included the city transit lines in Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Oneida and Rome, plus various interurban lines connecting those cities. New York State Railways also held a 50% interest in the Schenectady Railway Company, but it remained a separate independent operation. The New York Central took control of the Rochester Railway Company, the Rochester and Eastern Rapid Railway and the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway in 1905, and the Mohawk Valley Company was formed by the railroad to manage these new acquisitions. New York State Railways was formed in 1909 when the properties controlled by the Mohawk Valley Company were merged. In 1912 it added the Rochester and Suburban Railway, the Syracuse Rapid Transit Railway, the Oneida Railway, and the Utica and Mohawk Valley Railway. The New York Central Railroad was interested in acquiring these lines in an effort to control the competition and to gain control of the lucrative electric utility companies that were behind many of these streetcar and interurban railways. Ridership across the system dropped through the 1920s as operating costs continued to rise, coupled with competition from better highways and private automobile use. New York Central sold New York State Railways in 1928 to a consortium led by investor E. L. Phillips, who was looking to gain control of the upstate utilities. Phillips sold his stake to Associated Gas & Electric in 1929, and the new owners allowed the railway bonds to default. New York State Railways entered receivership on December 30, 1929. The company emerged from receivership in 1934, and local operations were sold off to new private operators between 1938 and 1948.
Founded in 1996, the Naugatuck Railroad is a common carrier railroad owned by the Railroad Museum of New England and operated by Naugatuck Railroad on tracks leased by Naugatuck Railroad from the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The original Naugatuck Railroad was a railroad chartered to operate through south central Connecticut in 1845, with the first section opening for service in 1849. In 1887 the line was leased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and became wholly owned by 1906. At its greatest extent the Naugatuck ran from Bridgeport north to Winsted. Today's Naugatuck Railroad runs from Waterbury to the end of track in Torrington, Connecticut. From Waterbury south to the New Haven Line, Metro-North Railroad operates commuter service on the Waterbury Branch.
For just under 100 years, between 1862 and 1962, streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region.
The Fifth Avenue Coach Company was a bus operator in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, and Westchester County, New York, providing public transit between 1896 and 1954 after which services were taken over by the New York City Omnibus Corporation. It succeeded the Fifth Avenue Transportation Company.
The Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) was operator of the street railway system of Chicago, Illinois, from the years 1913 to 1947. The firm is a predecessor of today's publicly owned operator, the Chicago Transit Authority.
The Shore Line Trolley Museum, located in East Haven, Connecticut, is the oldest operating trolley museum in the United States. It was founded to preserve the heritage of the trolley car. The museum includes exhibits on trolley history in the visitors' center and offers rides on restored trolleys along its 1.5 miles (2.4 km) track. The ride includes a tour of the museum's historic trolley collection.
The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines in Long Island City.
Streetcars in St. Louis, Missouri operated as part of the transportation network of St. Louis from the middle of the 19th century through the early 1960s. During the first forty years of the streetcar in the city, a variety of private companies operated several dozen lines; from the start of the 20th century, most of these companies consolidated into the St. Louis Public Service Company, which served both the city of St. Louis and neighboring St. Louis County, Missouri. Other private companies, such as those serving the Metro East region or St. Charles, Missouri, continued separate operations. Starting in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s, St. Louis Public Service ended all streetcar service, while other regional operators also ended their services.
Interurban and streetcar railways flourished in Syracuse, New York until the automobile, airplane and bus took their place.
The Bridgeport Traction Company was a streetcar transit company in the area around Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company was incorporated in 1893 through the consolidation of the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company, Bridgeport Railway Company, and the East End Railway Company. The East End Railway Company was established in 1895 as the Bridgeport and West Stratford Horse Railroad Company. The Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company was incorporated in 1864. The Bridgeport Railway Company was formed in 1893. At the time, streetcars were a more affordable form of transportation for those commuting between Bridgeport and Norwalk. Using streetcars to get to their destination was half the price of using the train. In 1899 president Andrew Radel formed a company that was intended to control the world's oyster trade.
The Rochester Railway Company operated a streetcar transit system throughout the city of Rochester from 1890 until its acquisition by Rochester Transit Corp. in 1938. Formed by a group of Pittsburgh investors, the Rochester Railway Company purchased the Rochester City & Brighton Railroad in 1890, followed by a lease of the Rochester Electric Railway in 1894. The Rochester and Suburban Railway was leased in 1905, extending the system's reach to Irondequoit and Sea Breeze. Rochester Railways was acquired by the Mohawk Valley Company, a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad set up to take control of electric railways in its territory. In 1909 the holdings of the Mohawk Valley Company were consolidated as the New York State Railways.
The New York and Stamford Railway was a streetcar line that connected the Westchester County suburbs of New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye, and Port Chester, with the Connecticut suburbs of Greenwich and Stamford. The company was formed in 1901 when the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad combined the Larchmont Horse Railway Company with the Port Chester Street Railroad Company. The Larchmont Horse Railway Company was founded in 1888 by the Larchmont Manor Company to construct a line from the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Larchmont train station to its development 1.2 miles from town. The line was rebuilt for electric operation and extended to Harrison in 1901. The Port Chester Street Railroad opened in 1898 serving Port Chester, New York. The trolley line was soon extended west through Rye to Harrison in 1901. The two companies were merged that summer to form the New York and Stamford Railway. Trackage rights over the Westchester Electric Railroad were obtained for access to New Rochelle.
The Peekskill Lighting and Railroad Company was a streetcar transit line operating in northern Westchester County and southern Putnam County, New York. The earliest segment was constructed by the Peekskill Traction Company in 1899, running 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the New York Central Railroad train station at Peekskill to Lake Mohegan. The company was unable to meet payments for construction of the line, so the contractor operated the railroad until it was sold to the Peekskill Lighting and Railroad Company in 1900. The associated Westchester and Putnam Traction Company built extensions beyond Lake Mohegan, though the two companies were operated as one. In 1902, an extension was constructed through Buchannan to Verplanck. Another extension was opened in 1907 to Cortlandville, and Varian's Mills in 1908. The final extension to Oregon opened in 1909. President of the company was F.A. Stratton, who was also president of the Hudson River and Eastern Traction company, operators of the Ossining Electric Railway.
The Danbury and Bethel Street Railway was a streetcar transit operator serving the greater Danbury, Connecticut area, originally chartered in 1886. It was one of the few trolley companies to remain independent of the Connecticut Company consolidation of transit lines throughout the state. Electric trolley service between Danbury and Bethel began in 1887. The streetcar line connected to the Danbury and Harlem Traction Company at the Fairgrounds, but no service was provided and the line was abandoned by 1910. The Danbury and Bethel Street Railway faced its first financial difficulties in 1914 as ridership declined with the closure of local factories. The construction of an aborted extension to Bridgeport had nearly exhausted the railway's cash reserves. The company was purchased by J. Moss Ives in 1918 with the intention of bringing the operation back to profitability. The first buses were ordered and put into operation in 1912 between Main Street and Lake Avenue in Danbury. Ives reorganized as the Danbury and Bethel Traction Company in 1925. When the proposal to replace all remaining streetcar lines with bus operation was announced, the trolley motormen all went on strike in November 1926. The work stoppage did not affect the transition, and by the end of 1926 all streetcar operation had been abandoned, making it the first line in Connecticut to completely convert to bus operation.
