Introduction

The recent American quest for our roots, amid the context of our historical experience, has led to a revival of interest in not only the preservation of Historic Districts and urban neighborhoods, but also the growing interest in vintage streetcars. In the following pages, information on such projects is presented. The specific projects have been chosen because of their proximity to Huntington and because they serve smaller communities and focus on tourists and visitors.

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis Area Transit Authority

The initial 2.5 mile segment of this line opened for service on April 29, 1993. It runs north and south on Main Street. Approximately one mile is on a mall, which is open to the trolleys and pedestrians only. The remainder shares the street with traffic. In 1997, a parallel line was opened using an old railroad right-of-way closer to the Mississippi River, giving a total length of about 4.5 miles. Shuttle service along Main Street operates on five-minute headway during the day, with somewhat less frequent service along the River route. The vehicle fleet consists of rehabilitated single-truck cars from Oportoo and double-truck rehabilitated cars from Melbourne, plus one replica single-truck car. All are of the closed type, and details are given in the table on the following page. Accessibility is provided by means of elevators at the station stops along Main Street, and by fixed high platforms along the River route. The line carries about 3000 passengers per day. The capital cost of the system was funded by Federal Interstate Transfer funds. Memphis is planning to extend the Main Street line to serve the Medical Center.

Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith Trolley Museum

This line is primarily a museum operation. It began operation in 1991 on a .25 mile former freight spur of the Frisco Railroad, using a restored single-truck car which had previously operated in Fort Smith. It has been extended twice, and currently operates over .5 miles. It operates daily from May to November, and on weekends the rest of the year. For the first two seasons of operation, some 26,000 passengers were carried. The line has been built largely with volunteer labor and donated material, although public funding is currently being used. The system owns several cars suitable for restoration, as detailed below. It operates a transit museum in conjunction with the trolley.

Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins Municipal Railway Society

This tourist line operates about .5 miles from the fringe of the old downtown area to a city park, using the original right-of-way of the Fort Collins Municipal Railway, which abandoned streetcar operations in 1951. One car is in service during the summer and early fall. It is an original Fort Collins single-truck closed car which had been on static display in a civic park until restored to operating condition by volunteers. The line has run during the summer since 1984. The system is funded through fares and private donations and is primarily a tourist operation. While there have been plans to extend it, they have as yet been unrealized.

Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell National Historical Park

The water-powered mills which had once made Lowell America's number one textile producing town were abandoned by 1970. These mills were part of a largely intact historic district, which attracted the interest of the National Park Service. The Service wished to create an industrial heritage park as an interpretive museum of 19th Century American manufacturing. Work began in 1978, and included the provision of a trolley shuttle to connect the various venues along about one mile of trackage. Three replica streetcars were built for the system, two 15-bench double-truck opens and a closed double-truck car. The line began service in 1984.

Galveston, Texas
Galveston Park Board of Trustees

A turn of the century boom town and major Gulf Port, Galveston suffered decades of neglect and commercial development went largely to Houston until its resurgence as a tourist attraction. Because of the long slow decline, the city had retained a large and diverse concentration of Victorian commercial buildings and homes, mostly in the downtown area and along the Strand, facing the Gulf of Mexico. With the resurgence of interest in the historic areas, the City felt a streetcar line could best link the Downtown and the Strand and provide an alternative to the automobile. A 2.5 mile line resulted, using four closed double-truck replica cars and operating year-round. The cars are propelled by on-board diesel engines driving generators which provide electricity for the motors. A key reason for this choice was that Galveston is subject to hurricanes, and there was fear that such a storm would blow down an overhead power system. The line was built with Federal funds, but operating costs have been borne locally, with a combination of public and private dollars.

Other Cities

There are numerous other vintage trolley systems in operation throughout the country. Summary information on some of the more important lines is given in the following table. The four systems described above are also listed for ease of comparison.

PLANNED SYSTEMS

Little Rock, Arkansas
Central Arkansas Transit Authority

Downtown Little Rock has a Convention Center with three major hotels and the historic legislative building in close proximity. Several blocks away, along Markham Street, the River Market area is emerging as an area of Victorian buildings renovated for commercial and residential uses. The planned Presidential Library will be just to the east of the River Market area. Across the Arkansas River, in North Little Rock, a new sports arena is under construction. The City has approved plans to build a vintage trolley system to connect these attractions, and initial Federal funding for the $16 million project has been obtained. The line will allow users of the convention center and the sports arena to park their cars and take the trolley to their destination, as well as to the entertainment venues and restaurants at the River Market. Detailed engineering is scheduled to begin in 1998, with construction to follow. The completed line will be about 2 miles in length and a fleet of six replica closed double-truck cars has been recommended.

