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Kentucky Historical Society

Frankfort's Streetcars and Interurbans: The Bluegrass RouteAuthor(s): Charles H. BogartSource: The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 95, No. 4 (Autumn 1997), pp.395-424Published by: Kentucky Historical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23383835 .

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Frankfort's Streetcars and Interurbans:

The Bluegrass Route

by Charles H. Bogart

In the decades following the Civil War, Frankfort remained

a walking city. Residents walked to work, school, or church, and to shop or socialize. Visitors and residents alike traveled

on toot, tor there was no public transportation within the city. This meant walking in dusty streets in the summer, muddy streets in the fall and spring, and streets full of slush in the

winter. Horse-drawn buggies were available, but for use within

town they were often more trouble than they were worth.

Considerable effort was required to harness the horse to the

buggy and then reverse the process when finished. Also.

horses could not be left unattended all day at the curb. This

was true not only in Frankfort, of course, but throughout the

world, except for some large cities which had horse-drawn

omnibuses or the new horse-drawn streetcar.1

In 1884, Frankfort took its first steps toward a horse-drawn

streetcar line when a bill was introduced in the Kentucky House of Representatives to incorporate the Frankfort Street

Railroad Company. For unknown reasons, this measure did

not pass. Two years later, in 1886, legislation was adopted to

give Frankfort a horse-drawn streetcar system. That year Edward P. Bryan, John Starks, Dallas Crutcher, James A. Scott, W.L. Collins, and S.I.M. Major incorporated the Frankfort,

Bellepoint and Leestown Street Railway Company. The line

was to start at Main and St. Clair Streets and extend to the

towns of Bellepoint and Leestown.2

The author serves as a planner with the Kentucky Department of Mili

tary Affairs in Frankfort. He has published a number of articles on railroad

and military history. His current project is a book-length study of Kentucky's interurban and streetcar service.

'Carl E. Kramer, Capital on the Kentucky: A Two Hundred Year History of Frankfort and Franklin County (Frankfort, 1986); L.F. Johnson, History of Franklin County (Frank

fort, 1912).

2James Duane Bolin, "From Mules to Motors: The Street Railway System in

Lexington, 1882-1938," Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 87 (1989): 118^3.

There is some confusion as to whether this line was constructed. The accepted view

395



396 REGISTER OF THE KENTUCKY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The same year Frankfort's horse line was proposed, an

event took place in Richmond, Virginia, that eventually changed the face of the American city. In 1886, Frank J. Sprague per rected tne electric-powered street railcar. Within months, elec tric streetcar lines were begun throughout the United States. The presence of an electric streetcar system symbolically dif

ferentiated a city from a town: Frankfort, the capital city of the

commonwealth, set out to have an electric streetcar system.3 Frankfort would not be alone in building a streetcar sys

tem. A total of seventeen street rail systems operated in Ken

tucky at different times from the 1870s to 1950. In addition to

the line at Frankfort, fourteen others were powered by over head electric lines. These systems were located in Paducah;

Henderson; Owensboro; Louisville and its suburbs; Louisville to New Albany, Indiana; Covington-Newport and their sub

urbs; Maysville; Ashland; Paris; Georgetown; Winchester; Somerset; and Bowling Green. A battery-powered car system operated in Middlesboro from 1891 to 1893, while Richmond and Barbourville had horse-drawn cars. Over forty additional

streetcar lines were proposed or chartered for building in

Kentucky. These never-built lines included such cities as Ft.

Jefferson, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, Lancaster, Bardstown, and Paintsville.

The year 1890 found Frankfort citizens W.H. Posey, J.W. Pruett, John T. Buckley, John Meagher, Fayette Hewitt, and Pat McDonald incorporating the Capital Railway Company to

provide electric streetcar service. The new company's charter

provided for service within Frankfort and to any point five

is that it was not built, despite local historian Ermina Jett Darnell's reference to a letter

stating that a mule-drawn streetcar was operating on Shelby Street on November 5, 1892. Lulu Franklin stated in her newspaper reminiscence: "I doubt if there is

anyone living in Frankfort who remembers the mule cars. The last one was driven into the barn by my father Richard B. Cheek. He then drove out the first electric car." Ermina Jett Darnell, Filling the Chinks (Frankfort, 1966); Kentucky Acts (1886), ch. 360; Lulu Franklin, "Father Drove the Last Mule Car," Frankfort State Journal, January 30, 1976.

3John A. Brill, "The Development Of The Streetcar," Classeir's Magazine (August 1989), 3-38; David McNeil, Life Along the Trolley Line (Cincinnati, 1986); Modernization

Of Car 15 And Other CERA Bulletins (Chicago, 1984); Albert S. Richey, Electric Railway Handbook (New York, 1924); transit files of Bell County Library (Middlesboro, Ky.) and Knox County Historical Society (Barbourville, Ky.).



FRANKFORT'S STREETCARS AND INTERURBANS 3Q7

The route of the Frankfort city streetcar system is indicated on this map issued by the Kentucky Geological Survey in 1921.

miles beyond the city's limits. On August 3, 1893, with the

necessary funds raised, work started on the building of

Frankfort's electric streetcar system. Opened for service on

March 28,1894, the Capital Railway Company provided trans

portation from the front of the Capital Hotel at Main and Ann

Streets outward in four directions.4

4Kentucky Acts (1890), ch. 1775; transit file held by the Bluegrass Railroad Mu




As built, the streetcar line employed both open-air and

closed cars. The former were a joy to ride in the summer

during a Kentucky heat wave; however, a shower or a rain

storm left the passengers exposed to the elements. Canvas

side curtains could be lowered in rain, but normally a shower

had come and left by the time the curtains had been dropped and secured. Then, once the sun came out, the humidity in the

cars approached that of a steam bath, and the process had to

be reversed. In winter, the canvas sides were replaced with

removable wooden frames containing a glass wmdow. Though

stuffy, the closed cars kept rain and snow off the passengers. The enclosed cars, however, could be stifling hot in the sum

mer and freezing cold in the winter. A major problem with the

convertible summer/winter cars was judging when the sea

sons would change, especially in Kentucky, where it is an art

to predict when winter is over and summer has ended.

In bad weather the floors of the cars were little better than

the unpaved streets, because the passengers tracked in the

elements on their shoes and boots. Herbert Jackson, who lived

in rranktort during this period, recalled: lhe streets were but

dirty roads. They would be oiled and sanded once a year. No

matter how you tried not to step in the oil you got oil on your shoes. This, much to the annoyance of all, was tracked all over

town."5

Left out of the streetcar route was Bellepoint, west of the

Kentucky River. Real-estate developers constantly lobbied for

the streetcar line to reach there, but this extension was never

constructed. lhe problem with building a streetcar route to

Bellepoint was obtaining permission to use the L&N Bridge and building a bridge to cross Benson Creek. Prospective revenue which could be generated by the line to Bellepoint

seum, Versailles, Ky.; C.H. Bogart, "A Look At When The Streetcar Was King, Kentucky Explorer (June 1996), 32-36. All of the electric-powered lines, except that of

Middlesboro, had some sort of horse-powered streetcar system before converting to

electricity. The Richmond horse-car service ran from 1890 to 1898, and the Barbourville

service from 1890 to 1919.

