VIDEOS
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| Above: YouTubeCA video - Dallas Streetcars 1955 - Length: 1:00 mins. | Above: YouTubeCA video - Dallas Oak Lawn Streetcar Line No 8 - Length: 10:45 mins. |
PHOTOS
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MAPS
THE DALLAS AREA
DALLAS
INSET: CENTRAL DALLAS
I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).
Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.
ROUTES
STREETCAR ROUTES
Operator: Dallas Railway and Terminus Co.
Note about the route system: Most routes did not actually have a terminus in downtown Dallas. They were paired up, so that, for example, streetcars on line 1 became part of line 2 after passing through the downtown area. In some cases, more than one route was present on one side of these pairings. The paired routes are: 1 - 2, 3 - 4, 5 - 6, 7 - 8, 16 - 17/18, 10/11/12 - 13, 14 - 15.
| 1 | Belmont | Downtown - Elm St. - Live Oak St. - Bryan St. - Matilda St. - Mockingbird Lane |
| 2 | Ervay | Downtown - Ervay St. - Colonial Av. - Emery St. |
| 3 | Junius Hts. | Downtown - Main St. - Columbia Av. - Gaston Av. |
| 4 | Highland Park / SMU | Downtown - McKinney Av. - Cole Av. - Hillcrest Av. - Southern Methodist U. |
| 5 | State | Downtown - Elm St. - St. Paul St. - State St. - Haskell Av. |
| 6 | Myrtle | Downtown - Lamar St. [now: Botham Jean Blvd.] - Forest Av. [now: Martin Luther King Blvd.] - Myrtle St. - Lawrence St. |
| 7 | Harwood | Downtown - Commerce St. - Grand Av. [now: Al Lipscomb Way] |
| 8 | Oak Lawn | Downtown - Elm St. - St. Paul St. - McKinney Av. - Bowen St. - Hawthorne Av. |
| 9 | Main | Downtown - Main St. - Peak St. - Haskell Av. - Railroad tracks |
| 10 | Sunset | Downtown - Trinity River Bridge - Jefferson Blvd. - Brooklyn Av. - Pierce St. |
| 11 | Hampton | Downtown - Trinity River Bridge - Jefferson Blvd. - Brandon St. - Pierce St. |
| 12 | Second | Downtown - Commerce St. - Exposition - Second Av. - Hatcher St. [now: Elsie Faye Heggins Street] |
| 13 | Forest | Downtown - Commerce St. - Exposition - Second Av. - Forest Av. [now: Martin Luther King Blvd.] - Myrtle St. |
| 14 | Forney | Downtown - Commerce St. - Exposition - Haskell Av. - Dolphin Rd. |
| 15 | Trinity Hts. | Downtown - Trinity River Bridge - Hutchins Av. - Saner Av. |
| 16 | Seventh | Downtown - Trinity River Bridge - Colorado Blvd. - 7th St. - Kings Highway |
| 17 | Mt. Auburn | Downtown - Commerce St. - Exposition - Lindsley Av. - Monte Vista Dr. |
| 18 | Park View | Downtown - Commerce St. - Exposition - Lindsley Av. - Fairview Av. |
INTERURBAN ROUTES
Operator: Texas Electric Railway
| C | Corsicana | Downtown - Trinity River Bridge - Hutchins Av. - Ennis - Corsicana |
| D | Denison | Downtown - Commerce St. - Bryan St. - Matilda St. - Plano - McKinney - Sherman - Denison |
| W | Waco | Downtown - Trinity River Bridge - Hutchins Av. - Waxahachie - Hillsboro - Waco |
The route designations C, D and W are for convenience only; they were not used by the operator.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM
NETWORK LENGTH
- Streetcar lines: ? km.
- Interurban lines: ? km.
HISTORY
- Mule-drawn streetcars: 7 Feb. 1873 - ?.
- Steam dummies (Steam-operated streetcars): 1880 - 1890.
- Electric streetcars (1st generation): 1889 - 15 Jan. 1956.
- Electric streetcars (2nd generation): 13 Apr. 2015 - today.
- Heritage streetcars: 22 July 1989 - today.
- Interurbans: 1902 - 31 Dec. 1948.
- LRT: 14 June 1996 - today.
- Automated People Mover (APM) - DFW Skylink: 21 May 2005 - today
GAUGE
- 1435 mm. (all systems except APM)
SOURCES
- Lietwiler, C. "Dallas: Light rail is preparing for expansion", Light Rail & Modern Tramway, March 1997 (60: 711), p.93-96.
- Lyons, M. "Tracks of transformation: 25 years of DART rail", Tramways & Urban Transit, Aug. 2021 (84: 1004), p.321-339.
- Simons, V. "Dallas streetcar: A US first", Tramways & Urban Transit, Sept. 2015 (78: 933), p.361-362.
- Simons, V. "Dallas: The US urban rail pathfinder", Tramways & Urban Transit, Nov. 2017 (80: 959), p.412-416.
- Simons, V. "DART hits the target", Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb. 2011 (74: 878), p.50-53.
- Simons, V. "DART takes flight", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2014 (77: 924), p.498-503.
- Wansbeek, C.J. "Dallas: Passenger boom fuels major expansion", Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb. 2007 (70: 830), p.55-59.
- Zapalac, G. "The PCC era in Dallas", in Southern Traction, 10 Dec. 1967.
WIKIS
- Dallas Streetcar
- DART light rail
- DFW Skylink
- McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
- Texas Electric Railway
- Texas Interurban Railway
WEB SITES
Also, many thanks to Mr Russell Powers of Lone Tree, CO, USA, for kindly sending me copious amounts of information and documents concerning the history of the Dallas streetcar and interurban systems.
Copyright Gabor Sandi 1998-2024
Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.
To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.
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