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53-405: The tramway made use of a variety of types of streetcars, including conduit cars (until 1888), cable cars (until 1900), and trolley cars (until 1950). At the height of its trolley operations, the tramway owned more than 160 miles (260 km) of track and operated over 250 streetcars. By the end of trolley service, only 64 streetcars were still in use. After streetcar operation ceased in 1950

106-620: A subsidy . Within two years Denver Metro Transit was nearly bankrupt. In July 1974 Denver Metro Transit became part of the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the entity created to operate public transit services in eight of the twelve counties in the Denver-Boulder area . 44 years after the closure of the tram system, rail-based mass transit returned to Denver with the opening of the new D Line light rail in 1994. Electrical power initially came from

159-602: A city-center neighborhood in Denver , Colorado , located in the area traditionally called the, "Northside", on the west side of Interstate 25 and just south of Interstate 70 . The neighborhood is bounded by Federal Boulevard on the east, I-70 on the north, Sheridan Boulevard on the West and 38th avenue on the south. It is bordered by the West Highland neighborhood on the south and is often erroneously grouped together with

212-490: A conduit for cable cars next to the one for electric cars. The current was carried by a flexible cable from the plough through the platform to the car's controller and motors . The running rails are not part of the electrical circuit. In the United States, the cars were sometimes popularly called trolleys but did not typically draw power through a trolley pole from an overhead wire . Conduit current collection

265-497: A fare increase and the Denver Tramway Company was able to get back on its feet. But years of neglect due to insufficient funds and an increase in automobile ownership meant that many Denverites stopped using the streetcar system. In 1924 the first Denver Tramway bus service began operating between Englewood and Fort Logan . The company began to phase out streetcars in favor of trolley coaches (buses that used

318-446: A fixed rate fare, set at 5 cents , and an agreement that the company would contribute 50% of all maintenance costs for roads on which it had a two-way line. As automobile traffic began to increase, so did the wear and tear on the roads. Though the company was seeing record ridership levels - by 1917 it was making 62 million trips a year - it was not able to increase its fares to cover its increased expenses. The Tramway company petitioned

371-472: A large network of conduit lines to avoid wires, as required by an 1889 law. Some lines used overhead wires when they approached rural or suburban areas. The last such line ran to Cabin John, Maryland . The current collector "plow" was mounted underneath the car on a fitting just forward of the rear truck on PCC streetcars . It had two cables with female connectors on cables to attach to matching cables of

424-546: A new mayor more friendly to the company in power, the Tramway company was not required to give the city any of its profits. But public opinion had begun to turn against the Denver City Tramway Company. Resentment peaked in 1905 when the company's franchise should have ended. The company continued to stand by its claim of a perpetual franchise but as a precaution drew up a new franchise in 1906 to appease

477-420: A raise after the wage cuts they had taken in the preceding 18 months. The public opposed a fare increase and the city would not allow it. Tramway company workers voted to strike, the company brought in strike-breakers , and violence quickly broke out with seven dead and 52 seriously wounded before federal troops intervened. In the end the Denver Tramway Company filed for bankruptcy . The bankruptcy court allowed

530-432: A series of small power plants, but as the system grew so did the need for electricity. In 1901 a subsidiary company, The Denver Tramway Power Company, was incorporated to build and operate power plants to electrify the overhead street car lines. The Denver Tramway Company Powerhouse was built between 1901 and 1904 and following its 1911 addition became the primary source of electricity for Denver's streetcars. It operated until

583-423: A single direction, the entrance was on the center of the right side, and the rear of the cars were not completely enclosed. Type 2 cars were built to be reversible so they had controls at both ends and center entrances on both sides. The trolley cars had a distinct appearance, being painted "Coach Painter’s Red" on the main panel, and "Dark Straw", (yellow) on the lower panels. Unpowered trailers could be pulled behind

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636-730: A viaduct over the South Platte River and began to aggressively expand. Both the Denver Tramway and the Denver City Cable Railway Company were well equipped and determined to drive the other out of business. In 1888 the first practical electric street railway was installed by Frank J. Sprague in Richmond, Virginia . His improved designs for a spring-loaded trolley pole , for mounting streetcar motors , and for better gear designs finally made

689-556: Is an obsolete system that was used by some electric tramways to pass current to streetcars via a "conduit", a small tunnel under the roadway. Modern systems fall under the term ground-level power supply . The power rails are contained in a conduit midway between and below the two surface rails on which the cars operate, in much the same fashion as the cable for cable cars . The conduit contains two "T" section steel power rails of opposite polarity facing each other, about 12 inches (30 cm) apart and about 18 inches (46 cm) below

