Cable Car Lines in Kansas City
by Joe Thompson

Where Should I Go from Here? Visit the Map

Kansas City had ideal geographical conditions for cable traction, with an industrial district by a river and residential areas up on bluffs on either side of the Missouri River.

  • Kansas City Companies
  • Kansas City Miscellany

    Kansas City Cable Railway

    9th Street trestle Looking down the 9th Street trestle across Santa Fe's Argentine yards, towards Union Depot and the West Bottoms. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Negative Number: N841-412. Identifier Number: 10007406. All rights reserved). January, 2007 Picture of the Month.

    line: Ninth Avenue

    opened: 15-June-1885. From Union Depot on Ninth Street to Grand Avenue. Grand Avenue to Eighth Street. Eighth to Woodland Avenue.

    revised: 25-June-1886. From Eighth and Woodland on Woodland to Independence Avenue. Independence to Prospect Avenue.

    revised: 24-November-1886. From Eighth and Woodland on Woodland to Ninth Street. Ninth to Prospect Avenue.

    revised: 12-July-1889. From Independence and Prospect on Independence to Elmwood Avenue.

    revised: 8-December-1886. From Ninth and Prospect out Prospect to Jackson Avenue.

    powerhouse: Ninth Avenue and Washington Street

    powerhouse (1889): Ninth Avenue and Woodland Avenue

    grip: Hovey double-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: none

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Ninth/DelawareMetsuperior
    Ninth/MainMetsuperior
    Ninth/WalnutMetsuperior

    line: Troost Avenue

    opened: 18-November-1887. From Eighth Avenue and Troost Avenue on Troost to 33rd Street.

    powerhouse: Ninth Avenue and Woodland Avenue

    grip: Hovey double-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: none

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Troost/10thPCRsuperior
    Troost/12thMetsuperior
    Troost/15thGARinferior
    Troost/18thMetinferior
    Troost/19thMetsuperior

    line: Washington and Summit

    opened: 01-October-1889. From Union Depot on Ninth to Washington. Washington to about 13th-14th Streets. On 13th-14th Summit Street. Summit Street to 29th Street.

    cut back: early 1901. Summit Street to Southwest Boulevard

    powerhouse: Ninth Avenue and Washington Street

    grip: Vogel and Whelan bottom

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: none

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Troost/12thMetinferior

    notes: Engineer Robert Gillham had to solve the problem of getting commuters from Union Station in the West Bottoms to residential areas atop bluffs to the east. His solution began with an elevated waiting room by the Union Station. An iron truss bridge almost 200 feet long carried the tracks across the Union Depot yards. From there, an iron trestle climbed the bluff on about an 18 per cent grade. Once the cars reached the top of the incline, the rest of the line on Ninth, Grand, and Eighth was fairly simple except for the sharp curves at Grand.

    DJ Miller DJ Miller invented the duplicate cable system used by the Kansas City Cable Railway. From the May, 1895 Street Railway Journal

    Gillham chose to use D J Miller's duplicate cable system, which required two cables under each slot, either of which could operate at any time. This very expensive option allowed the system to operate with minimal interruptions. Miller's system was not covered by the trust's patents, which led to long and costly lawsuits. Ironically, Gillham was forced to use the trust's Hovey grip to ensure safety on the incline.

    The company lost Gillham's services when a shopman dropped a grip on his head while he stood in a pit inspecting the cable. Clift Wise designed the company's many extensions and revision.

    The company's single truck grip cars were unusual in that the gripman had controls at each end, rather than in the middle of the car.

    Some contemporary newspaper articles about operations and incidents.

    Riders worried about the safety of the steep incline. After a runaway in 1885 and a fatal accident which killed a gripman in 1888, the company added a device like the dog found on roller coasters to prevent the up-bound trains from rolling backwards. It could also be used to engage sections of slack cable to slow down-bound runaways.

    Some contemporary newspaper articles about accidents on the incline.

    On 12-October-1887, President Grover Cleveland and his wife were riding in a carriage on Broadway, through a large crowd. As the carriage crossed Ninth Street, a train caught a loose strand and ran away, crashing into the crowd of people and just missing the President's carriage. Two members of the crowd were seriously hurt, and members of the crowd considered lynching the car's crew. The police rescued them. ("But Ten Feet from Death", Kansas City Journal, 13-October-1887).

    Some contemporary newspaper articles about the accident.

    In 1888, the company built Troost Park to promote business.

    The Metropolitan Street Railway acquired the company in 1895.

    The Washington/Summit line was cut back to Southwest Boulevard in early 1901.

    On 22-August-1902, a train ran away on the trestle and killed a gripman and injured 17 passengers.

    The Troost Avenue line was converted to electric on 02-September-1902. The 9th Street line was replaced by electrification of the former Inter-State Consolidated Rapid Transit Company line on Eighth Street. The remainder of the Summit line was abandoned, not converted, on 02-October-1904.

    Read an interesting 1885 magazine article about the Kansas City Cable Railway, published before the line opened.

    up 9th Street trestle Looking up the 9th Street trestle as a train approaches the terminal above Mulberry Street. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Negative Number: N841-412. Identifier Number: 10007406. All rights reserved). August, 2007 Picture of the Month.

    Ninth Street viaduct, looking east from Union Depot Ninth Street viaduct, looking east from Union Depot (source: The Street Railway Situation in the Two Kansas Cities, Street Railway Journal, October, 1900.)

    9th Street Ninth Street, near Walnut. Engraving by Charles Graham, from the 07-Jun-1890 Harpers Weekly. It shows cable trains of the Kansas City Cable Railway on Ninth crossing the Metropolitan Street Railway's 18th-19th Streets cable line on Walnut. August, 2008 Picture of the Month.

