| Washington Streetcars |
Website Links For Washington |
Information AboutWashington Streetcars |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT STREETCARS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. | |
| street railways in washington, d.c. | |
| defunct railroad companies of the united states | |
| electric railways | |
| interurbans | |
| 1862 establishments | |
| 1962 disestablishments | |
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For just under 100 years, between 1862 and 1962, streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the City and region. The first Streetcars in Washington D.C. were drawn by Horse s and carried people short distances on flat terrain; but the introduction of cleaner and faster electric streetcars, capable of climbing steeper inclines, opened up the hilly suburbs north of the old city and in Anacostia . A number of the District's streetcar lines were extended into Maryland , and two Virginia lines crossed into the District. For a brief time the city also experimented with Cable Car s, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the streetcar system was fully electrified. At the turn of the century, the "Great Streetcar Consolidation" resulted in extensive Merger s leaving two major companies. In 1933 all streetcars were brought under one company, Capital Transit. The streetcars began to scale back with the rising popularity of the Automobile and pressure to switch to Bus es. After a Strike in 1955, the company changed ownership and became DC Transit, with explicit instructions to switch to buses. The system was dismantled in the early 1960s and the last streetcar ran on January 28 , 1962 . Streetcars, car barns, Trackage , stations and right-of way of the system still exists in various states of usage. HISTORY Early transit in Washington NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
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