Kenosha, Wisconsin
City of Kenosha

Jutting into Lake Michigan in downtown Kenosha is a 70 acre site which was a former Chrysler plant. This site is being redeveloped into residential, commercial and recreation uses. To connect this site with the downtown retail area and the Metro commuter rail station, the City of Kenosha is designing a 2 mile electric streetcar line, arranged in the form of a large loop which will operate counterclockwise. A fleet of rehabilitated PCC streetcars will be used, with two cars in regular operation. (The President's Conference Committee - or PCC - streetcar is a streamlined vehicle originally developed in the 1930's and widely used on American trolley systems until recently.) The cars will be painted in different liveries, and will be retrofitted with lifts for accessibility. Federal funding has been obtained for the majority of the capital cost, and the line is intended to be operated as part of the local public transit system. Construction will be undertaken in 1999.

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation

Founded in 1982, the Foundation has methodically taken several steps toward its goal of implementing a vintage trolley line in Colorado Springs. Through a combination of public and private funding they have completed a planning study which ultimately envisions a system of five routes covering over 16 miles of track. Three separate short lines have emerged as candidates for the initial phase, all of which serve retail districts which have a large concentration of visitor traffic. The Foundation has purchased ten PCC cars, all of which have corporate sponsors. In addition, the organization is restoring a double truck closed car which was built in 1901 and formerly ran on the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway. They have also leased a single-truck closed car, virtually identical to cars which ran in the Springs, from the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, where it had been on static display. The foundation established a short section of electrified trackage on which it can test cars and give rides to the public, which opened in November, 1995. The Foundation is now obtaining the necessary public and political support with which it hopes funding for the first segment can be obtained.

Other Cities

BENEFITS EXPERIENCED
IN OTHER CITIES

Introduction

While there is no rigorous study of the broader economic and social benefits of a vintage trolley line, there has been research done in this area. The firm of Kimley Horn & Associates, has conducted planning studies and engineering design for a number of such projects. The material in this section was prepared for the River Rail project in Little Rock, and represents 1998 data. The Sam St.Clair is indebted to Kimley Horn & Associates for this material.

This overview is not representative of a comprehensive statistical research effort, but reflects "snap-shot" interviews with individuals in several cities. In addition to visits to several cities to personally observe the current operations of vintage trolley systems (Portland, Dallas and Galveston), telephone interviews were also conducted with individuals in Galveston, Dallas, Memphis, New Orleans, Portland, San Jose, Tucson and Fort Collins.

During the conduct of interviews, specific questions were raised to determine:

• The direct impact of the vintage trolley system on business (increased sales, higher occupancy rates, tourism, etc.)
• Disruption of vehicular flow
• Impact of the overhead power distribution wire.
• Impact on commercial real estate
• In-depth interviews were conducted with business leaders as well as transit system personnel.

Summary of Conclusions

Recently implemented vintage trolley systems are closely tied to revitalization and enhancement of commercial districts. Several additional conclusions can also be derived:

• The collective business communities in the cities researched give vintage trolleys high marks for being positive influences in those cities.
• The projects have been positive activities for both the city as a whole as well as the commercial interests directly affected.
• Disruption due to construction has been minimal and more than overcome by the positive factors once operation began. There does not appear to be any significant impact on general traffic flow on those systems where mixed traffic is allowed. (However, in none of the cities investigated are existing street configurations as tight as in Huntington)
• The use of an overhead wire for electrical power is not perceived as having any negative impact on the aesthetic of the urban landscape. On the contrary, vintage trolley projects offer opportunities for improvement of the urban scene through lighting improvements, sidewalk amenities and other beautification.
• Vintage trolley projects have been shaped by the involvement of the local business community, with individuals and associations playing major roles in planning, implementing and operating the systems.

Detailed Observations

Individuals from Galveston, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans, Portland, San Jose and Tucson stated that the impact of the local vintage trolley ranged from negligible to immense. In cases where the impact was considered extremely positive, the trolley was seen as an important component of overall downtown improvement efforts, and thus could not be given sole credit.

Impact on Business Activity

A vintage trolley's positive impact on business was substantial in many cities surveyed.