742-522: The Colorado Public Utilities Commission , who authorized a 2-cent fare increase. The city of Denver sued and in 1919 Dewey C. Bailey was elected mayor on a promise to reinstate the 5-cent fare. The Denver Tramway Company responded with layoffs and pay cuts. In 1920, the Tramway company again threatened to cut wages for its employees unless the city allowed it to increase the fares on its routes. Workers themselves wanted

795-559: The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that Tramway's perpetual franchise was unconstitutional, the company used all of its political might to have the case retried. Upon re-examination the Supreme Court reversed it earlier ruling and found that the Denver Tramway Company's perpetual franchise was constitutional. By 1893, Denver Tramway had electrified its entire system and was continuing to expand. The owners of

848-598: The Denver City Cable Railway Company went into receivership and reorganized under the slightly different title The Denver City Cable Railroad Company. The Tramway company used its connections with the city counsel to grant itself a franchise the Denver City Cable Railroad Company couldn't compete with and the two companies merged to become the Denver City Tramway Company. The company now held a monopoly on Denver's street railway service and claimed an exclusive perpetual franchise. Advertisements for

901-585: The Denver City Railway Company in 1872. By 1877 the company employed eighteen men, had thirty-two horses and twelve cars. In that year it carried 392,420 passengers over its eight miles of road. In 1883 Denver City Railway Company changed hands. The railway was expanded and much of the old track was relaid with heavy steel rails. Clyde Lyndon King, in his doctoral thesis The history of the government of Denver with special reference to its relations with public service corporations , writes, "by

954-490: The Denver Electric and Cable Railway Company, petitioned for and were given the right to use horse-power, despite the Denver City Railway Company's exclusive horse railroad franchise . Some of the initial investors then spun off a new company, The Denver Railway Association, which was given the rights to horse railways. This move was very unpopular with both the Denver City Railway Company and the remaining investors in

1007-495: The Denver Electric and Cable Railway Company. Thus the Denver Railway Association was reincorporated and the newly consolidated company renamed the Denver Tramway. The Denver Tramway experimented with a direct-current series conduit car system connected to an underground electrified line in 1886, but it was expensive, complicated and trouble-prone. After a year of operation it was not making any profits and

1060-609: The Denver Horse Railroad Company was incorporated and given "a period of thirty five years the sole and exclusive right and privilege of constructing a horse railroad in the city of Denver and the additions thereto." In 1871 a horsecar line was finally built in West Denver, from Seventh and Larimer to the Five Points neighborhood, opening December 17. The Denver Horse Railroad Company was renamed

1113-578: The Denver Tramway Company consolidated their two nominally independent companies - the Denver Tramway Company, which served Denver proper, and the Metropolitan Railway Company, which served the suburbs - into The Denver Consolidated Tramway Company. Despite their power and influence, however, their main competitor was still the Denver City Cable Railway Company. Then the panic of 1893 struck and industrial stagnation provided an opportunity to drive out competition. In November 1893,

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1166-400: The Denver Tramway switched to horse-power. After losing a lawsuit to the Denver City Railway Company, they switched over to cable-power and finished their first line using it at the end of 1888. The Denver City Railway Company, finally having serious competition, also switched to cable-power and reorganized as the Denver City Cable Railway Company. They secured a contract from the city to build

1219-779: The Festival of Britain, which commemorated the Great Exhibition of 1851. The last tram was withdrawn in June 1952 and virtually all the tracks had been removed by the 1970s, although a short section can still be seen at the entrance to the former Kingsway Tramway Subway . Conduit current collection systems were used in several major cities, including Monaco, Dresden, Prague, Tours, Washington, and London, Other European hybrid tramway networks included Paris, Nice, Lyon, Lille and Bordeaux in France; Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. In Paris,

1272-756: The Highlands. The neighborhood contains two lakes surrounded by parks, one eponymous (stretching from 46th Avenue to I-70 and Sheridan Boulevard to Tennyson Street) and Rocky Mountain Lake Park (stretching from Lowell Boulevard to Grove Street and 46th Avenue to I-70). Berkeley Park also contains the William Scheitler Recreation Center, run by the City and County of Denver and including both indoor and outdoor public pools. Berkeley has experienced rapid growth and rise in property values in

1325-584: The Queensboro Bridge between Manhattan and Queens had tracks installed on the outer lanes with conduits for Manhattan cars in addition to overhead wires. The conduit allowed them to run to Queens Plaza terminus without need for removing the plough and raising the poles. In later years the conduit was removed and only trolley wire remained. In London, the London County Council Tramways experimented with side conduit , where

1378-436: The Tramway company also continued to lay track and by the end of this period it owned and operated over a hundred miles of electrified track and was firmly entrenched in political circles. The company was no stranger to controversy and had been taken to court a number of times. However, they cultivated a relationship with the local city counsels which often would amend the terms of their franchise to permit their activities. When