5Poor's Manual of Railroads, various volumes, 1900-1920; U.S. Census Report On The

Street Railway Industry, 1902 (Washington, D.C., 1903); "Lexington Single Truck Cars," Traction Heritage (September 1918), 51; Herbert Jackson, "I Remember When," Frank

fort State Journal, May 3, 1976.



FRANKFORT'S STREETCARS AND INTERURBANS 399

would not begin to cover fixed costs.6

Within a few years it was apparent that the builders of the

Frankfort line had overextended, and there were no funds for

expansion. In fact, revenue was far below fixed costs. Unable

to meet its bills, the line was ordered sold by the court on April 26, 1897. No bid was received for the line, so the enterprise, renamed the Frankfort and Suburban Railroad, continued to

operate under a receivership. Such an overextension of capital in building local streetcar lines plagued many such enterprises

throughout the United States.7

Streetcar service in Frankfort operated from 6 a.m. to 11

p.m., with an average headway between cars of fifteen min

utes. During the morning and evening rush hours, more

frequent service was provided. Attempts to raise the five

cent-per-trip rare were defeated by the rranktort city Council.

Management of the line complained that citizens begrudged the company a nickel for a twenty-minute ride to the fair

grounds, where without hesitation they paid a dime for a

three-minute merry-go-round ride.8

The ringing of the streetcar bell provoked a number of

complaints from the local citizenry. They complained that the

too-frequent bell scared the horses. On the other hand, if a

streetcar struck a citizen, that victim was sure to state he did

not hear the streetcar because the bell was not rung. The streetcar track was also a hazard. Because its gauge

was the same as the width of most wagons, wooden wheels

dropped into the groove intended for the streetcar wheel.

When the wagon driver tried to maneuver out of the tracks, the result was often a broken wheel.

Yet, for others, the streetcar provided a cooling ride in the

summer. The gentle swaying and clanking helped to bring on

sleepiness. Others found cheerful the sight of a lighted street

6KT&T file, Bluegrass Railroad Museum; Frenchie Harrod, "They Had A Circus

Parade," Frankfort State Journal, November 14, 1975.

7KT&T file, David J. Williams III, Richmond, Ky.; KT&T file, Bluegrass Railroad

Museum; "Operation of Street Railways In Small Cities," Street Railway Journal Ouly

1898), 375-76.

8So pervasive was the five-cent streetcar fare nationally that streetcar conductors

were nicknamed "nickel grabbers" by steam railroad conductors.




car cruising the city; the car's illuminated interior a beacon to

those returning home at night. It was also a joy to the work

weary, for they did not have to expend additional energy

walking home. Moreover, the streetcar meant an increase in

the number of eligible women a gentleman could court, for the

whole city was now within fifteen minutes of his house. Most

people saw the rrankrort streetcar as a convenience, since they did not have to tread the city's dirty, manure-spotted streets in

rain and snow. Safety and comfort was only a nickel away when out and about in the capital city.

In a reminiscence Nettie Glenn of Frankfort told how on

Halloween the children would soap the tracks on Shelby Street

as the streetcar climbed the hill to Todd Street. When the

streetcar encountered the soap, its wheels spun in place. The

boys then ran out and pulled the trolley pole free of the electric

line, killing the lights on the car and rendering the car power less. Older boys might place a carbide mixture on the tracks. Ac if ran mror fV\o mivhir-o fVio cfroofrar wnnlH cof a corioc

of loud explosions. A more dangerous stunt was to hop onto

the outside rear of the car for a free ride; the nickel thus saved

could go for candy or soda.

As Glenn also pointed out in her reminiscence, the Frank

fort city streetcars were governed by Kentucky's Jim Crow

traditions. Consequently, black citizens rode in the back of the

car, whites in the front. The actual line of demarcation be

tween the races on local cars was flexible, depending on the

number of each race on board. White patrons, to be sure,

always received preferential seating.9 With the building of the new capitol in South Frankfort, it

was proposed to reroute the streetcar line so passengers could

be dropped off nearer to the seat of government. But the cost

9KT&T file, Bluegrass Railroad Museum; KT&T file in the author's possession; Norman Carlisle, The Modern Wonder Book of Trains (Philadelphia, 1946); Ruth Cavin,

Trolleys (New York, 1976); A.W. Maclin, "Reminiscences," Frankfort State Journal, July 11,1975; A.W. Hankoff, "Jim Crow Traction," National Railway Bulletin 54 (1989), 30

33. See also C.A. Barnes, Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit

(New York, 1983). In 1920, the United States Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's Jim Crow law, looking only at the Cincinnati, Newport, and Covington Street Railway's charter and the rules regulating this charter.




One of the original open-air cars used in Frankfort. While enjoyable on a

hot, sunny day, they were anything but comfortable in wind, rain, or cold.

Courtesy Charles Murphy

of extending a nearby street defeated this plan. Another pro

posal called for the cars to loop around the capitol. This

proposal also failed, as it was felt that the streetcar track and

overhead wires would detract from the beauty of the capitol, an odd objection since one of the advantages given for choos

ing the site in South Frankfort had been the very presence of

the streetcar line.

Existing hotels and restaurants were all clustered around

the site of the Old Capitol on the public square in North

Frankfort. The streetcar system had allowed these establish

ments to remain viable when the seat ot government was

relocated a mile from its former site. Without the streetcar line

to South Frankfort, the 1880s proposal to tear down the exist

ing structures on the Old Capitol grounds would most prob

ably have been carried out.10

In 1908, the conductors of the Frankfort streetcar system considered going on strike to protest the new method of fare

collection. Prior to that time, the conductor started his run

with "X" amount of money. At the end of the day, money over

10KT&T file, Earl Clark, Cincinnati, Ohio; KT&T file in the author's possession.




this amount was considered the fare collected. Such a system was subject to abuse by the conductors. To provide an ac

counting trail, a fare collector indicator was installed in each of

the cars. Ihis was a box containing a counter and a bell. As

the conductor accepted the fare, he was to pull a cord con

nected to this box for each fare. When the cord was pulled, the

counter advanced and a bell rang. Passengers, however, could

not distinguish the fare-register cord from the stop-request cord. The result was that the passengers mistakenly pulled the

fare-register cord, causing additional fares to be registered. Since the conductor was responsible for turning in a nickel for

each fare rung up, he found himself liable for fares not col

lected. The conductors tried unsuccessfully to persuade pas

sengers to pay the additional fare when they pulled the cord

by accident. Conductors claimed they themselves had to pay between fifty and seventy-five cents out of their own pocket

per day to cover the shortfall. To correct this problem the

streetcar company promised to install electric push buttons to

record the fares.11

The electric railway system perfected by Frank Sprague led to the development of streetcar lines and interurban lines.

An interurban line was a trolley line of heavyweight cars that

connected cities. They operated much like a steam railroad,

moving not only passengers but also freight. The main differ

ence was that interurbans were powered by overhead electric

wires and generally carried the freight in an electric self-pro pelled boxcar called a "freight motor." Merchandise moved

by the freight motor consisted of less-than-carload freight,

baggage, and express packages. A standard bit of cargo in

cluded the local newspaper on its way to residents and coun

try stores.12

"KT&T file, Bluegrass Railroad museum; Lexington transit file, Lexington Public

Library; KT&T file in the author's possession; KT&T file, Charles Murphy, Spring field, Va.; Margaret S. Dawson, "Streetcars Every 15 Minutes," Frankfort State Journal, undated 1975 clipping in author's possession.

