I I • I • I• .1.1' D . , I * ' PA « ~** • * ' > . Mechanized streetcars rose out ofa need toreplace horse- the wide variety ofdifferent electric railway systems, no single drawn streetcars. The horse itselfpresented the greatest problems: system had yet emerged as the industry standard. Early lines horses could only work a few hours each day; they were expen- tended tobe underpowered and prone to frequent equipment sive to house, feed and clean up after; ifdisease broke out within a failure. The motors on electric cars tended to make them heavier stable, the result could be a financial catastrophe for a horsecar than either horsecars or cable cars, requiring a company to operator; and, they pulled the car at only 4 to 6 miles per hour. 2 replace its existing rails withheavier ones. Due to these circum- The expenses incurred inoperating a horsecar line were stances, electric streetcars could not yet meet the demands of staggering. For example, Boston's Metropolitan Railroad required densely populated areas, and were best operated along short 3,600 horses to operate its fleet of700 cars. The average working routes serving relatively small populations. life of a car horse was onlyfour years, and new horses cost $125 to The development of two rivaltechnological systems such as $200. Itwas common practice toprovide one stable hand for cable and electric streetcars can be explained by historian every 14 to 20horses inaddition to a staff ofblacksmiths and Thomas Parke Hughes's model ofsystem development. Inthis veterinarians, and the typical car horse consumed up to 30 pounds model, Hughes describes four distinct phases ofsystem growth: ofgrain per day. Despite these disadvantages, horsecars, riding on invention and initialdevelopment, technology transfer from one rails, were better than the omnibus (running on any surface it region to another, growth, and a point where a system's growth encountered), so horsecar lines were eventually built in300 U.S. attains substantial momentum to move forward ina definite cities.3 direction. Hughes notes that a system's growth is sometimes During the 1870s and 1880s, some streetcar officials began to impeded by what he calls "reverse salients;" a technological look toward mechanical alternatives to the horsecar. The two advance shows initial promise, only to slow the system's overall most promising options were the cable car and electric streetcar, advance. As a result, the system does not attain substantial but both required special conditions to operate successfully. Cable momentum until "inventors, engineers, and other professionals" car systems utilized a continuous cable that ran through a conduit identify and correct the reverse salients. 8 dug into the street between the rails. A device called a "grip" Historian George Hiltonnotes a similar pattern in the street extended from the bottom ofa car into the conduit. To move, an railway industry withcable-drawn and electrically powered operator called a "gripman" manipulated the grip so that it streetcars. The electric streetcar did not become an effective grasped the cable; the cable then pulled the car along the street. competitor against the cable car until 1888, when Frank Sprague To stop, the cable was released and the gripman engaged a hand synthesized the workofearlier pioneers inthe field. Prior to brake. 4 Cable cars were twice as fast as horsecars, and could Sprague's work, less than 60 miles ofelectric street railways handle larger crowds. They could also climb steep hills,were not existed inthe U.S., as compared to 90 miles ofcable railways. prone to disease, did not pollute city streets, and could operate in Hiltonfurther states that cable railways continued to expand all kinds of weather. Between 1873 and 1893, over 300 miles of until 1893, when standardized and improved motor control cable car lines were built inU.S. cities. 5 mechanisms made itpossible for electric railways to dominate The problem withcable car lines, however, was their inflexi- the industry. 9 bilityand high construction cost. Heavily reinforced conduits Both cable and electric systems were adopted inPittsburgh at needed tobe laid inthe middle of city streets to house the cable the same time, and the latter embraced both pre- and post- and its complex network of guide pulleys. The more hills,curves, Sprague types. The transition fromhorsecars to cable and electric and underground utilities that were encountered along a route, railways, and then entirely to electric railways, was remarkably the more elaborate and expensive was the conduit. Powerhouses swift,entailing only 10 years (1887-97). to move the cable also had tobe constructed along the line's immediate route. As a result, lines tended to be constructed in Pittsburgh: A Case Study heavily populated areas where large numbers ofpatrons could withan ideal location at the junction of the provide the street railway companies witha return on their Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers and an abun- investment. 