The first Dayton Xmas trolley, 1967 Photo courtesy MVRTA |
Dayton, Ohio, Electronic
Trolley Bus (ETB) System
Dayton is one of five cities in the United States
that operates an electric trolley bus system for its mass
transportation.
The city's first street railway carriages were pulled
by horses or mules. Built by the Dayton Street Railroad Company in
1868, railway carriages only ran up and down Third Street. The
railway system was an immediate success and made its owners,
Huffman and Williams, wealthy. Other capitalists quickly added more
city lines.
The electric street car, invented in Germany, took
the world by storm in the early 1880s, arriving in Dayton in 1888
on a new downtown route. Called the White Line Electric Railway, it
was a roaring success. By 1910, five separate companies had built
other lines. This new transit system was called the "trackless
trolley," "trolley coach," "trolley bus" and eventually the
"electric trolley bus." The electric trolley bus clanged its bell,
ground its steel wheels on the steel track, threw sparks, and
remained the primary mode of city transportation until the early
1930s.
After a fire in 1932, the Dayton Street Rail Road
Company replaced its destroyed trolley cars with model T-40 street
cars (buses) built by the Brill Car Company and strung new trolley
wire for the car's return. These ETBs, which began running on April
23, 1933, established the continuing electric trolley bus legacy in
Dayton.
Documentation includes a detailed 20-page report on
Dayton's electric trolley bus system, trolley route maps, 35
photos, and a video.
Originally submitted by: Tony P. Hall, Representative (3rd District).
More Local Legacies... |
|
|
The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.
Learn More About It... |
|
|
|