RezoneOKC

We throw around trendy cities like Seattle and Portland when discussing streetcar, but a very successful system is right next door in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2004, Little Rock opened its River Rail service, a heritage trolley line. Functionally, heritage trolleys are the same as the modern streetcar we will be getting, but I think their vintage design seems to appeal more to the tourist crowd. No doubt the River Rail is used by residents as well.

Little Rock has 3.4 miles of streetcar, connecting hotels, tourist attractions, historic neighborhoods, a convention center, an arena, and the office district. The original 2.5 miles were built in 2004 for only $8 million per mile, which is cheap since $10-20 million per mile is a generally acceptable estimate. It has been doubling ridership expectations, with about 3,000 per day. They only charge $2 for a day pass on River Rail, so this low price may be a reason for the high ridership.

The layout of the track is basically two small loops connected by a single-track bridge over the Arkansas River, with an extension to the Clinton Library. Looks like the schedule generally offers 15-minute service.

Now that we know we are getting streetcar in Oklahoma City, about 6 miles of it, I wanted to start looking at other modern streetcar networks in North America to get an idea of how these systems work, what types of routes they take, and what the future expansion plans are. I am getting particularly interested in the debate between loops and spokes, and single-track two-way versus double-track alignments.

Portland is the go-to city for streetcar discussion, and has been discussed a lot, so I decided instead to start in Seattle, which just opened the South Lake Union Streetcar line exactly 2 years ago on December 12, 2007. Originally known as “South Lake Union Trolley – S.L.U.T.,” the streetcar is just 2.6 miles long and runs through an area of new development north of downtown Seattle. It cost close to $50 million, with half paid by various government sources and half by local businesses in a Business Improvement District type situation. It connects to bus lines, monorail lines, and light rail lines.

Seattle has gone with the double-track method, meaning that there are two tracks with two directions of traffic. That means they are able to run three streetcars on the line at once, at fifteen-minute intervals, without worrying about passing lanes. Note that sometimes the tracks are traveling opposite directions on the same street, and sometimes they are separated by one block.

Also note that this is a linear plan rather than a loop. It is part of Seattle’s ambitions for a future multi-linear streetcar network. In the map below, the orange line is the completed SLU Streetcar line, and other colors show future linear expansion areas.

This map of the future expansions shows the benefits of a network of streetcar lines over a loop- you can reach out to multiple neighborhoods and connect them directly to the central focus point- downtown- without looping through or around other outlying areas.

I will be interested to see more professional discussions of the argument between running bi-directional traffic on a single track, and using passing lanes, or keeping bi-directional traffic to two separate tracks. We will get more distance out of using single-track, but I don’t know how single-track might affect the flow of the streetcars and the wait times.

Most importantly, as we lay out our streetcar plan, we must also consider where we will run future streetcar alignments, so that what we put in today is compatible with future expansion.

These photographs of the Oklahoma City Streetcar Terminal were taken in July of 1939 by photographer Russel Lee with the Farm Security Administration.

The administration’s photography program was created show the plight of the rural farmer during the Depression Era, and during World War II the photographers were absorbed into the Office of War Information. The complete collection is currently hosted in the Library of Congress Archives. Thanks to Mr. Lee’s work, we can take a journey on 1939’s streetcar system in Oklahoma City.

First, we approach the Station Master’s Shack to inquire how this works.

“Station Master’s Shack”

We follow the station master’s instructions and enter the Interurban Terminal to purchase tickets.

“Sign at entrance to Interurban terminal”

What time should we leave, and where should we go?

“Timetable of Interurban Terminal”

Buy some tickets and enter through the turnstile.

“Young couple buying tickets at entrance terminal”

Okay, we’re in- but which one is ours?

“Trying to locate the streetcar they want to catch”

There is a crowded space with people everywhere and several streetcars in the terminal.

“Streetcars at Terminal”

We might as well get some reading materials or have a drink if we’re going to have to wait.

“Tobacco and Magazine Stand at streetcar terminal”

“Tobacco stand keeper talking with woman”

“Man drinking malted milk at streetcar terminal”

And now, we sit on the bench and wait while talking to our neighbors.

“People waiting for streetcars”

Unfortunately, segregation even applies to the waiting lines for the streetcars.

“Negroes waiting for streetcar”

Everybody takes the streetcar- even the mailman.

“Postman loaded with mail waiting for streetcar”

Here comes our streetcar!

Let the other people get off first…

They need to make a quick repair before we board.

“Workman climbing on top of streetcar to replace wheel on trolley”

That should do it:

“Worker replacing wheel in end of streetcar”

Now it’s okay for us to board, and it looks like the mailman’s coming with us.

“Postman with equipment waiting to board”

“People getting off and waiting to board streetcars”

Alright- I’m guessing we made it safely into the streetcar and took off on our journey through the metropolitan area. Unfortunately, Mr. Lee did not take any photographs of the streetcar interiors.

I really enjoyed looking through these historic photographs of the streetcar terminal of 1939 Oklahoma City and the people inside it- and I hope you did too. For more images, check out the Library of Congress Archives search feature and type “Oklahoma City Streetcars.” I will be posting more of Russel Lee’s photographs in the near future- he also did a great study on one of the shantytowns in the city.