Representatives from both the Memphis Chamber of Commerce and the Memphis Center City Commission expressed elation with that city's trolley project. The trolley was seen as taking a liability (the unsuccessful pedestrian mall) and turning it into a tremendous asset for the community. It was seen as the key activity in setting off a flurry of development downtown. The Director of the Center City Commission credited the trolley system as being responsible for a variety of developments ranging from a $100 million Peabody Place development to rehabilitation of many small storefronts.

One of the projects related to the major development will provide corporate headquarters for an auto parts retail chain and bring 800 jobs with it. The Commission offers low interest loans to restore the facades of buildings. With the construction of the trolley more than twenty such loans have been made (with only three made prior to that). The Commission can also offer tax freezes to small businesses to assist with retaining business in the central city. Prior to the trolley project, two tax freezes had been arranged; since the coming of the trolley, nearly 15 have been awarded. One eighteen-story building near the trolley line had been vacant for 17 years, but will shortly open as a 202-unit apartment complex.

Lunch traffic on the trolley street is also seen as a plus. As one interviewee said, a person can now go farther during lunchtime, thus both broadening eating choices and allowing more expanded shopping opportunities. The system also attracts a large number of visitors and Memphis residents who do not live or work downtown. The positive impact on weekend retailing was adjudged high.

In Portland, there is extremely high occupancy of business locations on the rail line. One of the executives of the downtown association expressed his belief that this was due in part to vehicular traffic being allowed to operate within the trolley system right- of-way. He said that, in that way cyclists, pedestrians, motorists and trolley riders all had direct access to local establishments. The manager of a Starbucks Coffee shop at Powell Square in Portland was effusive about the rail service. She claimed a definite direct positve impact on her business, with increased walk-in traffic almost every time the trolley or light rail car stopped nearby.

As mentioned several times, the trolley projects are not seen as being solely responsible for the positive business environment, perhaps with the exception of Memphis. In Portland, there was a great deal of effort focused on the downtown area, including sidewalk amenities and public places (squares, plazas, etc.) The combination of these factors has led to a true rejuvenation of the downtown environment that reflects a great deal of pride in the city's central area.

The same can be said of Galveston. The rejuvenation of The Strand was already underway, and the trolley project was an added facet of this jewel of restoration. Individual retailers who were contacted did not see much direct impact on their business from the trolley, but they were very favorable to the system and its general influence on the area's aesthetics.

The McKinney Avenue line in Dallas engenders similar comments. Few of the restaurant owners contacted could point to measurable patronage increases on account of the trolley, yet all but one were very favorably disposed toward it.

The St. Charles and Riverfront Streetcar systems in New Orleans are unique in considering their impact on business. The St. Charles line has been in continuous operation since the 1830's. As such, it is considered as much a part of New Orleans as any other public or private institution. It serves residential areas and downtown, providing a link for residents and a way to tour the city for visitors. The Riverfront Streetcar was an idea born of the developers who made the most of the infrastructure created for the Worlds' Fair in new Orleans. The Convention Center and several private developments sprang from that international exposition.

The Riverfront Streetcar served to tie together those developments. It has been extended once since initial service began in 1988, and further extensions are currently being considered. Original ridership estimates of 2,000 per day for the extension proved to be 40% of the number actually recorded. Throughout its planning and implementation, the line was a partnership of public and private interests. Funds were contributed by private interests, and all of the fifteen organizations -- public and private -- were included in the process. One restaurant owner along the Riverfront claims that his business increased one-third when the line opened. Other retailers in new Orleans have freely attributed their store location decision to the proximity of the trolley line.

In each of the systems investigated, it was the business community that was at the heart of the development of the vintage trolley. In some cases, the local community was a participant in the development of the system, and it continues to play some role in the operation of the trolley service. Community participation in the projects was varied and widespread, from private corporate contributions to assessment districts to providing volunteer labor.

Several of the systems were characterized as appealing to tourism ridership -- such as the Galveston Island Trolley, the McKinney Avenue line in Dallas, the Waterfront Streetcar in Seattle, the San Jose Trolley, the Fort Collins Municipal Railway and the Old Pueblo Trolley in Tucson. Of these systems, the general impact on business was judged minor by most business owners. However, reflecting a common view, one of the major Dallas developers with a large hotel/retail/office complex having frontage on the street served by the trolley system felt that the system provided a cohesiveness to the whole district. He also reported that his own favorite restaurant owner had told him that the diners took great pleasure in "watching the trolley go by."

