The Heyday of the Street Railway

With the exception of one line in Newark, the street railway has disappeared from the New York metropolitan area. The last streetcars in Nassau County ran in the 1920s and in New York City in the 1950s. However, the street railway had a very important place in American history. They actually began to allow working people to live farther from their jobs by extending the distance people could travel to and from work every day. Commuter railroads, buses and private automobiles have further extended commuting distances.

Our presentation in November on the passenger train started in 1832 and ended in about 1950. The prominent era of the street railway just about parallels the passenger train in the United States. Street railways evolved using a variety of means of propulsion, including horses, steam, cable and electricity from a battery as well as an external source. From about 1890 until 1920, they were also a form of entertainment. The street railway owners built amusement parks. They also took people to the beach, movies, picnics, parks, church and even to their final resting place.

With the advent of the private automobile and bus, many cities decided that the street railway was inferior to all rubber-wheeled vehicles and the decline of the street railway was at hand. Charges of collusion between the government, oil, rubber and automobile manufacturers accompanied the decline but no case was ever successfully tried in a court of law. A few cities never let go of their street railways, Most others tossed them aside and some cities are now bringing them back at great expense.

To see this slide presentation and hear about Vic's ongooing personal relationship with street railways which started in his early years, come on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. to the Presbyterian Church in Garden City, 91 Chester Avenue (corner of New Hyde Park Road, three blocks south of Stewart Avenue). The presentation will be over by 9 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and everyone is invited to linger following the presentation.