The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-27
THE BOB. ALL CAR
A THING OF PAST
LAST OF LITTLE BUZZ-BOXES
PASSES INTO HISTORY.
With the Placing Of Large Standard
Cars on the Bryn Mawr Line. the
Transformation Of the Minneapolis
Trolley System Is Completed Process
Has Taken Years.

Exit the 'bob-tail car. The jerky,
fussy,, square-wheeled, back breaking
little boxes that were once considered
the acme of street-car construction arc
now a thing Of the past in Minneapolis.
! Today the Bryn Mawr line was equip
ped with big, modern ffty-two-seat cars.
| The change marks the completion Of the
undermining process that has been GO
When the first electric line in the
city was installed on Fourth avenue s,
the type or car was practically the
same as had been previously used
when horses and mules were the motive
power. Heavier trucks were used in
order to secure sufficient space and
ment. This change was made sixteen
years ago and for several years the
process Of remodeling the old horse
cars went on. tN
The first double-truck cars to be used
in Minneapolis were on the Interurban
line. They were built in st. Louis thir-,
teen years ago, and later came to be
"Wind-splitters'' They were fitted
with side seats running the. entire
length Of the car. The evolution from
that to the present type was carried
out right here in Minneapolis in the
carshops Of the street railway COM
.
lot Of double-truck cars from st. Louis,
J all the rolling stock Of the system is
strictly Minneapolitan.
Today the company has in round
numbers 500 thoroly modern cars Of the
large type with cross-seats. They are
worth approximately $4,000 apiece.
Shops Have Been Busy. -
Beginning with the interurban lines,
the system has gradually been equipped
with the big Cars, progress being linn
tied only by the capacity of the shops.
The Bryn Mawr line has been the last
. to be improved. On special occasions
of the bobtails for reserve duty, but
. as a regular feature the "buntyo car
3 is down and out.
3 The question that naturally arises is,
"What becomes Of the old ears9' In
7 the last few years hundreds Of them
have been scrapped.o The useful
parts and the metal finishing have been
! removed and the bodies used for bon
! fires. Probably fifty Of them are to
be found about the city in use as hen
coops, woodsheds, children IS playhouses
= and a few as waiting rooms in the out
5 side districts. The larger and better
: ones have been sold to smaller companies
>. all over the country, where they are
! probably breaking the backs and the
J, eyes, there have been some changes,
s said Vice President c. G. Goodrich to-
n day. ut sometimes makes me smile
: when I think Of how we used to dt
l. business even after we got the electric
into use. Way back in the days Of the
It horses and mules and the little bob
It tails there were few people who woule
o have dared to prophesy that the Min
IS neapolis street railway system woult
No hot ic+
l. "We were. busy. ii those days.
d remember that L used to- leave m.
: house at $50 every morning and MAKE
f the rounds Of the carbarns in time t,
a get back to the office soon after
10 clock. Those were sad trips for
r. sentimental IN. The barn boss woul(
n take me in hand and, with tears in hi
Il, halter Of some valiant steed that Ia,
re- passed in his checks during the night
well, save the shoes, and the dead
- wagon will CALL was all the comfor
80 I could offer. Some morning Their
20 would be more than one empty stall il
ae Mules Didn't Die.
n "Then we got to using mules, an
8. they were much better. I can reca]
e. but two mules that died on our hand.
One ate something that had much tn
10 same erect as dfled apples ana waite
er on the small boy. The other had som
We hoof disease that made him cross. II
tn would kick at the drop Of the hat an
H. finally kicked his foot off and had t
n be shot. Yes, mules were much bette
lis than horses.
he "Then we planned to make exte1
sive. improvements. Everybody We
o. studying electricity and we joined til
al class. The business was still in il
Of infancy, and everybody that had trie
nd had gone broke, SO we decided to il
a. stall cable system. We, ordered, a
id immense amount Of material and lai
he some of it, then decided to tie to ele
vo tricity. We built the Fourth avenr
line with the old Thompson-Houstc
nd system. Several friends volunteered
st. give me job as soon as the line buste
m. us. It fooled us all, but we watche
he it and cuddled it carefully thru i
Ies first winter. .-.-. ~. .s....6 .
di- "The success Of that line, which W:
nd really one of the first successful electr
ed streetcar lines in the country, was tt
beginning Of the present system. TT
- experiment was watched by streetc;
a men all over the country Wa ha,