As mentioned, trolley systems were often part of a larger effort aimed at the revitalization of certain areas. Such was the case in Galveston, where emphasis was being placed by the entire community on the redevelopment of The Strand, an historical area with high tourism attraction levels. The trolley system in Tucson has been a key to the development of a number of small retail establishments and restaurants which might not have occurred without it. Systems in Memphis, Portland and New Orleans are seen as being a local transportation alternative as well as attracting visitor ridership.

The impact of construction related to the systems' implementation differed. In the case of Memphis, where an existing pedestrian mall was used for the Main Street Trolley, the impact was minimal. An intensive information campaign during the construction period was coordinated by the Memphis Center City Commission. In the case of the New Orleans Riverfront line, very little impact was apparent during construction because the line was built largely on an abandoned railroad right-of-way, and in the case of the St. Charles line, the construction of 1831 had preceded development of the area.

In Portland and San Jose, the vintage trolley uses the same trackage as the light rail line, and there was some impact. An official with the Portland downtown business association said that some weaker businesses were lost during the construction phase, although he was quick to add that every business that had been lost was eventually replaced. In San Jose, a major participatory effort was undertaken to maximize access to local retailers during construction and minimize disruption, to the extent that construction was entirely shut down during the Christmas shopping season.

Impact on Vehicular Traffic Flow

None of the individuals interviewed mentioned any negative impacts on vehicular traffic flow. In Portland, the trolleys share the street with autos, trucks and buses; as in many vintage trolley cities. In some cases in Portland, the vehicular traffic is confined to one lane and some left turns are restricted, but there were no complaints about traffic slowdowns, and no one contacted there knew of or mentioned anything about trolley breakdowns. Indeed, they all felt the trolley vehicles were very reliable.

In Portland, where most on-street parking was removed from the streets on which the trolleys run, the lost spaces were more than compensated for by additional public parking lots that were also in the planning stages while the rail system was under development. Parking was not an issue in Memphis (where the former pedestrian mall had no parking), nor in New Orleans, Galveston or Fort Collins. In San Jose, the rail development in the downtown was accompanied by a two-street semi-mall, and widened sidewalks and pedestrian areas caused the loss of two traffic lanes and one parking lane. However, compensating off-street capacity was designed and built concurrently, and the end result was a much more attractive and lively downtown business district.

Impact of Overhead Wire

None of the individuals interviewed felt that the visual impact of the overhead wire was an issue. In Portland and San Jose, the rail project afforded the opportunity to install attractive vintage street lighting, and that was implemented at the same time that wire was erected. Several cities have used the opportunity to combine functions and minimize the use of separate poles or posts in the business district. In San Jose and elsewhere, the Fire Department was involved in the design of the overhead to assure that it did not interfere with possible emergency situations.

Impact on Residential Areas

All of the individuals contacted were asked about any impacts on residential areas. Few were reported. In Galveston, one person living on the trolley line did not believe there was any impact on residential areas -- positive or negative. Representatives of a Catholic school located on the Galveston line judged the impact to be zero, except for the opportunity for students to take group excursions. In Dallas, the manager of an apartment complex viewed the impact of the trolley as non-existent, and that it was not a factor in tenant location decisions.

On the other hand, classified advertisements in the local Galveston newspaper highlighted proximity to the trolley in describing residential property, as was the case in Memphis. Even though Galveston's system is used predominantly by visitors to the island, there are a number of local riders who use the line for routine trips to the post office, grocery store or other business purposes.

In Portland, the vintage trolley was itself a mitigation measure to compensate for the impact of the city's light rail line on two historically significant residential areas. Historic trolleys had been considered previously as a possible linkage between the two historic districts, and the construction of the light rail line served as a catalyst to implement that idea.

In Fort Collins, representatives of the streetcar system expressed their belief that several home-buying decisions had been positively influenced by the presence of the trolley.

Impact on Commercial Real Estate

While it appears that the Portland and Memphis trolley systems have been factors in commercial real estate decisions, no quantifiable information exists. In Portland, there are claims that real estate prices near the line are higher, yet this equation also includes other improvements in the downtown area. In Memphis, because of the abundance of available property, real estate rates do not yet seem to have been affected by the trolley line. As mentioned, the impression in Tucson is that the trolley's proximity has attracted a number of small retail and restaurant establishments. And while there is not specific data, the impression is that the presence of the trolley in San Jose, Galveston and Dallas -- by itself -- has not had major impact on real estate prices. Proximity to these lines, as well as to the St. Charles line in New Orleans, is seen as a plus, but no quantifiable data is available.