    The Junction "Looking east on 9th from the Junction." I like the cop in the lower right-hand column. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Barcode: 10007292. All rights reserved). January, 2017 Picture of the Month.

    Robert Gillham Engineer Robert Gillham designed and built the Kansas City Cable Railway's Ninth Street Line. From the 30-July-1897 Railway Age and Northwestern Railroader.

    Clift Wise Clift Wise was chief engineer of the Kansas City Cable Railway. From the May, 1895 Street Railway Journal

    MK Bowen MK Bowen was chief engineer and superintendent of the Kansas City Cable Railway from 1887 to 1891. From the May, 1895 Street Railway Journal

    EJ Lawless Edward J Lawless was in charge of operations of the new Kansas City Cable Railway. And he had a wonderful mustache. Read his article Personal Reminiscences of Early Cable Street Railway Work in Kansas City, MO. From the May, 1895 Street Railway Journal. August, 2017 Picture of the Month.

    from Poor's Directory of Railway Officials, 1887

    P. 248

    Kansas City Cable Ry. Co. operates 3 miles of double-track road and owns 20 cars. Directors Wm. J. Smith, N. J. Hall, W. H. Lucas, J. I. Thornton, Robert Gillham, Kansas City, Mo.; P. A. Chase, Lynn, Mass. -- Wm. J. Smith, Pres. & Treas., P. A. Chase, Vice-Pres., W. H. Lucas,Treas., Edw. J. Lawless, Supt., etc. -- GENERAL OFFICE, Ninth and Washington Sts., Kansas City, Mo.

    Cable Bonds from the New York Sun, 16-March-1897. No thumbnail.

    Go to top of page.

    Metropolitan Street Railway

    Bluff Street bridge Two trains pass at the top of the bridge used by Kansas City's Metropolitan Street Railway to reach Union Depot in the West Bottoms. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Negative Number: V-1496. Identifier Number: 10001046. All rights reserved). February, 2007 Picture of the Month.

    line: Wyandotte

    opened: 12-May-1887. From Fifth Street and Walnut Street on Fifth to Bluff Street. Bluff to Mulberry Street. Mulberry to Ninth Street. Ninth to Wyoming Street

    revised: 27-October-1887. From Ninth and Wyoming on Ninth to James Street. James to Third Street. Third to Minnesota Avenue. Minnesota to Tenth Street.

    revised: 30-May-1891. From Minnesota and Tenth on Minnesota to 18th Street.

    powerhouse: Ninth Street and Wyoming Street

    grip: Root single-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: none

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Third/WalnutMetsuperior
    Third/DelawareMetinferior
    Ninth/WalnutMetsuperior

    line: 12th Street

    opened: 07-Apr-1888. From 12th Street and Monroe Avenue on Monroe to 13th Street. 13th to Cleveland Avenue. Cleveland to 12th Street. 12th to Bell Street. Bell to 16th Street. 16th to Genesee Street. Genesee to 12th.

    revised: ??-???-1894. Stockyard loop was revised from Bell to Wyoming Street

    powerhouse: 12th Street and Charlotte Street

    grip: Root single-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: single-ended combination cars. These cars proved too heavy to be safe.

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: none

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    12th/BrooklynPeoplesuperior
    12th/TroostKCCinferior
    12th/WalnutGARsuperior
    12th/MainMetinferior
    12th/WashingtonKCCinferior

    line: 18th-19th Streets

    opened: 23-Oct-1888. From 18th Street and Cleveland Street on 18th to Main Street. Main to Ninth Street. Balloon loop at Ninth and Main. Ninth to 19th Street. 19th to Olive Street. Olive to 18th. 18th to Cleveland.

    revised: ??-???-1889. From Ninth and Main on Walnut Street to Delaware Street. Delaware to Main at Ninth.

    powerhouse: 18th Street and Olive Street

    grip: Root single-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: none

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    18th/BrooklynPeopleinferior
    18th/TroostKCCinferior
    18th/HolmesGARinferior
    18th/GrandGARinferior
    9th/MainKCCinferior
    Walnut/5thMetsuperior
    Delaware/5thMetinferior
    19th/GrandGARinferior
    19th/HolmesGARinferior
    19th/TroostKCCinferior
    19th/BrooklynPeopleinferior

    From History of Wyandotte County Kansas and its People, edited and compiled by Perl W Morgan (1911):
    The Metropolitan Street Railway Company was organized and incorporated in July, 1886, by C. F. Morse, president; W. J. Ferry, secretary; A. W. Armour, treasurer. Its capital was $1,250,000, for which sum it purchased Thomas Corrigan's entire system of horse railways in Kansas City, Missouri, and its first operation consisted in the conversion of these railways into cable lines. The first line, from the Union Depot to the Market Square, Kansas City, Missouri, was opened to the public May 1, 1887; the second, from the state line to Wyandotte, ran its first through train November 1st, following over what now is the Fifth street line. The power house, at the corner of Ninth and Wyoming streets, was built in the winter of 1887. The Fifth street line of this company ran from Tenth street and Minnesota avenue to Market Square in Kansas City, Missouri, over the old mule car route. Another cable line was built by the company on Twelfth street down an incline and one to the stock yards around a loop, where it connected with the Armourdale line, operated by mule cars from the stock yards.

    In 1892-3 the West Side Railway Company was founded and the West Side - now the "Wyandotte" - was constructed from Seventh street and Haskell avenue, in the north part of the city, to Third street, and thence, by way of Third street, Minnesota avenue and Fifth street, across the Seventh street viaduct, and down Kansas avenue to the stock yards.

