Ferndale Junction News

Walnut Ridge and Hoxie, Light, Power and Transit Company

2008-11-06T03:28:00Z

Walnut Ridge and Hoxie, Light, Power and Transit Company

A mule car line, The Walnut Ridge and Hoxie, was opened in 1899 between the two towns of Hoxie and Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. The total route was one and a half miles, using a mule car with a ten-passenger capacity, and a fare of five cents one way. The faithful mule of the line, "Old Jack'' made an average of five trips daily for fourteen years. "Old Jack'', was said to have known the difference between the whistle of a passenger and a freight train on the Frisco. The regular driver for the life of the line was Walter Griffin.

In 1900, Walnut Ridge's population was 845, and by 1905 it had risen to an estimated 2,000. There were twelve passenger trains daily on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, (later Missouri Pacific), plus trains on the Frisco. The Frisco and Iron Mountain crossed each other at Hoxie and shared the same two-story station.

In 1903 the Iron Mountain opened a roundhouse just south of town at Hoxie, one and a half miles from Walnut Ridge. At first the workers rode to work from Walnut Ridge on the mule line, but better transportation was needed.

The Walnut Ridge and Hoxie, Light, Power and Transit Co., was chartered on September 9, 1903 and began operating on July 1, 1904, with two double truck cars, built in St. Louis. The new line was two and a half miles long, including in-town and between town trackage. The electric line started from a station on the south side of Main Street in Walnut Ridge, between West 4th and 5th, just east of the Frisco branch line to Pocahontas, beside the present location of Higginbotham's Funeral Home. It then ran east on Main Street, turning south, and running between Front Street, (now US highway 67) and the Iron Mountain track. It passed the Walnut Ridge iron Mountain Station, the Hoxie business district, and finally ended at the roundhouse, 2 miles away.

There was a covered waiting shed at the Hoxie station for iron Mountain and Frisco passengers waiting for the streetcar. The mule line ran on the east side of the Iron Mountain and there is some evidence that it ran some distance east on Main Street in Walnut Ridge.

For a time the mule line and electric line competed for business, with the mule line lowering its fare to a single penny fare, against the five cent fare of the electric.

The electric trolley system, which eventually superseded the mule line, had a gross income of $17,094 in 1906, $19,116 in 1907 and in 1908 had risen to $21,462.

In 1918 the name of the Walnut Ridge and Hoxie, Light, Power and Transit Company was changed to the Central Power and Light Co. At that time there were four cars in operation, including two double truck combination freight-passenger cars, purchased from the American Car Co., In St. Louis in 1912. In 1919 the company was also in the lighting and power business. Walnut Ridge's population had stabilized at 1,798 residents by 1919, and both the power station and shops were in Walnut Ridge.

In 1923 the Missouri Pacific closed the roundhouse and the mule line was finally abandoned.

By the late 20's, more and more automobiles came on the scene, and when the streets were finally graveled, the need for the streetcar was at an end. Finally in 1928 or 29, the streetcar line was quietly abandoned. Bob Elkins, day motorman, and his brother, Glover, the night motorman had operated the streetcars for the life of the line.

These are some personal recollections that appeared in the Lawrence County Historical Quarterly, Volume 14, Number 3, Summer 1991, and The Times Dispatch of Walnut Ridge, dated October 30, 1991.

Late one night in 1929, just before midnight, nine-year-old Jimmy Bland and his father returned from a trip to Little Rock. The train let them off in Hoxie, where the streetcar picked them up for the two-mile journey home to Walnut Ridge. When the streetcar stopped, a robber jumped aboard and stole the Blands' money and the $15 the motorman had collected five cents at a time. Unfortunately, the streetcar was plagued by thieves and bandits during the depression years, Bland recalls. It was common for a car to be held up because money was so scarce at the time.