6 Blesseddance ofbituminous coal, Pittsburgh had become a major Electric streetcar lines, on the other hand, were not as industrial center by the middle of the nineteenth century. expensive to build. Power could be distributed above ground Pittsburgh's original horsecar line,operated by the Citizens' either through overhead wires or third rails,eliminating the need Passenger Railway Company, opened in1859. It ran parallel to for an expensive conduit. The flexibilityoffered by overhead the Allegheny River eastward along Penn Street (now Penn transmission lines enabled powerhouses tobe located anywhere, Avenue) between downtown Pittsburgh and Lawrenceville. 10 not just along a line's immediate route. Unlike cable car lines, By the early 1860s, there were three horsecar lines inaddition which had to be routinely shut down for inspection, electric lines to the Citizens' road, each headed by different local entrepre- could operate around the clock. Furthermore, streetcars powered neurs. The Pittsburgh, Allegheny and Manchester Traction Co. by electric motors could travel inreverse ifnecessary, something rannorthward from downtown Pittsburgh through neighboring cable cars could not do. 7 Allegheny City to the town ofManchester. The Pittsburgh and Electricity was stillinits infancy inthe mid-1880s, and due to East Liberty Passenger Railway Co. provided service between Pittsburgh History, Summer 1994 downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland viaFifth Avenue. Finally, the Pittsburgh and Birmingham Traction Co. provided service for communities along the south bank ofthe Monongahela River. By the mid-1880s, the original fourhorsecar lines had expanded their routes and 10 additional companies were formed. 11 During the late nineteenth century, Pittsburgh experienced tremendous growth inits population. Due to the arrival ofnew residents and the annexation ofsurrounding communities, Pittsburgh's population rose from 86,076 in1870 to 238,617 by 1890. lz Although such an increase inpopulation was beneficial to Pittsburgh's street railway operators, the inherent limitations of the horsecar prevented them from taking fulladvantage ofthis growth. Contemporary accounts ofPittsburgh horsecar service were often less than glowing, and when mechanized street railway routes began to appear inthe late 1880s, descriptions ofthe Preceding pages: Car #9 of the Above: Downtown Pittsburgh, animal railways became outright hostile. The slow, monotonous Citizens' Passenger Railway, Penn Avenue and Seventh pace of the horses and the shabby appearance of the conductors Pittsburgh's first horsecar line, Street, 1889. Bottom: Although and drivers (sometimes the same person) made horsecar rides less is shown in front of the Butler the major horsecar lines were than desirable. Furthermore, some companies dispensed with Street Barn, the city's first gone by 1895, the South Side's stoves for winterheating, choosing instead to keep hay and straw street railway facility when it Sarah Street horsecar held out "...on the floor for keeping the feet warm and for collecting mud opened in1859. until August 1923. 57 The Mechanization of Pittsburgh Street Railways and filth,which is readily transferred to the ladies' dresses. It also (6,953,131 passengers in 1888 and 10,832,192 in1889). Both lines serves another end, that ofmaking the air very unsavory." 13 reduced the time of travel from the East End to downtown from 100 minutes to 32. Central Traction also experienced a consider- Cable and Early Electric Railways in Pittsburgh able jump inits annual ridership: 187 percent between 1888 and the mid-1880s, Pittsburgh's street railway operators began 1890, from 1,062,235 passengers to 3,049,852. 20 seeking mechanical alternatives for the horsecar. Pitts- Unlike the cable car lines, which used the routes offormer Byburgh's East End was ideal for cable car service, since this horsecar companies, Pittsburgh's early electric lines were entirely area of Pittsburgh experienced the greatest increase inpopulation new. As a result, they met withvarying degrees ofsuccess. For for this period. Between 1870 and 1890, the population ofthis area instance, the Pittsburgh, Knoxville and St. Clair Street Railway Co. increased from 42,700 to 55,282 inthe wards closest to downtown, was formed inSeptember 1886 withthe intent ofcompeting with and from 29,998 to 103,091 inthe eastern-most wards. Three cable the funiculars ascending Mt.Washington. The railway adopted the car lines were constructed inthe East End during the late 1880s. 14 system of Leo Daft, a pioneer inelectric street