    By 1895, when it was apparent that street railway building had about reached the limit, a movement was started which ultimately resulted in the Metropolitan Street Railway Company absorbing or taking control of every street railway line in the two Kansas Citys. Then began a period of renewed activity, All the lines were equipped for operation by electricity and several important extensions were made.

    notes: The Metropolitan Street Railway operated several horsecar lines in Kansas City, Missouri. Unlike the Kansas City Cable Railway, the Metropolitan chose to license the cable railway trust's patents.

    The Metropolitan was regarded as a big bully, especially after it acquired other lines, including the Inter-State Consolidated in 1894, the Kansas City Cable Railway and the Grand Avenue Railway in 1895, and the Peoples' Cable Railway in 1899.

    The Wyandotte line, which reached Kansas City, Kansas, had too many curves. This line was converted to electricty on 01-November-1898. The 12th Street line reached the stockyards in the West Bottoms by a steep trestle. The line had a loop at each end. This line was difficult to convert to electricity because of the steep grades. The company combined the line a remnant of the Kansas City Cable Railway's Washington Street line, producing a line from 9th and Washington on Washington to 12th Street, and then along the former 12th Street line to the loop at the stockyards. This line was abandoned on 13-October-1913.

    The 18th-19th Streets line was converted to electric on 30-October-1900.

    Some contemporary newspaper items about the company.

    American Street Railway Investments

    A Supplement to the Street Railway Journal

    Here is the Metropolitan Street Railway's listing in the 1900 American Street Railway Investments, "Published Annually, for the use of Bankers, Brokers, Capitalists, Investors, and Street Railway Companies", (page 125):

    Metropolitan Street Railway Co. -- Chartered July 19, 1886. Annual meeting in June. This is a consolidation of the Corrigan Consolidated Street Ry. Co., the Kansas City & Rosedale Street Ry. Co., the South Suburban Ry. Co., the Kansas City Cable Ry. Co., the Grand Avenue Ry. Co. and the Kansas City & Independence Ry. Co. The company owns the capital stock of the Kansas City (Kan.) Elevated Ry. Co. and also controls the Kansas City Traction Co. and the West Side Ry. Co., of Kansas City, Mo. In June, 1895, the company's franchises were extended to 1923.

    Capital Stock. -- Common stock, authorized, $8,500,000, issued, $5,586,800; par value, $100 per share.

    Funded Debt. -- Corrigan Consolidated Street Ry. Co.'s first mortgage 5 p.c. gold coupon bonds, authorized and issued, $893,000; dated July 1, 1886, due 1926; denom. $1,000; int. payable Jan. and July, in New York.

    General mortgage 5 p.c. gold coupon bonds, authorized and issued, $1,000,000; dated September 1, 1889, due 1909; denom. $1,000; int. payable Mar. and Sept., in Boston.

    Consolidated mortgage 5 p.c. gold coupon bonds, authorized $8,500,000, issued $3,721,000, in escrow (see Note), $4,779,000; coupon, but may be registered; dated May 1, 1895, due 1910; denom. $1,000; int. payable May and Nov. at Old Colony Trust Co., of Boston, trustee of mortgage.

    Kansas City Cable Ry. Co.'s first mortgage 5 p.c. coupon bonds, authorized and issued, $1,050,000; dated April, 1887, due 1901; denom. $1,000; int. 5 p.c. payable Apr. and Oct. at office of New York Security & Trust Co., New York.

    Grand Avenue Ry. Co.'s first mortgage 5 p.c. gold bonds, authorized and issued, $1,200,000; coupon, but may be registered; dated July 10, 1888, due July 10, 1908; denom. $1,000; int. payable Jan. 10 and July 10 at office of Central Trust Co., of New York, trustee of mortgage.

    Kansas City Elevated Ry. Co.'s first mortgage 5 p.c. gold bonds, authorized and issued, $2,600,000; coupon, but may be registered; dated July 1, 1892, due 1922; denom. $1,000; int. 4 to 6 p.c. (see Note), payable Jan. and July at office of Manhattan Trust Co., of New York.

    South Side Street Ry. Co.'s first mortgage 5 p.c. bonds, $12,000; due June 1, 1899.

    Note. -- $4,550,000 of the consolidated mortgage bonds are held in escrow to retire at maturity the general mortgage bonds ($1,000,000), the Corrigan Consolidated Street Ry. Co.'s bonds ($1,000,000), the Kansas City Cable Ry. Co.'s bonds ($1,350,000), and the Grand Avenue Ry. Co.'s bonds ($1,200,000).

    $229,000 of the consolidated mortgage bonds are held in escrow for improvements.

    The company guarantees 6 p. c. int. on $600,000, of the first mortgage bonds (stamped "preferred") of the Kansas City Elevated Ry. Co., and upon the remainder (stamped "common") 3 p. c. per annum until July, 1895, and 4 p. c. thereafter.

    Plant and Equipment. -- Miles of track, 136; operated by electricity, 73, by cable, 63; gauge, 4 ft. 8 1/2 in.; 56 lb. 50 103 lb. c. b. and girder rail; 609 cars of which 119 are motor cars, 147 are grip cars, 80 combination cable cars and 263 trail cars; 9,450 H. P. engines, Babcock & Wilcox boilers, A. & S. Hamilton & Wright and Allis engines, Gen Elec. and Walker dynamos and Gen Elec. motors, Laclede, Pullman, St. Lous and Stephenson cars, Bemis and St. Louis trucks.

    Officers. -- Pres. & Treas. C. F. Morse, W. H. Holmes, V. Pres. & Gen. Man. W. H. Holmes, Sec. L. C. Krauthoff, Asst. Sec. & Audr. J. A. Harder, Asst. Gen. Man. C. F. Holmes, Asst. Gen Supt. W. A. Satterlee, Pat. Agt. H. C. Schwitzgebel, Ch. Engr. of Power Station D. W. Dozir, Elecn. Chas. Grover.