Jeanette Bush, as a five-year old girl, doesn't remember fearing to ride the streetcar by herself to her grandmother's, as she did quite often. She remembers where her father was on a day in 1927 when a tornado struck this small community and left 12 people dead. He was on the streetcar. Bush's father, Hatley Ring, panicked and headed toward the car's exit, but Elkins stopped him and kept him there to keep him out of the tornado's path, possibly saving his life.

Passengers from the trains were the largest part of the streetcar's business, because a train was the only way a person traveled considerable distances back then. But, as in Bush's case, most families only had one automobile and both of the parents worked. When her mother would take the car to her job as a teacher for the Walnut Ridge School District, her father rode the streetcar to his job as an operator for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Judge Harry Ponder, who's grandfather, Willis Miles Ponder, a Civil War veteran, founded Walnut Ridge in 1875, attributes much of the streetcar's success to the unreliability of automobiles at that time.

Marguerite Rainwater, lifelong resident, remembers Bob Elkins, who was a friend of her father's, who owned a local drug store on Main Street. Elkins made the store a regular stop on his route where his passengers could get a quick soda or snack. She also remembers as a young girl of six, Elkins taking her for rides on the streetcar and letting her ring the bell to invite passengers to ride.

Interurban Traction Company - Helena, Arkansas

2008-11-05T05:21:00Z

“Trolleys of the Great Plains - Ozarks - Rockies"

Unpublished text by Chandler and Maguire

Interurban Traction Company - Helena, Arkansas

During the post-war reconstruction, a railroad was built into Helena from the interior of the state in 1870. A few years later the iron Mountain (later the Missouri Pacific) constructed a north-south branch along Crowley's Ridge into the town. As late as 1909, a third railroad, the Missouri & North Arkansas reached its southern terminal at Helena. This route, later called the Missouri & Arkansas Railroad, angled northwest all the way through Arkansas to reach Joplin, Missouri.

Helena originally had a streetcar service under the name of The Citizens Street Railway Co., chartered March 8, 1887. Helena's population of 3,652 in 1880 had grown to 5,890 by 1890, encouraging a street railway for its citizens. In December 1984, the streetcar operation was on 2.5 miles of track, with twelve horses and four St. Louis manufactured cars.

Helena's horse car line continued a few years after 1900 until the "Coming of the electrics". The promotion of West Helena, five miles "Over the ridge" from the original Helena, was the cause for much excitement and optimism in the period before 1910 West Helena, founded in 1909, was an industrial extension of Helena. Built around factories and mills for which the other town had no space. Workers followed the industries and retail stores followed the workers. Just as North and South Cherry Street was the principal business thoroughfare in Helena, so did the East and West Plaza Avenue become the leading boulevard in West Helena. Decades later, the Chicago Mill in West Helena, at the end of Plaza Avenue, would receive as much as 3,500,000 board ft. of lumber each month from Arkansas and Louisiana and turn this into crates and boxes for shipping market products from Arkansas. Eventually the Pekin Wood Products Mill in West Helena, owned by the Chrysler Motor Corp., would make parts and crating for automobiles.

In 1909, the existing but not yet operating, Helena Street & Interurban Railway Co. conveyed its rights to a new owner, The Interurban Railway Co. Late in 1909, this new firm began building an electric trolley line between the two communities.

West Helena, which decades later would nose out "Mother" community in population, had her operating celebration in May 1910, and the new "Electrics" were making the 5.5 mile run by that time. The trolley line was laid out through cuts, fills, twists, and turns of the ridge, and frequent passing spurs were built to expedite a close schedule. This was before streetcar dispatching and sometimes there were near collisions along the ridge, but no reported tragedies.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of passengers rode the "Electrics" every few days between Helena and West Helena, Ark. In the early 1910's, of this number, a substantial portion were black agricultural workers. These members of the community developed a special affection for the trolleys, especially during the cotton-picking season when they had money to spend. These cotton pickers were known to like their Saturday off, which they called "Tight shoe day". There was a saying that whenever they saw or heard a trolley car while toiling in the cotton fields, they would exclaim, "Toot, toot, 'ol engine. Pass me by now, but I'se gwine to ride yo Sat'day". And on Saturday, they loved to ride to "New Wes'', as they called West Helena, on the trolley. They also believed they could bring anything aboard free and even half-grown squealing pigs were thus transported to market.

