THE OLD STREETCAR
Remember?
A streetcar on Liberty Street in Winston-Salem. Time unknown, but a long while ago. — (I’hoto from Paul Lucas.)
Gastonia has preserved the last
streetcar to operate in North Carolina,
and someday it will be as much of a
curiosity as a wood-burning locomo¬
tive. A generation is growing up with¬
out having had the thrill of riding
such a vehicle, or even seeing one. At
one time, a large factory in High Point
produced streetcars, shipping them all
over the world.
The electric trolley had a rich life,
developing from a clumsy infant to an
imposing giant, then reaching its climax
in the refined, midget one-man car.
adept in traffic, fast starting and stop¬
ping. and economical.
The motorman on the ones we rode
40 years ago had a laborious job. A
sort of rheostat controlled the speed,
but the trolley was braked by a brass-
knobbed wheel. The hazards then were
not automobiles, but buggies, wagons,
livestock and kids.
Each car had a conductor on the
back platform who took up tickets
(not tokens) and signaled for stops,
since there were no push buttons by
the seats. One jerk on the bell cord
for stop; two for start.
In summer open-air cars were put
THE STATE. APRIL 3. 19S4
into service, with benches running all
the way across, and a running board
on each side. Never was there a
more daring and dashing figure than
the conductor, swinging himself along
this running board to take up tickets,
while the trolley hurtled along at 25
miles an hour. Sometimes a club or
Sunday school would charter a whole
trolley for an outing, and for such
trips the open-air was preferred.
Then, there were combination cars,
half open, half closed, so you could
choose your weather, and there were
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recollections about old times and old
ways in North Carolina.
the segregation cars, divided into two
closed compartments: one for white,
one for colored.
The first cars were patronized as
much for pleasure as for utility. On a
Sunday or a holiday it was not unusual
to see a man herding a large family
onto a trolley for a ride to the end of
the line and back.
Some streetcar companies built
amusement parks at the end of the
line to develop pleasure traffic. They
usually had zoos, bowling alleys, skat¬
ing rinks, picnic areas, merry-go-
rounds and similar penny-catchers,
l or a lot of North Carolina communi¬
ties. these streetcar parks represented
the only commercial entertainment
available, since they preceded the
nickel-movie theatre.
Electricity still moves people in one
North Carolina town. Greensboro's
trackless trolleys represented a wed¬
ding of the rubber-tired bus and the old
streetcar. The Duke vehicles there
snatch power off twin lines, using an
ingenious swiveled and stretchable pole.
Paul Lucas tells me it is the last
electrified street transportation left in
this state. — Bill Sharpe.
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