    Directors. -- C. F. Morse, Wallace Pratt, C. F. Adams, P. A. Valentine, W. H. Holmes, L. E. James, Norman H. Ream, C. F. Holmes

    General Office. -- 1500 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo.

    References. -- Description of road, Vol. VI, Mar., '90, p. 112(ill.); conditions of consolidation, Vol XI, May, '95, p. 322; description of road (brief), Vol XII, Oct., '96, p. 607; description of track, Vol XIII, Mar., '97, p. 169 (ill.); pleasure park, Vol XIII, May '97, p. 289, (ill.); operating detail, Vol. XIII, Aug., '97, p. 492 (ill.); description of road, Vol XIV, Feb. '98, p. 67 (ill.).

    Date of information, May, 1899.

    from Poor's Directory of Railway Officials, 1887

    P. 248

    Metropolitan Street Ry. Co. (formerly the Corrigan Consolidated Ry. Co.) operates 11.714 miles of road, double-track, owns 500 horses, 94 cars and 12 other vehicles. -- C. F. Morse, Pres., R. J. McCarty, Sec., Armours Bank, Treas., E. J. Lawless, Supt.. -- GENERAL OFFICE, Security Building, Kansas City, Mo.

    Cable Bonds from the New York Sun, 20-September-1895. No thumbnail.

    cable train on twelfth street line Twelfth Street cable train (source: The Street Railway Situation in the Two Kansas Cities, Street Railway Journal, October, 1900.) February, 2017 Picture of the Month.

    cable station and tension runs, fifteenth street and grand avenue Cable station and tension runs, Fifteenth Street and Grand avenue (source: The Street Railway Situation in the Two Kansas Cities, Street Railway Journal, October, 1900.)

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    Grand Avenue Railway

    Grand Avenue combination car A Grand Avenue Railway combination car, built by Brownell and Wight of Saint Louis. (source: Street Railways: Their Construction, Operation and Maintenance by CB Fairchild). March, 2007 Picture of the Month.

    line: Grand Avenue

    opened: 18-September-1887. First Street at Walnut Street on First to Grand Avenue. Grand to Third Street. Third to Walnut Street. Walnut to 13th Street. 13th to Grand Avenue. Grand Avenue to 15th Street.

    extended: 15-December-1887. Grand Avenue and 15th Street on Grand to Main Street. Main to 40th Street (Westport)

    cut back: 1888. North loop reduced to balloon loop at 3rd and Walnut

    powerhouse: 15th Street and Grand Avenue

    grip: Single-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: Single-end combination cars

    turntables: 40th and Main

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Walnut/9thKCCsuperior
    Walnut/10thPeopleinferior
    Walnut/12thMetinferior
    Grand/18thMetinferior
    Grand/19thMetinferior

    line: 15th Street

    opened: 18-September-1887. 15th Street and Grand Avenue on 15th to Kensington

    powerhouse: 15th Street and Grand Avenue

    grip: Single-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: Single-end combination cars

    turntables: 15th and Kensington

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    15th/TroostKCCsuperior
    15th/BrooklynPeopleinferior

    line: Holmes Street

    opened: 01-July-1889. 15th Street and Holmes Street on Holmes to Springfield Avenue

    powerhouse: Holmes and Springfield

    grip: Single-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: Single-end combination cars

    turntables: Holmes and Springfield

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Holmes/18thMetsuperior
    Holmes/19thMetinferior

    notes: The Grand Avenue Railway was promoted by the Holmes Brothers, Walton H and Conway F. Once the clumsy north loop of the Grand Avenue line was truncated, the system was considered one of the best-designed in the industry. The subsidiary Holmes Street Railway built the Holmes Street line. Engineer Daniel Bontecou designed and built the line and served as chief engineer.

    wh holmes/cf holmes/wa satterlee
    Two of the Holmes Brothers, Walton H Holmes and Conway F Holmes (source: The Street Railway Situation in the Two Kansas Cities, Street Railway Journal, October, 1900.)

    Some contemporary newspaper items.

    The Metropolitan Street Railway acquired the company in 1895. The Grand Avenue line was converted to electric on 02-May-1900. The other lines were converted after 01-September-1903.

    Grand Avenue terminal loop The north end loop of the Grand Avenue Railway, showing the congested conditions in that area. (source: Street Railways: Their Construction, Operation and Maintenance by CB Fairchild). March, 2017 Picture of the Month.

    Holmes Street open car Open car 20 of the subsidiary Holmes Street Railroad. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Identifier Number: 10006776. All rights reserved).

    from Financial.

    From The Street Railway Journal, June, 1893. Volume IX, Number 6.

    The Grand Avenue Railway Company, of Kansas City (Mo.) earned $24,152 for the year ending March 31, above charges.

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    E Saxton An ad for cable and electric railway contractor Edmund Saxton, who built the tracks and conduits for most of the company's lines. From the October, 1895 Street Railway Journal.

    from Financial.

    From The Street Railway Journal, June, 1888. Volume IV, Number 6.