Various attractions were set up to bring notice to West Helena, such as balloon ascensions, summer theater and air shows. In 1911 an impromptu bull fight was arranged in the West Helena Baseball Park, but artificial stimulation to the bull resulted in a grand race of bull, cows, and steers, matadors, and helpers around and around the ring until someone could open the gate and mercifully set both humans and animals free.

By 1916 the West Helena Consolidated Co. had succeeded The Interurban Railway Co. as the trolley system between the two Helenas. That year Helena's population totaled 10,796 residents, a figure that was to remain rather constant through the succeeding decades. Power was being purchased from the Helena Gas & Electric Co. Repair shops were in West Helena, both company owned. There were twenty-one passenger trolleys and sixteen other vehicles in service.

This trolley schedule was maintained into the early 1920's, but by 1923, the line was in receivership. Rolling stock that year consisted of twelve passenger cars, all two-man operated, nine passenger trailers, one motor freight vehicle, and two freight trailers, attesting to the fact that farm products and general merchandise were being hauled by the streetcars. Fare Was 10 cents one way for passengers.

By 1924 the Interurban Traction Co. had been formed to take over the operations of the Helena-to-West Helena streetcars, with energy being procured from the Arkansas Utilities Co.

Dwindling passenger fares and receding freight business in the late 1920's, coupled with the succeeding throes of the great depression, proved the downfall of the once proud trolley line which had maintained a peak payroll of as many as 125 employees. Abandonment to motor buses came in 1933, the last electric trolley car runs being on August 5th. The next day Twin City Transit Co. began serving Helena and West Helena, Arkansas.

Trolleys of the Great Plains – Ozarks – Rockies

2008-04-18T03:36:00Z

^{Unpublished text by Allison Chandler and Stephen Maguire
The Arkansas Power & Light Company – Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the second oldest settlement in the state with a population of 400 in 1850, possessed a street railway which opened service November 4, 1886 as the Citizens Street Railway Co. The builder was Wiley Jones, wealthy Pine Bluff Black, who imported a special type of Mexican mule for the task and Mexican hostlers to care for the mules. By 1888, the system was three and one half miles in length, operated nine cars, using 12 horses and 42 mules. The line was capitalized at $30.000.
A forerunner of the MoPac Lines pushed a northwest-southeast diagonal line through Pine Bluff in the 1870’s. The town also became an important point on the St. Louis Southwestern Rwy. mail line. This railroad crossing made in-town streetcar service vital to care for railroad passengers, other Pine Bluff visitors, and the townspeople.
Pine Bluff’s 1880 population of about 3,500 had nearly tripled to 9,952 citizens by 1890. In 1894, the streetcar company was using 90 mules, 6 horses and 22 horse cars.
Conversion to electricity came in early 1902 under the name of The Citizens Light & Transit Co., and trackage had grown to 7.75 miles.
Pine Bluff’s population total was 17,447 in 1916, and by 1918, her streetcar system was called The Pine Bluff Co. The power station was at Fourth & Ash Streets and the repair shop was at 3rd & Ash, both buildings being on the west edge of the downtown district, not too far from the steam railroad station. Trackage had reached 11 miles. Rolling stock included 21 passenger trolleys and three other cars. The company was also engaged in the electric lighting and power business.
This was cotton country, and the streetcars were helpful in getting workers to the cotton gins. Rice, corn, hay, oats, poultry, dairying, berries, and vegetables, were all grown in the vicinity, and transportation to the various food processing plants were provided by the streetcars. Pine Bluff was also in the soft and hardwood forestry area of Arkansas, which meant sawmills, flooring plants, and furniture factories. The St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt Route) maintained car building and repair shops, which eventually grew to include the building of the entire locomotive. The streetcars were essential in delivering to and picking up from these Pine Bluff plants.
The Pine Bluff streetcar patrons were served by a north-south Main Street car line starting at the Jefferson County Courthouse and going south past the city hall, the Union Railway Station, downtown hotels and on as far as 20th Avenue. Another north-south route further west was along Cherry Street extending as far as 16th Avenue.
For east-west travel there was the long 6th Avenue Line from Hickory Street on through downtown and on to Illinois Street (double-tracked from Cherry to Main Street). Another east-west line began northwest at Bellwood Cemetery, served the Merrill High School and nearby library (both for Black citizens), left Pullen Street and jumped two blocks south to 2nd Avenue where it went through the heart of downtown and ended adjacent to the Cotton Belt Route shops.
In 1924 the fare to ride a Pine Bluff trolley car was six cents. There were 17 passenger cars in service, of which 14 were one-man Birney Safety Cars. The last new car purchase by the company was made in 1925 of two single truck Birneys.
In 1930 the Arkansas power & Light Co., successor to The Pine Bluff Co., purchased three White motor buses of 15 patron capacity to supplement its trolleys, and the following year added another line vehicle.}