12Louis Bell, "A Decade of Interurban Railways," Street Railway Journal (February 18,1903), 325-26; H.S. Cooper, "Freight and Express on Electric Railways," ibid., 214

18, 263-69; Roy G. Benedict and James R. McFarlane, Not Only Passengers (Chicago, 1992).




In 1902, an interurban line opened between Georgetown and Lexington. The next year service was extended from

Lexington to Paris. Between 1905 and 1907, the Central Ken

tucky Traction Company built a line between Versailles and

Lexington, and the Frankfort and Versailles Traction Com

pany opened a track between those two towns. In 1907, the

Frankfort and Versailles line, the Versailles and Lexington line, and the Capital Railroad were consolidated under the

Central Kentucky Traction Company, whose board of direc

tors included two citizens of Frankfort, J.I. Noel and M.J.

Meagher.13 The interurban lines being constructed in the central Blue

grass were not the only interurbans built or proposed for

Kentucky. Lines were proposed from one end of the state to

the other. The most ambitious proposal would have tied

Louisville, Cincinnati, and Lexington together much as

Interstates 75, 71, and 64 do today. However, only four other

interurban lines would penetrate Kentucky. These were the

Louisville system; the Huntington, West Virginia - Ashland,

Kentucky - Ironton, Ohio, line; the Louisville -

Indianapolis, Indiana, railroad; and the Evansville, Indiana, web that crossed

to Henderson by ferry and provided powerboat service from

its station at Rockport, Indiana, to Hawesville, Kentucky. As

a result of all these proposed interurban systems, the Ken

tucky legislature in 1902 passed a bill to regulate interurban

lines within the state. The statute passed was a modification

of the existing steam railway law. It set forth the rights of an

interurban, placed restrictions on them, and specified the power of governments to tax them. Taxes could be levied on both

real and intangible property. (The Kentucky legislature did

not regulate truck service, the interurban's chief competitor, until 1926.)14

"Poor's Railroad Manual, 1904-1912; Kentucky Railroad Commission Report, 1902

1912; "Kentucky Properties Sold," Street Railivay journal (September 1905), 471.

14Kentucky Railroad Commission Report, Frankfort, 1902-1919; G.W. Hilton and J.F.

Due, The Electric Interurban Railways in America (Stanford, Calif., 1964). Other interur

ban lines for which charters were issued, 1903-1905, but not built were Glasgow and

Burriside and Cumberland Traction Company; Cumberland Valley Interurban Rail

road (Burnside to Monticello); Columbia and Lebanon Interurban Railway; Mt. Ster




In 1905, Central Kentucky Traction placed an order with

the American Car Company for two wooden Brill Grooveless

Post Cars. These cars were forty-four feet lone and eight feet

wide and weighed eighteen tons. Seating was provided for

thirty-three whites and seventeen blacks in two compartments separated by a hardwood partition with glass in the upper

panel. The segregated compartments were identical in quality of furnishings: the woodwork was cherry and the ceiling birch

veneer, and the seats were upholstered in spring cane. In 1908, Central Kentucky Traction placed an order with

J.G. Brill Company for two additional wooden interurban cars that were almost duplicates of the 1905 order. The cars were

htty-tive reet long, weighed over twenty-six tons, and were

equipped with forty seats for whites and sixteen for blacks. A

baggage compartment, ten feet by eight and one-half feet, and

located at the rear of the car, was used for both carry-on

packages and consigned goods. For the convenience of those

riding between Frankfort and Lexington, the interurbans were

outfitted for "Read-Wyl-U-Ride" service, a box containing the

Lexington Herald.

The year 1911 saw Central Traction placing an order for a

double truck baggage/refrigerated motor freight car from the

American Car Company. Later that year, Kentucky Traction

Terminal Co. (KT&T) ordered a baggage/refrigerator motor

freight car. In addition, KT&T purchased a portable electric

substation, from McGuire Cummins Company of Chicago. The line's larger, faster interurban cars were painted black at

first but were later red with white lettering.15 December 1908 saw the Frankfort newspapers proclaim

ling and Sharpsburg Electric Railway; Eminence and New Castle Electric Railway; Madisonville Traction (Madisonville, Earlington, White Plains); Maysville, Carlisle,

Millersburg, and Paris Traction Company; Shelbyville and Ohio Electric Railway (to

Milton); and Newport and Alexandria Railway. See also Lee A. Dew's "Owensboro's

'Paper' Interurbans," Filson Club History Quarterly 57 (1983): 207-22, for an excellent

study of the economic benefits a community hoped to gain from an interurban line.

15"Semi-Convertible Cars for the Central Kentucky," Street Railway Journal (Feb

ruary 1906), 325; "New Cars for Kentucky," Brill's Magazine (September 1908), 202-8; "New Power Station and Line Construction In Lexington," Electric Railway Journal 40

(November 16, 1912), 1023-27.




ing the start of two new interurban lines from Frankfort. The

first line was the result of a meeting between the chambers of

commerce of both Frankfort and Lawrenceburg and the Cen

tral Kentucky Traction Company to develop an interurban line

from Frankfort to Lawrenceburg. It was announced that the

two chambers had obtained easements from the property owners for the right-of-way. A preliminary engineering sur

vey had set the cost of constructing the line at $375,000. The

Central Kentucky intended to start construction of the line in

the spring, once the necessary capital had been raised. At the

same time the Louisville and Eastern Railroad, which pro vided interurban service from Louisville to Shelbyville, an

nounced that it would build an interurban line from its station

m bheibyvilie to rranktort to connect with central Kentucky Traction. Neither of the companies, however, was able to raise

the requisite funds to construct the proposed lines.

In 1913, the Shelbyville and Frankfort Electric Railway

Company was formed to bridge the gap between these two

cities and thus allow interurban service to Louisville. A sur

vpv was rarripd out and notions for the rieht-of-wav obtained.

The citizens of Bridgeport were said to be expecting transfor

mation into a suburb of Frankfort, many of the "better class"

supposedly preferring life in the country around Bridgeport. Cost of the line was estimated at three hundred thousand

dollars. Once again, the company was unable to secure fund

ing. Another attempt in 1916 likewise failed.16

The desire to build interurbans was not just to foster the

convenient transportation of people and goods. There was

another reason: to increase the value of land. The Lexington Herald in 1908 stated that interurbans "mean increase in popu

lation, business and land value" in the towns they connect.

The interurban "increases the value of agricultural land" it

passes. The newspaper continued, "Land ordinarily doubles

in price within five years after the establishment of an electric

line." This increase in value was due to the fact that, unlike the

steam railroad, an interurban passenger or box freight motor

16KT&T file, Bluegrass Railroad Museum; KT&T file, Steven Baron, Lexington,

Ky.; KT&T file, Charles Murphy, Springfield, Va.




would stop wherever flagged. Since the value of the farm land

rose as a result of the interurban's touching it, the type of farm

products produced on land next to an interurban had to change in order to produce a value in comparison to the land value.