    The Elevated Railway Co. has elected the following oflieials: President, D. M. Edgerton, Kansas City; Vice-President, Joshua Wilbour, Providence, R. L; Secretary, D. D. Hoag, Kansas City; Chief Engineer, Robert Gillham; Treasurer, A. H. Calef, New York.

    from Poor's Directory of Railway Officials, 1887

    P. 247

    Grand Avenue Ry. Co. operates 6.75 miles of road, owns 75 horses, 26 cars and 4 other vehicles. Directors C. F. Morse, J. S. Ford, Walton H. Holmes, C. F. Holmes, Jas. T. Thornton, J. L. Loose, Daniel B. Holmes, Victor B. Buck O. P. Dickinson, Kansas City, Mo.; C. E. Cotting, Boston, Mass.; P. A. Chase, Linn (sic -- JT), Mass. -- W. H. Holmes, Pres., B. V. Buck, Vice-Pres., D. B. Holmes, Sec. & Atty., O. P. Dickinson, Treas., C. F. Holmes, Supt., Knight & Bontecon, Engs., Thos. J. Fry, Aud., Thos. Barrett, Mast. Car Rep.. -- GENERAL OFFICE, Kansas City, Mo.

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    Inter-State Consolidated Rapid Transit Company

    9th and 12th street trestles Looking across the West Bottoms at the 9th Street trestle and the 8th Street trestle and tunnel portal. The ICRT's powerhouse releases clouds of smoke and steam. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Negative Number: V-1500. Identifier Number: 10007403. All rights reserved). May, 2007 Picture of the Month.

    line: Elevated (Kansas City, Missouri)

    opened: 24-April-1888. Eighth Street at Delaware Street on Eighth to trestle at Bluff Street. Trestle to Saint Louis Avenue Station.

    powerhouse: Eighth Street and Bluff Street

    grip: Double-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: Double-end dummies (no passengers carried) with heavy trailers. Exchanged with Riverview line in October, 1888

    turntables: N/A

    crossings:

    line: Riverview (Kansas City, Kansas)

    opened: 22-May-1888. Riverview Boulevard (Now Central Avenue) at Fifth Street on Riverview to 18th Street

    powerhouse: 10th Street and Riverview Boulevard

    grip: Double-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended dummy & trailer trains. Later exchanged with elevated line in October, 1888

    turntables: N/A

    crossings:

    From History of Wyandotte County Kansas and its People, edited and compiled by Perl W Morgan (1911):
    The first of these companies to be formed was the Inter-State Rapid Transit Railway Company, organized in December, 1883, and chartered to build a line or lines of railway between Kansas City, Missouri, and Wyandotte and other points in Kansas. Prominent among the incorporators were D. M. Edgerton and Carlos B. Greeley then of St. Louis, David G. Hoag of Wyandotte and S. T. Smith, Robert Gillham and James Nave of Kansas City, Missouri. The first election of officers was held on December 15, 1883, when D. M. Edgerton was chosen president, S. T. Smith vice president, and David D. Hoag secretary. The original capital stock was $600,000. It was afterwards greatly increased. The work of construction began in May, 1886, and in the following October trains, each consisting of a "dummy" engine and two small coaches, were operated from the Union Depot over an elevated structure to Riverview and thence on the surface to Edgerton Place at Fourth street and Lafayette avenue.

    This road, promoted by its president, D. M. Edgerton, who had been receiver for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, was the first Kansas City enterprise of magnitude and it attracted world-wide attention. On March 22, 1887, the tracks of the Inter-State Rapid Transit Company were consolidated with various other lines which the company was then constructing, and a new organization was affected under the name of the Inter-State Consolidated Rapid Transit Railway Company. Work on the tunnel division of the line from the Union Depot to Eighth and Delaware streets in Kansas City, Missouri, was begun in May, 1887, and the trains began running in April, 1888. This was a gigantic undertaking, the tunnel having been cut through solid limestone, It was first operated by cable.

    Meanwhile the company was busy on the Kansas side. The branch from Fifth street and Virginia avenue to Chelsea Park was opened for traffic on July 4, 1887. A cable line on Central avenue from Riverview west to Eighteenth street, was constructed and placed in operation in May, 1888. This is now the Central avenue-Sheffield line, one of the best in all Kansas City. These lines of the Elevated system operated by cable and dummy power for a few years, were equipped with electrical power in the nineties and then began a realization of the benefits of modern street railway service.

    notes: Engineer Robert Gillham, who had built the Kansas City Cable Railway and would build the Peoples' Cable Railway, was hired by real estate promoter and steam dummy operator Inter-State Investment Company, owned by DM Edgerton. The company had operated a steam line from Union Depot at Saint Louis Avenue Station, on an elevated structure across the river to Kansas City, Kansas, and then on ground level to Chelsea Park.

    Gillham created two cable car lines to connect with the steam line. One line ran from the elevated at Saint Louis Avenue Station, down to street level on Eighth Street and then into a tunnel through Quality Hill, and on Eighth Street from about Washington Avenue to Delaware Street. This line used short grip cars, which did not carry passengers, and heavy trailers. The double-track tunnel was a large engineering project. It contained a grade of nearly 9 percent.

    from Financial.

    From The Street Railway Journal, June, 1888. Volume IV, Number 6.

    The Riverview cable line will be ready for operation in June.

    The Riverview Boulevard line connected with the steam line in Kansas City, Kansas at Fifth Street and Riverview. It ran out Riverview to 18th Street, through a residential area. This line used normal grip and trailer trains of Pullman-built equipment.

    In October 1888, the company exchanged equipment between the two lines. Riverview did not have enough traffic to use the equipment the company had purchased. The heavy rapid transit trailers were damaging the cable on Eighth Street in the heavy climb through the tunnel. The short tunnel grip cars pulled former rapid transit trailers on Riverview and the former Riverview trains ran through the tunnel and out Eighth Street.

    The company went bankrupt in October, 1889 and was reorganized as the Kansas City Elevated Railway. The lightly-used Riverview line was converted to steam traction in 1890. The tunnel line was converted to electricity in 1892, and the whole system was using electric traction by 1893. The Metropolitan Street Railway purchased the Kansas City Elevated Railway in 1894.