Little Rock Arkansas from Mules to Buses

2008-04-18T03:25:00Z

"From Mules to Buses"

Condensed from an article by Clifton E. Hull

Capitol Transportation Company Little Rock, Arkansas

In 1870 there were about 12,000 persons living in Little Rock. The devastation following the Civil War was beginning to dissipate. The area was feeling the pangs of rebirth. Personal affluence was appearing gradually. Fine homes were growing more numerous south and east of the business heart of the city. Sidewalks were conspicuous by their absence, and the street surface left much to be desired. The wealthier residents began to sense an assault upon their dignity from having to walk farther and farther to their businesses or employment. The citizens of the principal city of the state, especially with their elevated standard of living, felt they deserved something better than walking through dust, or mud, to, in, and from "downtown."

It was under these conditions that a city franchise was given to the Little Rock Street Railway Company on June 17, 1870. It was agreed that the motive power for the cars could be either horse or mule. Also, rails could be laid on any street in the city, so long as one-half mile of track was completed within three years. Financing probably derailed the company. No more was heard of it.

In May, 1873, the Little Rock Railway Company asked the city officials for a franchise to build a horse-car line out West Markham Street from Main Street to the new train depot of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railroad (the present Missouri Pacific Lines) at Victory Street. As city fathers often do, they did nothing. The franchise request was left on the table.

Another Little Rock Street Railway Company was formed on August 11, 1876. This one "faded before it bloomed." So did two other franchise requests that year.

The following year, 1877, the city officials finally decided the time had come to make a serious effort to provide public transportation for the city. Service would be limited to only four streets – Markham, Second, Main, and Louisiana Streets. On January 30, 1877, the city council passed an ordinance to execute a contract with a responsible company. On February 1, 1877, the Citizens Street Railway Company was formed. The streets where right of way would be granted were Main Street and Center Street, as well as Second Street from the cotton oil mill at Sherman to Rector Avenue, then north to Markham, west to Cross, north to Water Street and west to the Iron Mountain depot.

May 29, 1877, was a day of celebration, and the citizens of Little Rock were justifiably proud. Everybody was given a free ride on the city’s first streetcar. The rails had been laid on Main Street and the diminutive four-wheel bobber car rolled smoothly behind a patiently plodding, long-eared mule. The little cars could seat about a dozen passengers on hard, un-padded seats. In less than six months there were four little cars in operation. Rails were laid south on Main to Alexander Park at Seventeenth Street. By January 29, 1878, the cars were running all the way to the train depot on West Markham. Stables were located at Seventeenth and Main, adjacent to the park, and at Ninth and Ringo Streets.

Competition arrived in 1884, when the Little Rock Street Railway Company was formed. This company received a city franchise and quickly built four horse-car lines.