"It means one can no longer be employed in farming that gives $100 to $200 per acre. One can no longer keep a cow that

produces only 200 pounds of butter per year or raise a steer

that weighs 500 pounds at the end of a year." Farmers near the

interurban line had to start using modern scientific methods or

see their property sold to others because of the increase in cost

to maintain these lands. A better class of farmer was also

found along the interurban, one who "appreciated the conve

ruence of the mterurban that allowed him to mix with friends

oftener." In addition, the interurban allowed the farmer's

children to find employment in the city and town during those

times of year when their help was not needed at home.17

In 1904, the Paris-Lexington and the Georgetown-Lexing ton lines were renamed the Bluegrass Traction Company. Then

in 1910, the Lexington Interurban Railroad built a line from

Lexington to Nicholasville. These three interurban lines—

Central Kentucky, Bluegrass Traction, and Lexington Interur

ban—merged in 1911 to form the Kentucky Traction and Ter

minal Company (also called KT&T). The KT&T titled itself the

'Blue Grass Route. Included irt the merger were the city streetcar lines of Georgetown, Paris, Lexington, Winchester, and Frankfort. Among those serving on the KT&T Board of

Directors was Charles E. Hoge of Frankfort. The KT&T was a

subsidiary of the Philadelphia-based Kentucky Securities Cor

poration, which also owned Blue Grass Park and the Lexing ton Ice Company. Kentucky Securities was, in turn, owned by Middle West Utilities, which also owned Kentucky Utilities

(KU). KU and KT&T were considered one and the same,

although they were actually two separate corporations. The

two companies had so integrated their operations that they looked like one company.18

17KT&T file in the author's possession. 18J. Winston Coleman Jr., The Squire's Sketches of Lexington (Lexington, 1972), 73;

"Reorganization of Companies In Lexington, Ky.," Electric Railway Journal 37 (May 1910), 1036; F.M. Bacon, "Ice Plant As An Auxiliary to Railway Business," Electric




A favorite destination for many Frankfort people was Blue

Grass Park (originally called the Belt Way Park). Located on

twenty acres on South Elkhorn Creek iust to the west of present

day Keeneland Race Track, the park boasted all kinds of rides,

including a roller coaster, plus dancing, concerts, swimming, ball games, picnicking, boating, and penny arcades. In 1907, more than 450 "electric parks" nationwide were operated by streetcar and interurban companies, who cleaned fiftv million

riders from these attractions. How better to increase rider

ship, especially on a Sunday or holiday? Yet, KT&T closed

Blue Grass Park in 1925 when Joyland Park, located on Paris

Pike, opened on the outskirts of Lexington. A terminal building and interurban storage area for the

KT&T was established at the northeast corner of Main and

Olive Streets in Frankfort next to the Capital Hotel. Many salesmen coming to Frankfort found the location of the termi

nal next to the hotel a blessing, rood, drink, and a room were

only one hundred feet away. Just beyond, at the corner of Ann

and Main, one could catch a streetcar to any point in town.

The inter urban route to Lexington was up East Main.

Beyond Frankfort Cemetery the track moved to a private right of way along the south side of the road. Then, the tracks

turned toward Versailles at Versailles Road to the city limits.

Then it was back on private right of way to Lexington. While the corner of Cheapside and Main in Lexington was

the terminal point, the KT&T interurbans did not turn at Lex

ington. The Frankfort line continued from Lexington to Paris.

The other line ran between Georgetown, Lexington, and Nicho

lasville. Total trackaee ODerated bv the KT&T was 91.7 miles.

including 1.1 miles of city streetcar line in Winchester. (The

connecting KT&T interurban line from Lexington to Winches

ter was never built.)19 Hourly service was provided between

Traction (September 1916), 671-73; Philip Ardery, "The Yellow Peril," Louisville Cou

rier-Journal Magazine, February 1,1981, 22-25; Poor's Railroad Manual (New York, 1908

88). "McGraw Electric Railway Directory (New York, 1924), 59-61; David J. Williams III,

"KT&T," The Headway Record (November 1959), 1-6; "Merchandizing Principles in

Car Design," Electric Railway Journal (June 1922), 893-96; "New Office Building In

Lexington," ibid., 1267; Rowland Gooch, "Horse and Buggy Days," Frankfort State




Frankfort and Lexington by KT&T from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with

"night owls" running at 9:30 and 10:45 p.m. The trip took

ninety minutes.20

On February 21,1910, the Frankfort Streetcar line suffered

its most serious accident. That Monday morning, Frankfort

was blanketed under one of the Kentucky River winter fogs that often cut visibility to one hundred feet or less. The fog had flowed out of the valley and covered the hilltops. On

schedule, an interurban car departed the Central Kentucky Traction depot in Frankfort at 8:20 and headed up Main Street

Hill for Versailles and Lexington. Inward bound for down

town Frankfort was a local streetcar with a conductor, motor

man, and ten passengers.

Normally, the interurban arid the streetcar met at the pass

ing track at the Feeble Minded Institute located at the top of

Main Street Hill; occasionally, the meeting was at the next

passing track up the line. The interurban ran on a timetable, and it was the responsibility of the streetcar to stay out of its

way. If the streetcar could not make the Feeble Minded siding by 8:35. it was to wait at the passing track beyond the Normal

School. The interurban car waited at the siding until 8:35 and

then started up the single track toward Versailles. Just beyond the Feeble Minded Institute the interurban car saw the street

car come out of the fog one hundred yards away. Both motor

men cut their current and applied brakes, but it was too late.

With a loud crash the two cars came together. Due to its extra

height, which allowed high-speed running, the interurban rode over the streetcar.

The collision of the streetcar and interurban occurred at

less than ten miles per hour. Weight and inertia, however, had

their way. The heavy interurban crushed the front of the

streetcar, trapping Owen F. Graves, the streetcar motorman,

against the front of the passenger section with its cow catcher.

Graves, who had not deserted his post but had held to the

hand brake, was pinned into the streetcar and had to be cut out

of the wreckage. At King's Daughters Hospital, both of his

Journal, November 9, 1975; Frankfort Commercial Directory, 1910 (Frankfort, 1910). 20KT&T Time Schedule, Woodford County Historical Society, Versailles, Ky.




legs were amputated. Of the passengers, "Boss" Hockensmith

suffered the gravest injury. Riding on the rear open platform, he was thrown violently forward into the passenger compart ment and suffered severe cuts and bruising to his head, arm, and shoulder. Four others escaped injury, including the con

ductor, Charles Lawrence.21 The much-heavier interurban sus

tained only minor damage, and its passengers received no

injuries requiring treatment. As soon as the track was cleared, the interurban proceeded to Versailles and Lexington.

The exact cause of the accident is not known. Lawrence, the conductor of the streetcar, claimed his watch showed 8:33

right before the accident. The conductor of the interurban

stated that he had remained at the siding until 8:35 by his

watch, as required by the timetable, thus, the question was

which of the conductors' watches had the correct time, as

shown by the official clock at the interurban station. No record

apparently exists to answer this question.22 Yet another memorable accident to strike the Frankfort

streetcar line occurred four years later. On July 18,1914, Harry Rice was motorman of city car Number 17. At Ann and

Broadway the city tracks crossed those of the Louisville and

Nashville Railroad (L&N). Running north to the ballpark, Rice

failed to see an L&N train, the Louisville Express, entering the

station on the outer track as the Lexington Express departed the station on the inner track. The impact of the resulting crash

turned the streetcar on its side. Rice suffered injuries to his

back and legs. The sole passenger on board was not injured.23 This incident led to considerable public concern about the

safety of the streetcar railroad crossing. As a result the Lou

2,"Remarks of Merit/' employee magazine of Ancient Age Distillery, February 1940, November 1942. Most historical accounts of this accident mistakenly report the

death of Mr. Graves. In fact, after spending nine months in the hospital, he recovered

and worked for Stagg Distillery in Frankfort.

