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Streetcars in Kansas City

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For the 21st century system, see KC Streetcar.
The Kansas City streetcar map peaked at 25 routes, but the last 20th century route was closed in 1957.
Prior to 1908, streetcars on some routes were propelled by grasping underground cables.[1]

Streetcars in Kansas City were the primary public transit mode during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like most North American cities.[2][3] Kansas City, Missouri once had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in North America, but the last of its 25 streetcar routes was shut down in 1957.[4]

Kansas City joined all but five North American metropolises – Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans – in replacing all streetcar networks with buses. Three other cities, Newark, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, operated rail lines more akin to modern light rail that remain operating.

In 2016, the modern streetcar era began with the launch of the municipal KC Streetcar.

History

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1870-1908: horses, mules, and cables

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In 1870, horse-drawn streetcars were introduced in Kansas City.[5]

Thomas Corrigan had led his brotherhood of "Corrigan boys" to relocate their road building business to Kansas City and develop its steep, rough hills since 1868. They steadily built the city's first political machine to influence voting in city elections. In 1875, the Corrigan Consolidated Street Railway Company held a municipal monopoly on streetcars, all mule-drawn, and wanted a new 30-year city contract against competition. William Rockhill Nelson, publisher of the newly founded Kansas City Star, considered Corrigan corrupt and favored an upgrade from mules to cable car infrastructure. For two years, he used the Star to lobby against renewing the Corrigans' franchise, saying "competition is necessary for the protection of the public". In 1884, public protest prompted the mayor to veto Corrigan's proposal. The Corrigans' mule car business was sold to Metropolitan Street Railway which turned it into the third largest cable car company in the country.[6]

Cable cars were propelled by gripping moving underground cables, like the San Francisco cable car system.[1]

1908: electric streetcars

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The first electric streetcar operated in Kansas City on September 6, 1889.[7] By 1908, all but one of Kansas City's streetcar routes had been converted to electricity.[1]

When the Kansas City Public Service Company (KCPS) was created in 1925, it inherited over 700 streetcars that had been owned and operated by private companies.[5] The streetcar routes operated by the KCPS also served across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas.[4]

The KCPS planned to replace all its older streetcars with new, state-of-the-art PCC streetcars, which would have required 371 vehicles. Only 24 were delivered prior to World War II, which put a hiatus on new streetcar construction. The KCPS ultimately acquired 184 PCC vehicles.

Famed Kansas City developer J. C. Nichols constructed streetcar lines to serve the new communities he built.[8]

2016 onward: modern streetcars

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The modern KC Streetcar was installed in 2014 and opened to the public in 2016. There are two major extensions to the network underway as of 2024. First is an extension south along Main Street to connect with the Country Club Plaza and UMKC's campus.[9] The second is an extension along the riverfront on the northernmost portion of the line, in the River Market.[10] This extension will serve to connect CPKC Stadium to the streetcar network. Eight new CAF Urbos 3 streetcars have been purchased to service the new extensions to complement the six included in the initial line, bringing the total number of streetcars operating in Kansas City to 14.[11]

KCPS 551

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PCC #551 was on static display at Kansas City Union Station.

Kansas City Public Service streetcar 551 is a PCC (President's Conference Committee) streetcar preserved for static display in the River Market neighborhood. It was built in 1947 by 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 in 1957 and became TTC 4762. In 1973, the streetcar was sold to the San Francisco Municipal Railway, renumbered as Muni 1190 and ran as a tourist attraction. In 1979, the streetcar was sold to the Western Railway Museum 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 Union Station.[12] In 2016, the streetcar was put into storage because its Union Station site was repurposed. Finally, in 2017 the streetcar was moved again for display in River Market along the modern KC Streetcar line.[13]

Tentative plans to restore 551 to operating condition and run it on the KC Streetcar line for special events were abandoned because 551 is a single-ended car, and the modern KC Streetcar line has no turning loops.[14]

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 and ten buildings along Delaware Street. The streetcar interior now serves as a donut shop.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Post Office". Kansas City Public Library. June 1, 1979. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013. Some of the lines were once horse car lines, some cable lines and some electric. All are electric in 1908 except a portion of the 12th Street lines, between Washington Street and the stockyards. (There) the cable line is used pending the construction of some kind of a trafficway between the higher and lower levels of the city.
  2. ^ Lynn Horsley (November 22, 2013). "Kansas City's streetcar glory days hold lessons for today". Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2013. As Kansas City lays its first streetcar rail in 66 years, it is unleashing a wave of nostalgia for the days when the city had one of the nation's most extensive streetcar systems.
  3. ^ Edward A. Conrad (2011). Kansas City Streetcars: From Hayburners to Streamliners. HeartlandRails Publishing Company. ISBN 9780976184720. Retrieved December 28, 2013. When it came to rail-based mass transit, Kansas City had it all. From the first horse car to the last streetcar, the KC transit scene was replete with every type of public transit during its 88 years of existence.
  4. ^ a b "Historic streetcars in San Francisco: Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas". Market Street Railway. 2010. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2013. Kansas City's PCCs - 184 in all - were painted to emphasize their modern lines, with a black 'swoosh' on the sides to highlight the logo of Kansas City Public Service Company (KCPS), which featured Frederic Remington's famed sculpture "The Scout" on a red heart.
  5. ^ a b Monroe Dodd (January 1, 2002). "A Splendid Ride: The Streetcars of Kansas City, 1870-1957". Kansas City Star Books. ISBN 9780972273985. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  6. ^ Jason Roe. "Wrong way Corrigan". Kansas City Public Library. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013. On March 31, 1882, The Kansas City Star declared its opposition to the streetcar monopoly then held by Thomas Corrigan. Although William Rockhill Nelson, owner of The Star, generally preferred that the paper remain neutral in politics, he made exceptions for cases where he believed rampant corruption demanded public awareness.
  7. ^ "A Successful Operation (First Electric Streetcar Operates in Kansas City)". Kansas City Globe. Kansas City, Kansas. September 6, 1889. Retrieved December 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ William S. Worley (1993). "J.C. Nichols and the shaping of Kansas City : innovation in planned residential communities". University of Missouri Press. ISBN 9780826209269. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  9. ^ https://kcstreetcar.org/about-streetcar/mainstreet-extension/
  10. ^ https://kcstreetcar.org/about-streetcar/streetcar-riverfront-extension/
  11. ^ https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/vehicles/press-release/55241147/kansas-city-streetcar-authority-kc-streetcar-kc-streetcar-receives-the-sixth-of-eight-new-streetcars-to-operate-in-kansas-city
  12. ^ "Kansas City Public Service 551". Shore Line Trolley Museum. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  13. ^ Collison, Kevin (September 11, 2017). "Historic Kansas City Streetcar Moved to its Permanent Stop as Future River Market Ice Cream Parlor". CityScene KC. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  14. ^ Smith, Joyce (October 30, 2018). "The River Market's vintage streetcar — Trolley Tom — to house local retail shop, cafe". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  15. ^ https://www.visitkc.com/business-detail/donutology-trolley
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