    The Metropolitan built a new tunnel below the original to reduce the grade to 5 percent. This tunnel joined with the old one near the upper end. Electric streetcars continued to use the tunnel until the electrics, too were abandoned in 1956. The portals were sealed and the tunnels were largely forgotten.

    On 04-December-1995, surveyors studying the site of a new building for DST Realty near Eighth Street and Washington Avenue found the entrance. They went on to explore the tunnels and found them to be in good condition and very solidly built (reported in the Kansas City Star on 20-January-1996). They found stalactites and stalagmites growing from the ceiling and floor. Urban spelunkers visit both tunnels.

    Some contemporary newspaper items.

    Elevated Railway "Elevated Railway, Kansas City." A steam dummy locomotive pulls a two-car train into a station. (source: "Electricty in the Far West III -- Kansas City," Electricity, Vol III, No 16. November 2, 1892). May, 2017 Picture of the Month.

    From Railway World, 21-January-1888:
    Kansas City Elevated. -- The Kansas City Commercial says: At the beginning of the year 1887, the Interstate Rapid Transit Railway Company, better known as the Elevated Railway Company, had completed and in successful operation seven miles of single track, or three and a half miles of double-track railroad from its St. Louis Avenue station, opposite the Union depot, west along Ninth street, in the western portion of Kansas City, across the Kansas river and through the entire length of Wyandotte to Edgerton place, at the northern limits of the latter city.

    In the spring of 1887 this company commenced the extension of its elevated railway eastward from its termiuus along St. Louis avenue and across St. Louis avenue to the bluffs, under which it also began work on a tunnel for a double-track railway to Washington street on the eastern side of the bluffs, a distance of 800 feet, thence by a double-track cable railway of the most substantial and expensive character, along Eighth street to Delaware street.

    The company also commenced the construction of a double-track cable railway westward from its Riverview station in Wyandotte, now Kansas City, Kansas. These extensive works will be completed and in operation early in the spring of 1888, the tunnel being the heaviest and most costly work in the way of railway enterprises yet undertaken in Kansas City. It is 28 feet wide and 21 feet in height at the centre, is arched to six or seven courses of hard brick, set in Portland cement; 25,000 pounds of dynamite were used in blasting. It will be finished in about ten months from the day the work of excavation was begun, and when this work is compared with the Thames tunnel, which is about 500 feet longer, and no more difficult of construction, which took from 1825 to 1845 to finish, some idea may be had of the enterprise and push put into the elevated railway tunnel work. It is considered by engineers a most successful work, and its future importance to Kansas City can hardly be appreciated. The Elevated Railway Company has, during the year, constructed a double-track branch railway from near its northern terminus in Kansas City, Kan., two miles westward to Chelsea Park. When the extensions named are completed, this company will have in operation 15 1/2 miles of single-track railway and tunnel. It is equipped with Pullman cars of the same pattern as the New York Elevated Railway, with all modern improvements. There will have been expended in this complete system of city railway, when done, about two millions of dollars, nearly one million of which has been expended during 1887, the tunnel requiring the greatest share.

    On the completed portion of the Elevated Railway, and the surface extension in Kansas City, KanBas, trains are run at spaces varying from five to ten minutes, as the travel demands, with regularity and reliability, the time between Kansas City, Missouri, present terminus, and City Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, including stops, being fourteen minutes.

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    Peoples' Cable Railway

    line: Brooklyn Avenue

    opened: 29-May-1888. Tenth Street and Main Street on Tenth to Brooklyn Avenue

    revised: 6-August-1888. From Tenth and Brooklyn on Brooklyn to 27th Street.

    powerhouse: Tenth and Euclid

    grip: Double-jaw side grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended (?) dummy & trailer trains.

    turntables: N/A

    crossings:
    Intersection Company Status
    Tenth/WalnutGARsuperior
    Tenth/TroostKCCinferior
    Brooklyn/12thMetsuperior
    Brooklyn/15thGARinferior
    Brooklyn/18thMetinferior
    Brooklyn/19thMetsuperior

    notes: Engineer Robert Gillham, who had built the Kansas City Cable Railway and the Inter-State Consolidated Rapid Transit, also designed and built the Peoples' Cable Railway, which was intended to promote real estate development along Brooklyn Avenue.

    The downtown terminal at Tenth and Main was not close enough to Union Depot to generate enough traffic. The line climbed a steep hill on Tenth. The housing developments along Brooklyn Avenue were unsuccessful. Even though the franchise called for the line to continue down Brooklyn Avenue to 31st Street, the company, losing money, could not do it.

    In 1896, the company was sold at auction and reorganized, becoming the Brooklyn Avenue Railway. In 1899, the company was consumed by the Metropolitan Street Railway. Electric cars replaced the cable cars on 14-December-1899.

    Some contemporary newspaper items about the company.

    from Financial.

    From The Street Railway Journal, June, 1888. Volume IV, Number 6.

    The Peoples' Cable Railway Co. has elected Robert Gillham as president.

    American Street Railway Investments

    A Supplement to the Street Railway Journal

    Here is the Brooklyn Avenue Railway's (successor to the Peoples Cable Railway) listing in the 1900 American Street Railway Investments (page 125):

    Brooklyn Avenue Railway Co. -- Chartered in 1896, as the successor to the People's Cable Ry. Co, which was sold in Feb., 1896 to J. H. Lucas. The company also recently purchased and operates the property of the North East Electric Ry. Co. In Feb, 1899, it was stated a new company, knows as the Central Electric Ry. Co., with capital stock of $2,500,000, had been incorporated to operate the combined propersites.

    Capital Stock, authorized and issued, $750,000; par value, $100 per share.

    Funded Debt. -- New mortgage, unknown.

