Our Collection - City Cars
City Cars is another way of saying streetcars which many cities used up until the mid-1950's -- and some cities still are running them today -- to link neighborhoods to commercial centers and to their downtown areas. These are high-density. low-speed operations in the center of city streets where the lines connect with each other and with transit buses.
Cleveland had an extensive streetcar network radiating from Public Square in downtown to all major neighborhoods centers, and even into the close-in suburbs. Cleveland's streetcars stopped running in 1954, replaced by trackless trolleys (also since ended) and bus routes.
We have several examples of Cleveland streetcars in our collection, as well as cars from Pittsburgh; Cincinnati; Boston; Toronto; Vera Cruz, Mexico; and Blackpool, England.
Please click on a car name, below, to go to its photo and description
Car #9
Car #19
Car #606
Car #1218
Car #1225
Car #2227
Car #2365
Car #3334
Car #4145
Car #4602
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Car # 9 Vera Cruz City Railway (Mexico) Vera Cruz City Railway # 9 and #19 are classic single-truck open cars also known as "summer cars." These two were built in 1910 by the J. G. Brill Car Co. of Philadelphia and shipped to Mexico in kit form. After decades of bouncing along the dusty streets of Vera Cruz, a vacationing Jerry Brookins purchased the "bobbers" to add to his growing collection. |
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Car # 19 Vera Cruz City Railway. (Mexico) NOTE: Please see Car #9 for descriptive information about this car. |
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Car # 606 ("Boat Car") Blackpool Transport (England) Blackpool Transport # 606
is a open-top excursion tram (trolley) built
in 1934 by the street railway company of Blackpool, England. The car is
called a "Boat Tram" due to its ship-like art deco body style. The "Boat Car"
retired early to be a part of a trade for a Blackpool double-deck car
which had come to Trolleyville years ago but was too tall to operate
here. The seaside resort city was in need of another closed car for the
railway and proposed the trade that made both parties very happy when #606
arrived in Cleveland in 2000. |
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Car # 1218 (#18 ) Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Cleveland Railway Company # 1218 and #1225 are from a group of over 200 single-end, center-entrance streetcars built by the G. C. Kuhlman Car Co. of Cleveland in 1913-14. These cars served almost every neighborhood in town. In 1920 a portion were souped up and leased to the Cleveland Interurban Railroad for rapid transit service from Public Square to Shaker Heights. #1218 and #1225 were workhorses on the two lines to Shaker Heights until 1960 when they retired to Trolleyville where they continued to serve patrons in a more relaxed way. |
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Car # 1225 (#25 ) Shaker Heights Rapid Transit
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Car # 2227 Cincinnati Street Railway Cincinnati Street Railway #2227, built in 1919 by the Cincinnati Car Co. for the Queen City, is a perfect example of the P.A.Y.E. design streetcar. The Pay-As-You-Enter, rear entrance-front exit trolley was a very common car design in North America. The 2227 was retired and dismantled in 1948 and the body was salvaged for use as a shed. In 1964 Trolleyville acquired the body and scoured the countryside to find trucks and hardware to restore the car. After several years of hard work the bright orange deck roof car is in like-new condition |
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Car #2365 (# 58) Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Cleveland Railway Co. # 2365 is a non-powered trailer pulled by a motorcar such as our 1200's to handle the rush-hour crunch loads on many of Cleveland's streetcar lines. The G. C. Kuhlman Car Co. built this car in 1918. In the early 1940's the 2365 was sold to the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit to help with war-time passenger loads. The multiple-unit train would consist of 4 motors and a trailer. Later in life it became the crew bullpen at the Van Aken terminus until 1968 when it was fully retired to Trolleyville |
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Car # 3334 ("Texas Ranger") Boston Metro. Transit Authority Texas Railway & Terminal Co. #3334 is an example of a double-end PCC car. Built by St Louis Car Co. in 1942, it was painted a jazzy red & cream, dubbed "Texas Ranger" and served in Dallas until the late 1950's. At that time it was sold to the Boston Metropolitan Transit Authority where it ran until the late 1980's. Trolleyville received a very tired #3334 in 1991 and plans for restoration is in its future. |
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Car # 4145 Pittsburgh Railway Co. Pittsburgh Street Railways # 4145 is another classic P.A.Y.E.-style streetcar built in 1911 by the Pressed Steel Car Co. of Pittsburgh. Upon its retirement the car went to a private museum in central Pennsylvania where its was restored. In 1973 that museum closed and 4145 was added to the collection in Cleveland. |
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Car # 4602 Toronto Transit Commission (Canada) Toronto Transit Commission # 4602 is the youngest streetcar in our collection. It was constructed in 1951 by the Canadian Car & Foundry of Ottawa. Canada. This single-end PCC car is in very good condition today owing to a $300,000 rebuild by the TTC in 1988. In 1996 the 4602 retired from the streets of Toronto which still enjoy trolley service with new cars on 10 routes. |