22Louisville Courier-Journal, February 22, 1910; Frankfort State Journal, February 21,

1910; Street Railway Operating Rule Book (September 21,1907), 1-90. In 1907, the Street

Railway Association adopted a rule book for streetcar and interurban operations,

designating priority by class, type of lading (passenger over freight), and direction

(east over west).

23Frankfort State Journal July 18,1914; Robert B. Shaw, A History of Railroad Acci

dents (Clarkson, Tenn., 1978), 372-85.




n'y?llcaSia tJULL r n 3

Smoking lobacco »

On July 8,1914 Louisville and Nashville train #17, the Louisville Express, struck KT & T car #17 at Broadway and Ann Streets. A logging chain runs

from the steam engine to the toppled streetcar in an attempt either to right the trolley or pull it clear of the tracks.

KHS Collections

isville and Nashville crossing guards were ordered to watch

more carefully in guarding the crossing. KT&T motormen

were instructed to take great care in crossing the railroad

tracks and to be prepared for train movement in any direction, at any time, on any track. In addition, a trolley hood was

installed on the power line extending over the railroad tracks. The hood would prevent the streetcar trolley pole's disengag

ing from the overhead wire, which could cause the streetcar to

stop. The KT&T intensified its safety campaign. Students taking

part in a safety contest were awarded KT&T pins, and over

two thousand posters with safety messages were distributed

throughout the community. Among the messages carried on

the posters were "Don't Play On The Tracks," "Don't Hang On

Behind The Cars," "Don't Put Your Arms Or Head Out The

Window," "Don't Cross Immediately Behind A Standing Car,"




and "Stop, Look, Listen." Another series of posters showed

how to board and alight from a streetcar.

The first step onto the cars was often twelve inches or more

above the street. Women suffered the most falls and became

the targets of these safety campaigns, since women wore re

strictive skirts with long hemlines and often held children or

packages. (Some have even claimed that women's skirts even

tually became shorter due to the difficulty of boarding and

disembarking from streetcars.)24 In 1913, Frankfort Streetcar conductors were assigned an

extra duty as a result of the successful nationwide campaign to

make the general public more aware of germs and their trans

mission. Conductors were ordered to enforce the antiexpecto ration law. Thus, when a conductor saw someone spitting on

the floor, he was to order the offender to stop. According to

an agreement worked out with the Frankfort Police Depart ment, if the spitter refused, the conductor was to halt the car

and call a policeman to arrest the criminal. It was hoped that

this policy would lead to the end of this "abominable practice" in public places.25

Until 1920, a golden age of streetcar operations prevailed in the United States. By 1915, there were well over one thou

sand streetcar companies, serving more than two thousand

American cities. These companies owned over twenty-six thousand miles of track and operated some sixty thousand

streetcars. They employed approximately 280,000 persons as

streetcar operating personnel, car barn repair crews, track and

line maintainers, depot operators, and administrators.

A survey of the streetcar systems in 1915 by the U.S. De

partment of Labor provides a snapshot of wages and hours

worked bv the streetcar operating crews. The records show

that Frankfort was operating its cars with only a motorman.

Ten men were employed in this position, five full-time and

five as extra board men. The average pay of these motormen

24KT&T file in the author's possession; "A Trolley Guard," Street Railway journal

(April 20, 1907), 703; "How to Alight From A Streetcar," Electric Traction (March

1927), 129.

25KT&T file, Earl Clark, Cincinnati, Ohio; KT&T file in the author's possession.




was $.184 per hour, the wage scale running from $.16 for a new

employee to $.20 per hour for an employee with five years of

service (Kentucky average, $.19; Cincinnati average, $.258). The workweek was sixty hours. The workday for regular

employees varied between 8.5 and 11 hours, depending on the

run assigned, with a prevailing daily time of ten hours (Ken

tucky average, 10.6; Cincinnati average, 10).26 The years 1916 and 1917 were not friendly to the KT&T

financial books. First, the Commonwealth of Kentucky an

nounced it was reevaluating all railroad property. KT&T

found its net worth of real property increased from $1.2 mil

lion to $1.64 million, and its taxes rose correspondingly. Then in 1917, coal shortages, caused by strikes in eastern Kentucky,

adversely effected the streetcar and interurban operations. Starting in September, schedules were shortened and time

between runs increased. Curtailed electrical power produc tion and brownouts became common. On a number of occa

sions there was insufficient power in the lines for the cars to

operate. On September 17, the power generator ran com

pletely out of coal. For most of that day, until new supplies arrived, the cars shut down. The resumption of coal mining in

October allowed stocks to be replenished, and electric produc tion returned to normal.27

The year 1918 found the KT&T in a dispute with the Frank

fort City Council over a proposed fare hike. KT&T sought to

raise its fare to $.06 a ride due to wartime inflation. Following a bitter battle, the city council authorized a penny increase in fare only because the KT&T threatened to stop service. At the

same time, approval was granted by the Kentucky Railroad Commission to raise interurban fares from $.025 per mile to

$.03. Soon, permission was given to raise interurban fares to

$.036 per mile. The Frankfort city fare increase for the KT&T was short lived, for in 1922 the city rolled back the fare to $.05.

In June 1923, Frankfort was without streetcar service. The

26KT&T file, Bluegrass Railroad Museum; "The We Stop Slogan Sign," Electric

Railway Journal (February 1915), 292; U.S. Department of Labor, Street Railway Employ ment in the United States (Washington, D.C., 1917).

27"Coal Storage in Kentucky," Electric Railway Journal (September 29, 1917), 591; "Frankfort Fare Increase," ibid. (May 1916), 254.




Streetcar track being installed on Main Street at Lewis. The streetcar

companies were responsible for maintaining the surface of the streets in

which their track ran. This put them at a disadvantage to the bus lines, which only had to pay their "fair" share of gasoline tax for street repair.

Courtesy Charles Murphy

city had entered into a street improvement program and was

letting contracts to pave streets in the downtown area. This

meant the KT&T would have to relav its track to meet the new

street level. The city, in addition, wanted KT&T to pay part of

the paving charge. The streetcar company objected to this

additional cost, especially since the city had lowered permis sible fares the year before. To fill the need for local transpor tation, a bus company commenced operations. The Frankfort

Bus & Truck Line operated two buses. Initially, they charged five cents per ride: in five days this was raised to ten cents per ride. KT&T quickly pointed out that even the bus company, which had no investment in track or overhead wire and did

not have to help maintain the streets, was unable to operate at

a nickel per ride. "How," KT&T then asked, "can the streetcar

line operate at five cents per ride?" The city apparently re

lented and decreased its demands on the street railroad, for




the cars were back in operation in July and the buses gone.