    North East Electric Ry. Co.'s first mortgage 5 p.c. coupon bonds, authorized and issued, $250,000; dated 1896, due 1916; denom. $100 and $500; int. payable Jan. and July at office of North American Trust Co., New York, trustee of mortgage.

    Plant and Equipment. -- Miles of track, 16.8, of which 9 miles are electric and 7.8 miles cable power (cable to be changed to electric power and 15 miles of extensions to built in spring of 1899); gauge, 4 ft. 8 1/2 in.; 58 1/2 lb. rail; 45 cars of which 10 are motor cars, 15 are grip cars, and 20 trail cars; 650 H. P. station plant; West. motors, Armington & Sims and Corliss engines, Brownell & Pullman cars.

    Officers. -- Pres. J. H. Lucas, V. Pres. J. H. Frost, Sec. & Treas. W. T. Johnson, Gen. Man. W. H. Lucas, Supt. & Pur. Agt. J. S. Linney, Elecn. & Ch. Engr. of Power Station F. L. Bloss.

    Directors. -- J. H. Lucas, V. Pres. J. H. Frost, W. T. Johnson, W. J. Smith, James Lillis

    General Office. -- Lexington & Prospect Aves., Kansas City, Mo.

    Date of information, Feb., 1899.

    Sheriff's Sale from the Kansas City Journal, 24-May-1896. No thumbnail.

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    Union Cable Railway

    Terry Grip A Continental Cable Company ad touts the shallow conduit Terry Grip. (source: Street Railway Journal Supplement, January, 1890).

    line: Fourth Street (Positively)

    opened: 20-Dec-1889. Fourth Street and Highland Avenue on Fourth to Oak Street

    powerhouse: Fourth and Highland

    grip: Terry bottom grip

    gauge: 4'8 1/2"

    cars: double-ended horsecars with grips attached

    turntables: N/A

    crossings:

    Terry Grip detail A detail view of the shallow conduit Terry Grip, from a Continental Cable Company ad. (source: Street Railway Journal Supplement, January, 1890). July, 2017 Picture of the Month.

    notes: The Union Cable Railway was intended to demonstrate a shallow conduit system designed by Samuel H Terry of Guthrie, Missouri. The Continental Cable and Grip Company, which promoted Terry's patents, advertised that they could be used to build a line "for LESS THAN HALF THE COST of other successful cable roads, and operated for LESS THAN HALF THE COST of horse power roads". The ad also states that "It is not an experiment; it has been fully tested, and can be seen in operation on the Union Cable Railway in Kansas City, Missouri." That last part isn't true.

    The line would have connected the North End with the East Bottoms, had it been completely built. Only a short section of line was built on Fourth Street.

    A single grip was attached under the center of a horsecar, with a wheel on each platform.

    The line opened for service on 20-December-1889. It closed on 20-December-1889. Some reports said that it was functional, others that it barely worked at all.

    Some contemporary newspaper items about the company.

    from Kansas City (Mo.) Notes.

    From The Street Railway Journal, October, 1891. Volume VI, Number 10.

    The Union Cable Railway Co. is making efforts to place its line in operation as an electric road. This company built the Terry shallow conduit road running from Missouri Avenue and Oak, to Third and Highland, a distance of over one mile. It has a substantial power house, and a well-built track, paved the entire way, but was never operated, owing to legal complications. For some time the stockholders have been quietly buying up all outstanding injunctions. The road will prove a valuable line to the East Bottoms, if extended, as it probably will be.

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    from Street Railway News.

    From The Street Railway Journal, December, 1891. Volume VI, Number 12.

    Kansas City, MO.-- The statement has been made that the now unused line of the Union Cable Railway Co. will be converted into an electric line and run in connection with the northeast electric line. This cable line was built on the Terry shallow conduit system, but owing to a lack of money and various legal complications, has never been operated. The line runs from Fourth and Oak Streets to east to Third and Highland.

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    from Street Railway News.

    From The Street Railway Journal, February, 1892. Volume VII, Number 2.

    The sale of all the assets of the Union Cable Railway, which was to have taken place last month, was by agreement of all interested parties postponed until February 15.

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    Personal Reminiscences of Early Cable Street Railway Work in Kansas City, MO by EJ Lawless

    Edward J Lawless came from San Francisco to Kansas City to manage the operations of the Kansas City Cable Railway. He had a remarkable mustache.

    From the October 15, 1900 Street Railway Journal, page 582.

    PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CABLE STREET RAILWAY WORK IN KANSAS CITY, MO.

    BY E. J. LAWLESS.

    EJ Lawless

    The work of construction on the Kansas City Cable Ry. was completed in the spring of 1885, at which time the writer was engaged to come from San Francisco and take charge of its operation. This was the fourth city in the United States to operate street railways by cable propulsion and one of the first cities to depart from the regular practice in vogue in San Francisco, the cradle bed of cable roads, the result being novel, startling, but hardly surprising to an experienced man, with the final culmination of being obliged to change to San Francisco methods which should not have been departed from in the first instance.

    The grades in Kansas City are numerous and as a whole very steep, one in particular running from the "Bluffs" to the "Bottoms" called the "Incline" (mostly trestle work) having a rise of 18 1/2 ft. per 100 ft.

    The cars were closed, single truck, vestibuled ends, having the grip hung between the axles, and operated by a wheel attached to a staff with hardly sufficient power to pull a baby carriage, to say nothing of hauling a car load of passengers. To overcome this obstacle a worm gear was attached to the grip staff which helped to further demonstrate the inefficiency of the grip. I shall never forget the first trip made over the road. The schedule time for the journey was 45 minutes, but we made it that day in about four hours. How the car ever managed to climb the Incline is still a mystery, but the writer can yet hear the echo of the sigh of relief from the occupants, when the top of the hill was reached.

