1930 THE CITY OF CORAL GABLES FLORIDA Train Streetcar Trolley Interurban Token

“In the early 1920’s, George Merrick decided to build a city west of Miami which was named Coral Gables . He formed the Coral Gables Utilities Corporation to oversee the biailding of this town. But he needed a way to get people from Miami into Coral Gables, so he started a trolley system. Coral Gables Rapid Transit Corp. , and on April 30, 1925, the first CGRT pink interurban ran into Miami. Persons interested in buying land in Coral Gables were given tokens (FL 130 A) which they could use on the interurban. Merrick arranged with Miami Beach Railway for the daily operation of his line, and its cars were placed in the City of Miami barn at night. The land business went bad in 1926, however, and by 1927 Merrick decided that the trolley and power system should be sold to the City of Coral Gables. Inasmuch as Merrick was the head Commissioner for Coral Gables, this was no problem, and he received $1,700,000 for his system on March 9, 1927. The trolley line became the Coral Gables Rapid Transit System, and the City built its own barn and took over actual operation of the cars from Miami Beach Railway Company. In the late 1902’s, the City of Coral Gables sold its pink interurbans to Miami Beach Railway and replaced them with blue Birney cars. In the 1930’s the Coral Cables system went to buses for its local routes, and issued FL 130 B,C, and D, which were used one for a local ride, or two tokens for a ride into Miami. The Coral Gables trolley system came to an abrupt end on November 4, 1935, when a violent storm hit the Miami area, knocking down most of the Coral Gables overhead wires and most of its poles. Instead of rebuilding, it was decided to switch to buses.” SOURCE: The Fare Box Volume 36 , Number 1 – JANUARY 1982