Starting in 1919, the automobile and improved roads be

gan to make serious inroads on the KT&T Frankfort city lines

and the interurban revenues. In response, the size of the

înterurban car s crew was cut to one person. New equipment

costing $375,000 was ordered. In 1922, out went the old,

heavy, wooden interurban cars that weighed 18 tons each. In

their place, from the Cincinnati Car Company came ten light

weight metal cars, each weighing 12.5 tons. (These curved

side cars were to revolutionize the streetcar and interurban

fleets throughout the country during the 1920s.) Later, two

additional cars of this type were ordered. The new cars, which

began service in February 1922, had yellow bodies with black

lettering edged in silver. The interior of the coaches was

divided from front to rear into "white," "colored," and "smok

ing/baggage" sections. Both the "white" and "colored" sec

tions featured seats covered in Pullman Plush Green. The

smoking section had wooden benches and a unisex toilet.

With the new cars the time to travel to Lexington was cut by fifteen minutes. Providing speed and comfort, the new cars

breathed life back into the KT&T.

At the same time it ordered new passenger cars, KT&T

purchased three lightweight freight motors. These freight motors, built by the Cincinnati Car Company, weighed 15.5

tons and were 40 feet lone and 11 feet high. The interior of the

car for carrying the goods was 34.75 feet by 5 feet, 10 inches.

These cars operated with a single motorman. Previous cars had carried one or two helpers to load and unload the goods. Management decided to reduce the size of the motor freight crew, since most goods carried on the cars could be moved by one man.

The conversion to one-man cars also necessitated a change in the interurbans' single-ended passing tracks. The car taking the siding had to back out onto the tracks. This two-man

operation meant stopping the car, getting off to throw the

switch for the siding, running the car into the siding, and

throwing the switch back to the mainline so the inbound car

28"Notes," ibid. (April 17, 1920), 830; "Notes," ibid. (June 23, 1923), 1055.




could pass, then reversing the procedure to get back on the

track. KT&T's solution was to turn the spur into a passing track with spring switches. Outbound cars would automati

cally switch to the passing track. Once the inbound car passed the spring switch at the other end of the siding, the switch

would allow the outbound interurban to regain the main line.

The Frankfort Freight terminal was open daily (except Christmas) from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The local agent accepted eoods and levied the charee for shiDDine them; he also re

ceived goods and notified customers of their arrival. In Frank

fort, unlike the other cities served by the KT&T, one did not

have to pick up or deliver goods to the station. The Frankfort

station had a contract with a local trucking company for deliv

ery anywhere within the city at an additional cost.29

The Frankfort streetcar line, at the same time the new

interurbans were added, had its old wooden cars replaced by seven modern cars. Photographic evidence suggests that these

"new" cars were, in fact, part of the Lexington Railway

Company s 1905 American Car Company order. The cars

were twenty-nine feet long and rode on a single truck. Origi

nally operated as a two-man crew car of conductor and motor

man, they had been rebuilt for one-man operation. These cars

had become surplus with KT&T's order for twenty-seven single truck curved-side cars from Cincinnati Car Company. Some

of the older surplus cars were passed on to Frankfort. In 1924, two new, additional, curved-side cars were purchased from

the Cincinnati Car Company and assigned to Frankfort. Owen

Caplineer later spoke of this period as a golden age of trolley service. "The cars," he recalled, "ran all the time, beautiful

cars." The KT&T was proud of these "new" cars and had sign boards mounted on the roof line to carry messages showing this pride. Typical messages carried were "Rapid, Comfort

able Service," "Permanent 17 Hour Service," "Our Pride, Your

Comfort," "Shop By Street Car," "No Parking Worries Here," and "This Car A Community Asset."

'"'Richard Wagner, Curved Side Cars (Cincinnati, 1965); "And Now One Man

Freight Cars," Electric Railway Journal (August 1923), 210; "Complete Car Replace ment in Lexington," ibid. (August 1929), 758-64.




The rebuilt and new cars assigned to Frankfort were called

Safety Cars and PAYE (for "Pay As You Enter") cars. They were referred to as Safety Cars, as they were built of metal and

had deadman controls. A rAYh car had a one-man crew.

Where formerly the motorman had operated the car and the

conductor collected the fare, the motorman now collected the

fare. One now paid the motorman a nickel when boarding the

car through the front door. Exiting the car was via the rear

door, which could be pushed open by the passenger only when the car had stopped. This system cut down on delays

during the heaviest boarding-alighting periods, normally in

downtown rush hours.30

With the introduction of the new interurban cars, the sched

ule of the interurbans was changed. To equalize the distance each car had to travel, the routes were now Frankfort-Versailles

All 1gLUI 1-1NICIiUlctàV111C dlIU VjCUIgt;luwil-LCAUl gLUIl-l ciris.

These routes were forty miles and thirty miles long, respec

tively, compared to the former route lengths of fifty-six and

twenty-four miles. The adoption of this routing allowed the schedule to be maintained witn one less interurban car. Yet the acceleration, speed when running, and braking power allowed headway to be reduced to one hour instead of every ninety minutes. Elapsed time for the run from Frankfort to

Lexington was one hour, seventeen minutes. This gave an

average speed of sixteen miles per hour, when stops were

included, which compares favorably to 1929's calculated aver

age speed of thirty-three miles per hour of the twenty-two fastest interurban lines in the United States.31

The KT&T was now operating fifty-seven city cars, four

^"Telling the World," Electric Railway Journal (May 8, 1926), 324; Westinghouse, Electric Railway Transportation (Chicago, 1990), n.p. This compilation of Westinghouse

publications was published by the Central Electric Railroad Association. "Fare Col

lection On One Man Cars," Electric Traction (June 1927), 298-99; Photograph Collec tion of Bill Feldman, Frankfort, Ky.; Photograph Collection, Kentucky Historical

Society; Photograph Collection, Scott County Historical Society, Georgetown, Ky.; "Lexington Capitalizes Magnetic Brakes," Electric Railway Journal (May 1927), 990; Owen Caplinger, "Recollections," Frankfort State Journal, July 1, 1975.

31KT&T time schedule, Woodford County Historical Society; "Tentative Speed Rankings," Electric Traction, 1928-1931; "Speed And The Future Interurban," Electric Traction and Bus Journal (May 1932), 193.




teen interurbaris, and three motor freights. These operated over 91.3 miles of track, of which 16.5 were in paved streets.

Of this, 12.73 miles of track were in Franklin County. Yet even

as the K1 & 1 was being revitalized, an action was taking place which, in time, would destroy the streetcar and interurban

system. Tax monies, part of which had been paid by KT&T, were used to pave the tirst stretch or highway in Kentucky. That year, 1923, the first concrete highway was poured in the

state, when a seven-mile stretch of Winchester Pike was paved in Fayette County.32

For a time after the introduction of the new interurbans, revenues increased; however, by the late 1920s they were

again on the decline. Average daily ridership between Frank

fort and Lexington had been 1,509 in 1912. Patronage slipped to 1,297 in 1921 and dropped to 726 in 1924; average passenger load per trip fell from fifty to twenty-two over these years. Still, many Franklin Countians used the streetcars and

interurbans to go shopping or to eo to work, school, and

church. Students attending the University of Kentucky or

Transylvania College relied on it. Gentlemen used it to carry themselves and their dates to the theater in Lexington. Fami

lies took it to spend the day at Bluegrass Park or Joyland. The

sportsman used it to reach the racetrack.