    A peculiar incident occurred in laying the track on this road, and who was responsible for the error could never be found out, but the rails were laid about an inch too far apart, with the result that the car wheels had a bad habit of dropping off the track on one side, which usually resulted in an argument between persons on either side of the car, one insisting that the wheels were off the rail, while the person on the opposite side thought the other either blind or a fool. It came about this way: The maker of the gage (sic -- JT) allowed for the play of the wheels. The contractor did the same. The track layer followed suit and the truck maker adopting the regular practice at the time of allowing this play, the results were as stated. Of course the rails had to be relaid to gage.

    The double cable system was adopted, but with a city like Kansas City, having heavy grades and numerous curves, the cables were always interfering, so much so that when the reserve cable was wanted it was found to be in sections and absolutely useless. Another serious obstacle was the difficulty of getting trained gripmen. We got a few from Chicago, but as they were not experienced in operating cars on grades, they were not much better than green men.

    Having fully demonstrated the utter impracticability of the original grip adopted; through the kindness of Mr. C. B. Holmes, then superintendent of the Chicago City Railway Co., a grip similar to that in use in San Francisco was borrowed. This grip demonstrated its superiority over the other by pulling the platform off the first trailer when hauling six cars up a heavy grade.

    After three months of the hardest kind of work to perfect the system, a grand opening was given the public, with the privilege of riding free the first day. A grip car with two trailers containing the officials of the road and many prominent citizens led the van. Everything went well until we came to the head of the Incline. Here a stop was made preparatory to starting over the bluff. To many on the cars, that grade looked like a plunge down a cliff. When starting from the level down the steep grade the cars naturally give a heavy lurch. That was enough that day. In less time than it takes to tell, only two were left on the train, one the gripman, the other the brakeman. It was on that occasion that a prominent citizen made his famous leap, the record for which has never been equalled in that district.

    It would take too much time and space to relate the troubles and tribulations of the first few months of operation. As the men got experienced the system ran smoother, with the ultimate result that the financial success of the enterprise was so pronounced (net earnings 30 per cent for the first year), a regular epidemic of cable roads started throughout the city. I wish to state here that too much credit cannot be given to Mr. W. J. Smith, then president of the Kansas City Cable Railway Co., for his pluck in putting his hand down in his pocket and furnishing the money (about $100,000) to make the changes necessary to success, in the face of adverse conditions and when financial aid was refused elsewhere.

    The next cable move in Kansas City (Metropolitan Street Railway - JT) was the purchase of the Corrigan horse car system by a Boston syndicate, and a conversion of those lines to cable. No doubt many have still vivid recollections of their early experiences with the Corrigan horse cars, 10-ft. bobtails, with mules inured to all kinds of service. The tracks (what there were of them) were single with turnouts. These turnouts were, however, superfluous, as when the cars met, one simply turned towards the gutter and traveled along until it struck the track again. This, however, did not trouble the public any, as it was difficult to tell if the cars were on the tracks or not. The first step the Boston syndicate took was to have these cars washed, and it is said the price of soap in Kansas City advanced for the time being in consequence. During the conversion of the Corrigan system the Grand Ave. and Westport lines were also changed to cable, and this was followed by the construction of the 10th St. cable road, which paralleled the lines of the Kansas City Cable Railway Co., and proved immediately on its completion and operation that cable roads in Kansas City had been overdone. In a period covering little more than two years, about eight millions of dollars had been invested in the various systems throughout the city.

    The cable craze ended in a grand flourish with the construction of a cable road in the northeast part of the city, under the Terry patents (Union Cable Railway - JT). This was to prove a revelation in economy of construction, and it did so, with a vengeance, as few working on its construction or furnishing material got any money; about $50,000 actual cash paid represented an expenditure of $250,000. The grip was constructed to occupy little space in the conduit and the cable was grasped by a series of perpendicular steel rollers placed loosely in the jaws which were tapered at each end.

    After numerous delays and tribulations a start was effected, and only one trip made over the road. Such an experience has rarely if ever been equalled. The rollers in the grip jaws made a noise like a threshing machine, and when they did succeed in gripping the cable, the car shot forward with a jerk sufficient to throw you off your feet. In fact the entire trip was a series of jerks and jumps, the rollers slipping from one end of the jaws to the other. On the completion of that trial trip every creditor made a rush for his money. Liens were filed and suits instituted to such an extent that for years that road stood as a monument to the folly of the enterprise.

    Too much tribute cannot be paid to the citizens of Kansas City for the hearty co-operation accorded the success of the roads. They quickly recognized what an important factor the cable system was in the development of their city, and did everything in their power to foster and encourage it. There is no portion of his life on which the writer looks back with greater pleasure than on his street railway experience in Kansas City.

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    Electric Streetcars Return to Kansas City

    Electric Streetcars Return Artist Madison Crabtree designed this beautiful poster.

    Electric streetcars returned to Kansas City, Missouri on May 6 and 7, 2016. They run on Main Street from Union Station to Third Street. The portion from 9th to 18th Streets on Main was once covered by the 18th-19th Streets cable car line of the Metropolitan Street Railway.

    The four streetcars are Urbos 3, Model 100, built by CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles).

    The carbarn is at the Singleton Yard Facility in Columbus Park.

    KC Streetcar official site.

    covid-19 safety

    covid-19 safety

    The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused reductions in service and adoption of masking rules by RIDEKC. KCStreetcar required all passengers to wear masks as of 29-June-2020. Limited service with two cars began on 25-March-2020. On 15-May-2020, service increased, but not to pre-pandemic levels. The Phase II Operating Schedule Change started on May 24, 2021

    2021 holiday schedule

    Holiday 2021 hours.

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