1431-647: The Tramway when using electricity was 2.2 cents per passenger as compared with an operating expense of 3.4 cents for each passenger carried on its competitor's cable system." Denver Tramway began to expand into the suburbs and buy up independent operators such as the Denver and Berkeley Rapid Transit Company and the Highlands Street Railway Company which operated in Berkeley and Highland respectively. While continuing to buy up competitors,

1484-432: The United States. Conduit current collection was pioneered in 1885 in Denver, Colorado , the world's second electric street railway . The balky system was replaced three years later. Also in 1885, a conduit system was used on Britain's first electric tramway in the seaside resort of Blackpool . The conduit was replaced with overhead electrification, as sand and saltwater entered the it and caused breakdowns, and there

1537-494: The car's electrical system. A "plowman" was assigned at each changeover point from overhead trolley wire to conduit to remove the cable attachments to the car and stow the plow, which did not remain with the car and was reattached in an incoming car running on overhead wire. The lower section of the plow "board" was drawn by the moving car within the cavity of the conduit. Because of this usage, many of Washington's streetcars carried trolley poles , which were lowered while operating in

1590-489: The central part of the city; when the cars reached a point where they switched to overhead operation, they stopped over a plow pit where the conduit plows were detached and the trolley poles raised, the reverse operation taking place on inbound runs. The 'pit' here has the meaning analogous to racing circuit pits rather than a depression in the road. In the UK, London had a hybrid network of double-deck trams: overhead collection

1643-471: The city adequately. In 1895, Thomas S. McMurry was elected mayor after running on a platform stating that the city's government should be divorced from the city's public service corporations. McMurry vetoed a token peace offering from the Denver City Tramway, wanting instead a yearly return on the company's profits. The company then campaigned against McMurry and he lost the 1899 election. With

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1696-437: The companies stock read, "The Denver City Tramway owns and controls the entire city railway system of the city of Denver comprising in all 156 miles of track serving a population of about 175,000 and has a franchise without limit to time and therefore perpetual." With its monopoly on the railways and its power in the local government secured the company began to maximize its profits and many locals felt that it wasn't compensating

1749-504: The conduit sections were frequently very short, requiring cars to change from overhead to conduit and back several times in one journey. The last conduit line in Paris closed in 1936. The last Bordeaux conduit car ran in 1958. The conduit systems in Berlin, Vienna and Budapest were very short lived, being replaced by overhead wires before World War I. Berkeley, Denver Berkeley is

1802-409: The conduit was in one of the side rails. This was tried along Kingsland Road between Bentley Road and Basing Place, Hoxton , but the stresses and strains of the weight of the cars weakened the conduit, so it was not tried elsewhere. In the centre of Brussels some tram lines were fitted with conduits, the last ones being converted to overhead operation during World War II . Washington, D.C. , had

1855-572: The country, which is not surprising due to the lack of public transit options." From 1969 to 1971, the Denver Tramway Company continued service under the sponsorship of the City and County of Denver. In 1971 with aging equipment, low revenues, and lackluster ridership the Denver Tramway Company transferred all of its assets to city-owned Denver Metro Transit. As the Denver Metro Transit was an entity created by Denver, suburban service continued only for those suburbs willing to contribute

1908-490: The electric streetcar profitable. Taking note of this success, the Denver Tramway decided to build an electric street car line into South Denver and set up a subsidiary, the South Denver Cable Railway, to operate it. This line proved to be so successful that the Denver Tramway decided to electrify all of its cable lines even though they had years of life left in them. King writes, "The operating expense of

1961-500: The end of 1950 the streetcars were no longer in use and within 5 years most of the infrastructure for them had been removed. Trolley bus service ended in 1955. Cars were becoming a larger part of life for Denverites. The Denver Tramway Company, with its monopoly on public transportation in the Denver area, was not expanding quickly and more commuters were using cars to get to and from Denver. Author Sherah Collins writes, "... in 1970, Denver had more cars per capita than any other place in

2014-633: The end of the Tramway's streetcar service in the 1950s. The powerhouse later served as an International Harvester Company warehouse, was purchased by the Forney Transportation Museum in 1969, and was bought in 1998 by current owner REI to serve as its Denver flagship store. The Denver Tramway Company used 39-foot trolley cars . Some were built by the company itself though most came from the Woeber Auto Body and Manufacturing Company. Type 1 cars were built for operation in

2067-537: The last 20 years and particularly since the closing of Elitch Gardens Amusement Park in October 1994. Particularly, Tennyson Street has become a commercial and cultural center for Northwest Denver, beginning in the current decade to rival Highland Square in nearby Highland . City Congressman Rick Garcia pushed for the further development of Tennyson Street in the November 2011 election season and succeeded in obtaining

2120-480: The opening of the second half of the period, Denver's street railway service was as good as that in any city of its size." Land speculators , not served by the existing railway and believing that they needed street railway service to get better value from their real estate, launched the Denver Electric and Cable Railway Company in 1885. Incorporated for fifty years, this service was to run on electricity or by cable . Fearing these new methods would prove unprofitable,