In December 1887, the city granted a franchise to the City Electric Street Railway Company. The city granted this firm a right of way on nearly every street in the city not already occupied by the horse-car lines. The company proposed a radical departure from the usual method of operation - its cars would be propelled by electricity, steam, cable or any other approved source of power. There was not even one mention of the capable, economical, and dependant mule. They finally decided to use a type of steam locomotive. Since there were many horses, as well as mules, in use in the city on the other two transit lines, a special steam engine was required. To make the steamers more acceptable to the horse population, the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia developed a small four-wheel vehicle called a "Dummy." It was encased in a wooden body made to resemble an ordinary streetcar, to which the mules and horses were accustomed. It worked.

Two of these "dummies" were obtained and were numbered 1 and 2. Each engine was given an open-sided trailer car that would hold 40 passengers. The first trial run was scheduled for July 3, 1888. The starting point would be at the terminal at Second and Spring Streets. At 2:30 p.m., steam dummy No.1 headed south on Spring. Dummy No. 2 was close behind. When everything was in good order, the run would be made in 15 minutes. The line ended adjacent to West End Park, on Park Avenue at Fourteenth, which was owned by the City Electric Street Railway Company.

Two years later, on March 3, 1891, a newcomer showed up when the Capitol Street Railway Company was formed, and within a month had absorbed the steam and horse-car lines. On February 16, 1891, the firm received permission to change its cars to electrical power. Then in March 1891, the company was reorganized and assumed a previous name - City Electric Street Railway Company. At this time the company had 22 miles of streetcar line, 45 cars, and 308 mules and horses. Twenty cars were kept as trailers, and the others – along with all the livestock – were sold. The last horse-car operated in Little Rock on Sunday, November 22, 1891. At the time 28 new electric cars appeared. On November 24, 1891, car No. 55, the first electric streetcar in Little Rock began rolling along Main Street. In 1892 the old "dummy line" was electrified and became known as the South Highland Line.

On June 3, 1895, the Little Rock Traction and Electric Company was incorporated, and it took over all the street railway property in Little Rock. Then on March 17, 1903, the Little Rock Railway and Electric Company took over. By 1910 there were seven car lines in operation to serve the city of Little Rock which had a population of 45,000.

In August 1906, the Argenta Railway Company was incorporated to construct and operate an electric line in Argenta, (now North Little Rock) on the north side of the river. Two car lines were built, one on Main Street, and the other on Washington Avenue. The rickety old Free Bridge prevented a connection with the system in Little Rock, but when the new Main Street Bridge was opened for use on Christmas Day in 1922, the Argenta cars rolled across to meet the Little Rock cars at Markham and Main.

On April 10, 1923, the streetcar lines were taken over by the Arkansas Central Power Company. In 1925, the company purchased eight lightweight, double-end cars from the American Car Company in St. Louis. Two years later they also bought 30 Birney Safety Cars from the same company.

In October 1926, the streetcar lines and power plant were taken over by the Arkansas Power and Light Company who then leased them to the Capitol Transportation Company.

By 1940 private automobiles had put a good sized dent in the streetcar business. Some tracks were being abandoned; streetcars were being scrapped, and some gasoline buses were appearing. Some experts in San Antonio, Texas, decided cities with fewer than 200,000 people didn’t need streetcars. Little Rock had a population of about 80,000, so the cars had to go.