The introduction of new interurban cars, because of their

reductions in required crew size and electrical power, allowed

fares in 1922 to be lowered to three cents per mile. One-way fares from Frankfort to Versailles dropped to $.50; to Lexing ton, $.90; to Georgetown or Nicholasville, $1.30; and to Paris,

$1.50. A book of forty round-trip tickets cost $22.33

Not only did the interurban carry passengers, it also car

ried goods. It served as the package delivery service of its day. A person could travel to Lexington to shop on Main Street and

32F.W. Bacon, "Light Equipment," Electric Railway Journal (September 25, 1926),

512-14; "How Kentucky System Has Been Modernized," ibid. (December 8, 1923),

974.

33"Effects of Automobiles On Interurban Traffic," ibid. (September 13, 1924), 386;

C.T. DeHore, "Experience Shows Light Cars Increase Net of Interurban Line," ibid.

(December 1, 1923), 927-31; Herbert Jackson, "I Remember When," Frankfort State

Journal, May 3, 1976.




How Can a Street Railway Company Pay Double

Price For Everything It Uses and Still Exist

On the Same Old 5 Cent Fare?

READ ABOUT THE PUPPY THAT BECAME A DOG.

nu up:n a time tbere toas a man faofjo faougfjt a little J3up. 5jc tuas a poor

man anb tjab to be economical. "TZtjis |3up," (je saib, "can libe anb grots

(at on Jfibe tenia toortb o( meat per bap." therefore fje gabe tfje ani

mal tiiat mutb meat.

tEbe months toent bp anb tbe J) up greto into a big 3Bog. ©e toas so big tbat

tie gobbleb up tbe Jfibc tenta toortlj of meat at a moutfjful anb barfceb in an at

tempt to persuabe bis master to gibe tjim more.

Sut tbe obmer saib "Jfibe cents taortfj of meat toas enongtj for pou toben

pou toere a $)up anb Jfibe cents toortb must be enough for pou nota."

after a time tfje cost of meat boubleb, but tbe obmer continueb to gibe fjis

3Dog Jfibe cents toortb anb no more.

Ss a result of tfjis treatment tfje 3Bog greto tfjin anb beak anb after a tofjile

be broppeb bobm in a comer of tbe parb anb bieb.

"&osfj!" exclaimeb tbe late otoner. "3 bibn't tbinb tbat a ffiog tbat toas

getting Jfibe cents toortt) of meat tooulb starbe to beatfj."

itloral dumber l—ÏHbat nourishes a J3up map starbe a 3Dog.

ifloral dumber 2—J)up fares toill not nourish a fttreet 3&ailtoap 38og.

—From Electric Traction.

Advertisement used by the KT & T and other street railway companies in

the early twenties to explain why the "nickel fare" needed to be raised. Note

that the dog lies behind the "8" ball.

return home unburdened by packages. Merchants would take

purchases to the KT&T freight depot on Main near Georgetown Road. There, it would be sorted out and put on a freight motor




car or in the baggage compartment of the passenger car. The

freight motor cars made daily runs between the cities of Frank

fort, Versailles, Lexington. Georgetown, and Paris. The pack

age was left for the customer at the KT&T terminal or, for an

additional charge, was carried to the customer's home. Special

freight motor cars transported ice from the Lexington ice plant to customers and jobbers along its tracks. Ice was necessary to

keep the home icebox cold; electric refrigerators were onlv for

the rich. These cars also transported milk from J.B. Haggin Elmendorf Dairy on Paris Pike to the cities served by KT&T.

Haggin had his own refrigerated freight motor built to carry milk to market.34

One major problem the streetcar and interurbans were

unable to conquer was the Kentucky weather. Wind and

electrical storms knocked down electric lines and stranded

cars. Ice or wet leaves on the track caused the cars' wheels to

slip and spin. Packed snow often caused the cars to derail.

Another problem, in truth, was the average Kentuckian. News

papers recount that almost every week someone fell while

getting on or off the cars. Women in long, tight skirts experi enced particular problems. In 1915, three pedestrians were hit

and killed by KT&T cars; in 1917 that number doubled. In

addition, there were occasional collisions with an automobile.

It is interesting to note that no matter who was at fault, the

headline always read, "Streetcar hits One picture, for

example, shows a streetcar lying on its side after being broadsided by a truck. True to form, the headline recounting the incident read "Streetcar strikes truck."35

There were a number of proposed extensions of the KT&T's

tracks. Among the towns considered for expanded service

were Winchester, Owen ton, Cynthiana, Richmond, Lawrence

burg, and Shelbyville. The line to Shelbyville from Frankfort

^William D. Middleton, The Time Of The Trolley (San Marino, Calif., 1987); "Dis

tributing Ice," Electric Railway Journal (July 1931), 379; "Ice Plant As Auxiliary To

Railroad Business," Electric Traction (September 1916), 671-73; "Combination Bag

gage and Refrigerator Car," Electric Railway Journal (July 1, 1911), 56.

35KT&?T file, Earl Clark, Cincinnati, Ohio; KT&T file, John Farris, Georgetown,

Ky.; "Extremely Effective Sleet Cutter for Kentucky," Electric Traction (February 1922), 136.




was promoted both by Lexington and Louisville with strong

support from Frankfort. Numerous surveys were made, pub lic meetings held, and articles printed, but the connection was

never made. The main stumbling point was that the KT&T

track was built to railroad standard gauge while the Louisville

Lnterurban was built for a wider-gauge track. The promoters were always at odds over the gauge to be used in building the

line. Lexington wanted it built to KT&T gauge and Louisville

to its own broad gauge. The traveler instead had to be satis

fied with a thrice-dailv iitnev service from the Capital Hotel to

the Interurban Station in Shelbyville. The proposed line to

Owenton, which would have been an extension of the line to

the ball park, was never more than a line on a map.36 With the onset of the Great Depression in 1930, KT&T

streetcar and interurban revenue fell. At the same time labor

strife increased as the workers demanded higher pay and

shorter hours. KT&T, however, continued to provide excel

lent service and kept both the city and interurban cars well

maintained. In fact, KT&T in 1931 placed second in a national

rating of excellence in car maintenance based on the mean

failure rate of cars per miles run. This failure rate included

both mechanical problems and accidents. Total mileage racked

up by KT&T cars that year was 1,925,568 miles.

On January 13, 1934, the workers of the KT&T went on

strike. Apparently, the Frankfort city streetcar workers had

voted against the strike but went out on strike as the union as

a whole had voted in favor of it. Two days after the strike was

called, KT&T asked to be placed in receivership as they did not

have the money on hand to meet notes coming due February 1. On January 17, James Hulett, representing the Frankfort

KT&T emplovees, informed Tames B. Hall, the KT&T receiver.

that the Frankfort city streetcar workers had broken with the

union. Hulett stated that the workers were ready to start up

citywide streetcar service. This action was met with praise by the citizens and merchants of Frankfort as the lack of public

transportation was a great inconvenience.

Central Electric Railfans Association, The Colorful Streetcars We Rode (Chicago, 1986), 60; Williams, "KT&T," 1-6.




