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| Сергей Федосов | Трамвайный прыжок! | [Ответить] |
| Интересный факт в статье одного постоянного автора исторических колонок еженедельника This Week in Worthington за 7 июля.
Когда строили интерурбан из Колумбуса в Гэхэну (ныне этот самостоятельный юридически город является фактически восточной окраиной Колумбуса, а интерурбаны, оказывается, на юге Огайо иногда называли Traction Lines), один землевладелец не дал разрешение пересечь свой участок и получил судебное решение об этом. Но неустрашимая трамвайная компания продолжала строить линию. Образовавшийся разрыв в 66 футов трамваи преодолевали... с разгона! На другой стороне стоявшие наготове конные упряжки водружали вагон на рельсы и он продолжал путь. Так было при открытии, так было и при эксплуатации, хотя безопасности ради пассажиров в этом месте всё же высаживали. В конце концов землевладелец сдался и дал-таки разрешение и пути были соединены. А Огайо этим фактом просто обязан войти во всемирную трамвайную историю, штат вообще знаменит, чего тут только не было, кто только ни жил и чего только ни изобретали :-)) Полностью статья Эда Ленца "As it were. Remembering the old interurban transportation system" приводится ниже. Обратите особое внимание на последнее предложение :-) People living in southern Ohio often called them "The Traction Lines" because several of the companies who provided service styled themselves as "Traction Companies." But most people called them "The Interurbans." With a couple of notable exceptions in other states, they are all gone now, having been replaced by motorbus, auto and air transportation. But in their time, they were something to behold. In various rural places around central Ohio, the remnants of a once elaborate system of independent transportation can still be seen in raised embankments, ruined bridges and abandoned grade crossings. Many people conclude that these places are simply the sites of abandoned rail lines. And they are indeed rail lines. But the proximity of electric power poles and occasional remnants of tracks with a third rail show that they were something else. The age of the interurban was relatively brief. In little more than a generation, they had appeared, come of age and slipped into a rapid decline. How all of this happened makes for an interesting story. An interurban, as the name suggests, is a railway connecting towns and cities. It usually consisted of a single car -- a very big single car -- that was designed to be heavier and more luxuriously appointed than a standard railroad car. It was built this way because it was designed to run by itself and run very fast. And it could do this because it was powered not by steam but by electricity. The idea of an electric railroad was not new in late 1800s America. People had been experimenting with them for years. Now economic and technological developments across America made intercity electric public transportation an attractive business opportunity. First, the rapid growth of rail transportation -- especially in the Midwest -- after the Civil War had been both cause and result of an Industrial Revolution that was transforming America from a rural to an urban society. A second development was the rapid construction of electricity networks to provide power to homes, businesses and transportation. The success of electrified streetcars in most cities over their horse-drawn forebears was a case in point. The new streetcars were faster, cleaner and cheaper to operate. People now could make the journey to work in comfort from new "streetcar suburbs" emerging in every city in the country. Riding the "electric cars" was becoming a very popular thing to do. It was in this world of electric transit that many local and regional entrepreneurs began to see opportunities for themselves. What worked in the cities might work between them as well. But to compete against established steam railroad lines, one had to offer something the railroads did not. That something was speed. A single car, properly designed, on a specially constructed roadbed might be able to provide faster and more frequent service that its rail counterparts. It was on that assumption that interurban lines began to be built in the late 1890s as America emerged from the worst economic depression in its history. Like many other enterprises that preceded and would follow it, the interurban network of America was built in bits and pieces by relatively small companies. The Columbus area was linked to the rest of Ohio by three major interurban lines. They were: Columbus Delaware and Marion, which was completed in 1902; the Scioto Valley Traction Co., completed to Circleville and to Chillicothe in 1905; and the Columbus, Buckeye Lake and Newark, which was constructed in 1902. All of these lines entered Columbus on set schedules and deposited passengers initially at a variety of locations before making a return journey. By 1908, many of the cars were stopping at a rather makeshift station on West Gay Street. Proving inadequate -- as well as hard to find -- this station was replaced by a large station at 203 S. Third St. in 1912. In addition to these major lines, a number of smaller lines were built. They often had more difficulties than the larger lines. The building of the C, N.A. & J provides a case in point. A group of local farmers in the New Albany area approached a man named L. P. Stephens in March 1899, suggesting that an interurban from Columbus to Johnstown might be profitable. Stephens went to Columbus and convinced Daniel J. Ryan, a local political and business figure, that it was a good idea. With Ryan and his friends raising money, Stephens set out to get local government approvals for a franchise and the consent of local landowners to grant easements to cross their property. By September 1899, most of the legal and political work had been done. Most, but not all. Despite the fact that not all of the rights of way had been secured, the Columbus, New Albany and Johnstown Traction Co. hired the J. T. Fordyce Co. of Detroit to build a line from the Columbus Railway Co.'s city tracks to the village of Gahanna. In June 1901, work was begun and soon, three and a half miles of track were laid to Cassady Avenue. Here, however, a small problem was encountered. A local property owner had not given permission to cross his 66 feet of land and had gotten an injunction to prohibit construction. Undaunted, the company began building from Gahanna south, and by December 1901, the two lines were completed -- except for the 66-foot gap. At midnight in Jan. 8, 1902, the company tried to solve this problem. A car carrying officials and employees went to the break. The men cleared the space between of debris and trash. Then the interurban car backed up, got a running start and ran off the end of the tracks. It "bowled along on frozen ground until it reached the tracks on the other side, where a team of horses pulled it onto the other tracks. Overhead connections were easily made and the Columbus, New Albany and Johnstown road was ready for operation from Columbus to Gahanna." For the next several weeks, the interurban used this rather novel approach to bridge the 66-foot gap in the tracks. Concerned about safety, the company did ask the passengers to leave the car and walk to the other side of the break in the tracks. It seemed a prudent thing to do. Even more prudently, the owner of the 66-foot gap decided to give permission to cross his land on Jan. 27 and the track was completed. From Gahanna, passengers could take a stagecoach on to New Albany. The company proudly claimed that a traveler could ride from New Albany south to Steelton in Columbus -- a distance of 40 miles -- for only 50 cents! While the C, N. A. & J was not as well-financed or extensive as some of its rivals, it was every bit as useful to the people of northeastern Franklin County. You will not find it on most interurban maps of the period. But then, a lot of other smaller lines never made it to the maps, either. The golden age of the interurban in America was from 1900 to 1930. The development of inexpensive motor vehicles combined with a broadening "good roads" movement to challenge not only the interurbans but streetcars and steam train passenger traffic as well. The huge investment in tracks, equipment and people always made it hard for the interurbans to make money. And the Great Depression of the 1930s made it virtually impossible. By World War II, most of the interurbans were gone. With all of the talk of light rail in central Ohio and high-speed trains between cities, it is interesting to consider that the Age of the Interurban may come again to central Ohio. | ||
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