Then on December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the "experts" decided streetcars weren’t so useless after all. The average automobile owner was allowed about three gallons of gasoline a week. This made streetcars look even better. The Capitol Transportation Company found itself caught in the squeeze with a stable of elderly streetcars built between 1898 and 1905. There were 27 newer cars built in 1924 and 1926. Traffic on the cars was crowded on weekdays, but on weekends it was standing room only, when thousands of soldiers from Camp Robinson descended upon the town. When the war began, buses had already taken over three of the six major routes. Since management was anxious to get rid of the streetcars, maintenance on the track and cars was at a minimum. Deteriorating cars sat on storage tracks outside the barn. One by one, the cars were dismantled, rotted wood replaced, mechanical parts rebuilt or replaced, and repainted to become in almost like new condition. By the time the war had ended, almost all of the cars had been rebuilt, which was really amazing considering the condition of the cars before rebuilding, their age, and a lack of parts during the war. The Forty-five old streetcars had served the Country and Little Rock well. Soon buses and trolley coaches would be available again and the company could continue their plan to replace the streetcars.

On September 1, 1947, the fares were raised from six cents, used since 1923, to seven cents. As the fare was increased, gasoline-powered buses were put into service on the Pulaski Heights line. Trackless electric trolley buses were also introduced. On Christmas Day, 1947, the last old streetcar was retired. It ran on the Fair Park and South Highland lines. The modern motor buses and electric coaches served the routes of the former streetcars. On December 26, 1947, electric coaches went into service on the Pulaski Heights and West Ninth Street lines. Trolley coaches started running on the Fair Park line early in 1948. An auction was held to dispose of the old streetcars, with the exception of the eight 400 series cars, which were sold to Mexico City, where they ran for another 10 years. After seventy years of service, the streetcars were gone from the streets of Little Rock.

Epilog

By Fred B. Fillers

In 2004, fifty seven years after the last streetcar ran in the city, Little Rock’s Central Arkansas Transit Authority inaugurated its first new streetcar line called "River Rail". This first line ties Little Rock and North Little Rock together with a bright ribbon of steel rail by crossing the Main Street Bridge spanning the Arkansas River that once had tied it together when the first streetcar crossed the bridge back in 1922. This new line was served by three bright yellow replica streetcars that are very similar to the eight 400 series cars that once ran on the Pulaski Heights Line. The original eight cars were numbered 400 through 407. As a tribute to these eight cars, the new cars were numbered starting with 408 through 410. A second line has recently opened serving the new Clinton Presidential Library and two more cars, numbered 411 and 412 were purchased to serve this line. Many additional lines are in the planning stage. Little Rock has finally learned, as many cities are learning, that streetcars can be very useful in moving people around in our cities. The "age of the streetcar", that was almost dead just a few years ago, is once again being reborn all around the country.

Fort Smith Light and Traction Company

2008-04-18T03:12:00Z

Fort Smith Light and Traction Company

By Fred B. Fillers

In 1883 a mule car line opened in Fort Smith, with three small 4-wheel mule cars, each holding about 15 passengers. This mule car line operated until 1893, at which time the Fort Smith and Van Buren Electric Street Railway Light and Power Company was organized. It started electric streetcar service with two cars operating on North Fifth Street from Garrison to N Streets.

In 1903 the company was reorganized as the Fort Smith Traction Light and Power Company, and later the same year it was again reorganized to become the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company. Soon there were tracks heading out Eleventh Street, North E Street, Towson, Kelley Highway, and Little Rock Avenue, which later became Rogers Avenue, using the existing fifteen single-truck cars that were on hand when the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company took over. Fifteen single-truck open cars were received in 1905 and six more arrived in 1906. About this time the Park Hill Line was opened heading out South 21^{st Street.}

In 1908 the Arkoma Line was opened to Arkoma just on the Oklahoma side of the border. This line was put under a different management called the Fort Smith and Oklahoma Light and Traction Company. A large Baseball park was built in Arkoma, and it being in Oklahoma, Sunday baseball was allowed, and large crowds rode the cars to the baseball games every Sunday during baseball season, providing a nice bit of revenue for the streetcar company. Cars were now operating between the Frisco Depot and Electric Park on the Eleventh Street- Van Buren Line every ten minutes from six A.M. until midnight and every hour between midnight and six. The streetcar barn and shop were located on this line at Kelley Highway. Also in 1908, six double-truck, semi-convertible cars were received for the Eleventh Street Line. Four single-truck cars were rebuilt to double-truck cars in the company shops by adding five feet to the body of the car, adding new motors, controls, running gear, and brakes.

