Detroit’s Street Railways V2 – CERA Bulletin #120 1922-1956 is the second book about the history of Detroit’s Railways. Detroit’s Street Railways Volume
I cover street railways in Detroit from their historical inception in 1863 to
municipalization in 1922 was published in 1978.
Detroit’s Street
Railways V2 begins at 12:01 a.m., May 15, 1922 when the City of Detroit,
commenced the municipal ownership and operation of all street railways within
the city boundaries. Detroit was the first large American city to seek an
alternative to privately owned mass transportation facilities. The thirty-four
years streetcar service is presented chronologically in four chapters: Chapter
I covers the initial eight years of ownership, a period of rehabilitation of
the fixed plant and the purchase of new rolling stock. Chapters 2 through 4
follow Detroit through the Great Depression, the riding revival during World
War II, and the highway-oriented post-war era.
The final conversion to
bus came in 1956. The additional chapters Detroit’s Street
Railways V2 or detail the development of suburban lines,
freight services, and experimental trolley coaches and finally trolley coach
lines. There is a description of the extension of rail service into the Ford
Motor Company's sprawling River Rouge complex. There is special feather such as a simulated
trip on the car lines which survived World War II, and Washington Boulevard
trolley (new IN 1976). The appendix covers
both Volume I and II.
The
publisher of Detroit’s Street Railways V2 is the Central Electric Railfan’s Association (CERA)
was formed 1938. The CERA encourages
the study of the history, equipment, and operations of urban, suburban,
interurban and main line electric railways.
This book Detroit Street Railways V2 – CERA Bulletin #120 is
published by the organization. A number
of those publications are available on this site. Meetings are also held monthly by the
organization in Chicago, IL. More
information about the CERA is available at their website.
Detroit’s
Street Railways V2 is the second of three volumes that detail the history and
operations of Detroit’s street railways.
Historians, rail
enthusiasts and the general public alike, will delight in the pictures and
information in these volumes.