2173-436: The overhead electric lines) and motor buses ( internal combustion buses). Buses were less expensive to operate and were more flexible, as they were not confined to tracks. In addition, moving away from trolleys meant that the Denver Tramway no longer had an obligation to maintain the streets that it served. At the start of 1949, Denver Tramway had 131 streetcars in service, 138 trolley coaches, and 116 gasoline-powered buses. By

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2226-430: The process was a little more complicated. The tram pulled up alongside a ploughman, who engaged a two-pronged plough fork over the plough in a short length of unelectrified conduit and into the plough channel underneath the centre of the tram. As the tram drew forward, the conduit channel moved under the tram, carrying the plough into position. The conductor pulled down the trolley pole and stowed it. The ploughman's job

2279-403: The prohibition of overhead wires on Manhattan Island , although a few Bronx -based trolley lines entered the northern reaches of Manhattan using overhead wire. Trolley lines from Brooklyn and Queens also entered Manhattan under wire, but did not use city streets. The primary reason for the initial adoption of conduit systems was for aesthetic reasons as an alternative to overhead wiring that

2332-433: The public. A reconstructed Colorado Supreme Court handed down a decision in 1910 which ruled against all perpetual franchises on the grounds that they were prohibited by the constitution. Thus the only Tramway franchise now valid was the one adopted in 1906. The franchise charter the company had drawn up in 1906 was very generous for itself. Still it was based on the previous charter drawn up in 1885 and included terms such as

2385-551: The rails. In New York City, sometimes one slot was used for a cable line and the other for electric cars. Occasionally, two competing lines shared a common track and had independent slots for the ploughs of the respective cars. In London , two slots were sometimes used on a single-track stretch in a narrow road so that cars in each direction used separate conduits. Known as twin-conduit track, examples were found in York Road, Wandsworth and London Street, Greenwich. In New York City,

2438-420: The street surface. Power reached the car by means of an attachment, called a plough (US – plow), that rode in the conduit beneath the car. The plough had two metal shoes attached to springs that pushed sideways against the power rails. The plough was normally connected to a platform that could slide laterally to conform with variations in the placement of the conduit. For example, some trackage had

2491-521: The tramway operated trolley coaches and conventional buses, but continued to use the Tramway name. In May 1971, the Denver Tramway Corporation ceased operation of Denver's transit system, selling its assets and operations to the City and County of Denver. The city continued those operations under the name Denver Metro Transit until 1974, when they were assumed by the voter-approved Regional Transportation District (RTD). In 1867

2544-718: The trolleys in rush hour in order to carry an increased number of riders. Few trolley cars from the system have been preserved. After the switch from streetcars to buses after World War II, the Denver Tramway Co. sold the old trolleys for $ 100 each. One passenger car from the Tramway fleet, No. 54, rests within the former Denver City Cable Railway’s powerhouse at 18th and Lawrence Street, formerly an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant. 39°45′04″N 104°59′39″W  /  39.7510°N 104.9942°W  / 39.7510; -104.9942  ( City and County of Denver ) Conduit car Conduit current collection

2597-417: Was a fairly skilled one because, if he failed to locate the plough fork correctly, it or the plough could jam in the plough channel and cause lengthy delays. Some tram designs required an extra carrier to be located with the plough and these frequently caused problems for ploughmen not used to the design (particularly if the tram had been diverted from its normal route). New conduit track was laid in 1951 for

2650-585: Was a problem with voltage drop. However the line survives to this day as part of the Blackpool tramway , and some sections of track still had the conduit slot visible until refurbishment in 2012. Car 4 of the original conduit line also still survives, and is preserved at the National Tramway Museum in Crich , Derbyshire . New York City had the largest installation of conduit cars, due to

2703-555: Was often objected to as being unsightly. The expense of creating conduit lines in New York was reduced where it was possible to convert the cable vaults from discontinued cable car lines. The huge cost of building new conduits gave New York the distinction of having one of the country's last horsecar lines: the Bleecker Street Line , which operated until 1917. In some old photographs, two "slots" may be seen between

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2756-535: Was one of the first ways of supplying power to trams, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires. When electric street railways became ubiquitous, it was only used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires, including London, Paris, Berlin, Marseilles, Vienna, Budapest, and Prague in Europe, and the New York City borough of Manhattan and Washington, D.C., in

2809-438: Was used in the outer sections and conduit in the centre. At the changeover from conduit to overhead wire, at a change pit, the process was largely automatic. The conductor put the trolley pole onto the wire, and as the tram moved forward the conduit channel veered sideways to outside the running track, automatically ejecting the plough - the tram was said to be 'shooting the plough'. At the changeover from overhead wire to conduit

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