In 1910 eight new single-truck, semi-convertible cars were ordered. New track was under construction to reach the Van Buren Bridge. Around this time a lot of lines were being extended, or upgraded with heavier rail. Right of ways in the streets were being repaved. Management announced that fourteen of the earlier cars were to be retired.

Because open cars were limited to warm-weather use it was decided that seven of the open cars would be rebuilt with closed bodies, new motors, air brakes, and other improvements.

On November 12, 1912 service opened across the new bridge into Van Buren to the Frisco Train Depot. Further construction followed east from the depot and was finally completed as far as the Falconer Zinc Smelter in April 1917.

In December 1, 1917 service was discontinued on the Arkoma Line, Electric Park was closed in 1919 and the buildings razed in 1920.

By the beginning of the 1920s Fort Smith was experiencing the same problems that

were besetting all streetcar companies. More paved roads and privately owned automobiles meant just one thing, less people riding the streetcars. The answer management came up with was simple. To attract riders, they went to small, one-man operated streetcars, with more frequent schedules at lower fares. Smaller and lighter cars were easier on the track, and consumed less electricity. Fort Smith had already changed its operation to one-man cars and had been able to increase their frequency to every ten minutes from twenty by running twenty-six one man cars instead of sixteen two-man cars. Now all they had to do was buy new, lighter cars. Recently introduced in 1916, the panacea had become available that would solve the problem, the Birney Safety Car. The Birney Car, it seemed, would meet all of these requirements, so, in 1920, the management announced that it had ordered eight of the new cars. Unfortunately the fares had to be raised from 5 cents to 6 to meet the growing expenses. In 1922 the fare was raised to 7 cents. In 1926 fares increased to 10 cents on the Fort Smith-Van Buren Line and 8 cents on the local lines. Six new Birney cars arrived the same year. The new cars were more lavish than the first eight cars, with cushioned plush fabric seats and linoleum covered floors. The management announced that even though many cities were turning to bus service, Ft. Smith would stick with its streetcars.

In 1928, the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company became a separate corporation, the Fort Smith Traction Company.

Later that year the city of Fort Smith decided it would widen Rogers Avenue, and the streetcar tracks were taken up along 21st Street, between Rogers and South H Street, and the second track on 21st and Dodson and South W Street. Next to go was the South Fort Smith Line in May of 1929. Then later, the track was taken up on the Park Hill Line between South W Street and the deserted fairgrounds.

In August 1933 Fort Smith Light and Traction Company became the Oklahoma Gas and Electric’s Arkansas Division. Management announced that all operations on the remaining streetcar lines would end November 15, 1933. The next day a bus company known as the Twin City Coach Company took over and began operating on almost the same routes that were used by the streetcars. The streetcars made a final trip northward to the Frisco connection next to the former Electric Park where they were sold to individuals for varied uses, or stripped of their salvageable metal parts.

It’s a sad ending for a streetcar line that served Fort Smith and Van Buren so well for many years.

Welcome to Fred's Streetcars and Trolleys Blog

2008-02-10T23:09:00Z

Over the past few years, I have become more and more aware that the web has very few Arkansas streetcar pictures. Arkansas had eight streetcar lines serving thirteen towns around the state, plus the last operating mule car line in the country. I have collected pictures and histories of these lines off and on for over thirty years. I created the http://fredstreetcars.com/ website to make this collection available to everyone who might be interested. I will be adding new photographs and histories as they become available. Please enjoy!

The pictures and information on this site were collected from many different sources. To the best of my knowledge the pictures are accredited to the correct source and the information is correct. However, if you note any picture that is accredited to the wrong source or that is protected by copyright, please let me know and I will make amends. Also, if you find any information that is not correct or if you have any additional information that you would like to share, let me know and I will make the appropriate updates.