Unfortunately, Kentucky Securities Corporation saw the

strike as a way to close down what was now a marginal

operation within their organization. Hall stated that he was

asking permission of Judge Cochan to close permanently all

KT&T rail operations on the grounds that they were money losing operations. Counterarguments were made of maintain

ing KT&T in operation for the good of the public. On January 22, Judge Cochan ruled that KT&T could abandon all of its

routes with the exception of the Lexington city routes. This

pronouncement by Judge Lochan was followed the next day

by the announcement that Orville M. Harrod and H.A. Gretter

had formed the Capital Transit Company to provide citvwide

bus service. This bus service started on January 28,1934. Two

buses were used but were soon joined by a third. Fares were

eight cents or two tokens for fifteen.37

Thus died Frankfort's streetcar and interurban service.

Only a few pictures remain to remind us. It is amazing to

think that from 1905 to 1934 citizens of Franklin County could, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on an hourly basis, catch an interurban

and be whisked to Versailles, Lexington, Nicholasville, Paris, or Georgetown. Ihey could also catch a jitney three times a

day to go to Shelbyville to ride the interurban to Louisville, New Albany, or Indianapolis.

The Frankfort streetcars, with the closure of the line, were

taken to Lexington. Here, they joined their sister cars in rev

enue service until 1938, when buses replaced streetcars in

Lexington. With no demand tor streetcars in otner cities, tne

cars were sold for scrap. All but one of the interurban cars was

sold to Cleveland, Ohio, but never went into revenue service.

They also were scrapped. The one remaining interurban car

served as a gas station for a number of years at Loudon and

Broadway in Lexington before it was also scrapped.38 The streetcar line had defined Frankfort during its exist

ence and would continue to do so for many years thereafter.

""Electric Railways Improve Pull In Record," Electric Traction and Bus Journal

(March 1932), 112-13; "Pull In Reductions," ibid. (March 1934), 82-83.

speech by Earl Clark, Frankfort Historical Society, 1994; "Last of Trolley Cars,"

Lexington Herald, May 20, 1938; "Shaker Remembrance," New Electric Raihvay Journal

(Winter 1992), 6.




Car #220, one of the new Cincinnati curved-side city cars, departs from Main

and Ann Streets, 1930.

Courtesy George Scholes

Long after the streetcar system had been forgotten by Frankfort's citizens, developers continued to build along its

route and ienore other areas adiacent to the citv. The east side

of Frankfort grew as housing and business moved out of the

Kentucky River Basin. The west side of Frankfort would not

see development until the Wolls. It would start its real growth only in the 1980s. North Frankfort saw its growth along the

east side of Fort Hill and Thorn Hill as a working-class neigh borhood developed. The west side of these hills did not grow until the 1960s, while residents of Bellepoint, where the street

car never reached, habituallv identified themselves as citizens

of Bellepoint, not of Frankfort. This is likely a result of never

having experienced the unifying factor of the streetcar.

The abandonment of the KT&T interurban line was a loss

for the public, who fell increasingly in love with cars. It is

equally true, however, that the line deserved public support. Government insisted on taxing the physical property of the

KT&T to include right of way and equipment as well as the

revenue it received. Government had also reauired that KT&T

maintain that part of the public road on which it ran, but

allowed others to use that same part of the road free of charge. Instead of taxing the line out of existence, the government




should have supported it.

Governmental bias against streetcars and interurbans is

clearly visible in the issues of Kentucky Progress Magazine. This

semiofficial state publication from its inception in 1929 to its

demise never once touched the subject of street rail. The

magazine seemed determined that its pages remain unsoiled

by accounts of transportation not based on a concrete road or

runway and powered by a gasoline engine.

Today, unless a citizen of Frankfort owns a car, he or she

can no longer visit the cities served by the KT&T. It is also

evident that the KT&T was the artery that carried the life blood

of shoppers to the retail stores of downtown Frankfort and

Lexington. One interurban could carry sixty shoppers down

town and did not need a parking space. Two automobiles, which required the same amount of road space as an interur

ban, could deliver only twelve people downtown, and auto

mobiles required valuable land for parking. Government had

no problem in subsidizing parking for the car but could not see

abandoning taxes on the streetcar and interurban line to help

preserve it. The true demise of downtown Frankfort and

Lexington started with the abandonment of the KT&T. Those

who lived in hranklort and did not have a car could no longer visit Lexington, Versailles, Georgetown, and Nicholasville at

their convenience. True, there were still some steam trains to

these places, but passenger service was far from an hourly service. Buses, with their fume-spilling engines, now tried to

serve downtown Frankfort as it became congested with auto

mobiles. This private bus service lasted until the mid-1970s.39

The merchants of Frankfort who saw the streetcar as an

impediment to the flow of automobile traffic, and the automo

bile-free flow as a source of sales, never asked the fundamental

question, "Do people buy goods or do cars buy goods?" If this

question had been asked, the fate of the KT&T might have

been different. It is interesting that when Frankfort, in the

1980s, returned public bus transportation to the central busi

ness district, the merchants of downtown Frankfort could only

39//Transit Equity/7 Transit Connections (June 1995), 43-48. See also various issues

of Kentucky Progress Magazine, 1929-35.




complain of the four automobile parking slots lost. The down

town bus stop was moved two blocks from downtown, rrom

which point the stores are not even visible.40

Frankfort's downtown—like those elsewhere across

America—once hummed with the sounds of humanity. But

the seductions of the automobile and the lure of the suburbs

changed the fate of those downtowns. Debate has long contin

ued on what role pedestrians, public transportation, and mo tor vehicles should nlav in anv downtown Dlan.41 In fact, as of

this writing, the question is still part of an existing debate. One

Frankfort group argues for an end to a pedestrian mall and the

use of its space for parking. The other seeks to retain the mall

in oraer to retain more or a visiDie numan presence in tne city

landscape. The streetcars and the people they carried may be

gone, but the debate that they were part ot continues. Will it

be cars or people?42

"Bolin, "From Mules to Motors"; KT&T file in the author's possession; Mac

Sebree, "Trolley Goes Way Of Horse, Buggy/' Lexington Herald-Leader, November 18, 1962. Stephen B. Goddard, Getting There—The Epic Struggle Between Road and Rail

(New York, 1994), 195-226, is an excellent analysis of the question of the private car

versus public transportation. 41"KT&T, CN&C, and Louisville transit files," Cliff Scholes, Cincinnati, Ohio;

"Civil War In Louisville," New Electric Railway Journal (Autumn 1991), 32-38; Indiana

Railroad System (Chicago, 1950); "Louisville's Railways," The Headway Recorder (Au

gust 1960), 1-1; William D. Middleton, "From Bullets To Bart" (Chicago, 1989); History and Development Of The lnterurban (Chattanooga, Tenn., 1993). Louisville's last street

car run was on Derby Day, May 1, 1948. Kentucky's last streetcar, which closed in

1950, was the Cincinnati, Newport, and Covington Railway line to Ft. Mitchell,

lnterurban service in Kentucky ended on October 31,1939, with the closure of the line

from Louisville to Indianapolis at Seymour, Indiana. The Seymour-to-Indianapolis section closed in 1941. Previously, the Evansville to Henderson had shut down in

1928; Huntington-Ashland line closed in 1938. Only one interurban system survives

today in the United States—the South Shore Line from Chicago, Illinois, to South

Bend, Indiana.

42See, for example, Frankfort State journal, February 2, 19, March 9, 1998.



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