Omaha daily bee., 1917-01-06
HOODOO RIDES ON
FIRST STREET CAR
Construction started on One
Mile Track on Friday, the
Thirteenth.
CAR JUMPED ALL CURVES
By A, r, GROH,

y stiCSt Ndi iSH iCCt ioHs NJuSl a
foot longer than the present cars are
wide). without a rear platforI with
out a conductor, without any heating
arrangement.
Such was the horse car on Omaha S
first street railway. This line was
built on Farnam street from Ninth
to Fifteenth, north to Capitol avenue,
west to Eighteenth and north to
Cass street.
1t was one mile long. Construc-
ton started on Friday, November IS,
1865 Bad luck followed the enter
prise for years. They should have
known better than to start on such a
day and date.
The car singular number) started
to run June 10, 1869. George w.
Frost, president of the company, had
bought this car secondhand in Chi
cago for $500. 1t proved to be a
frost. 1t wouldn't stay on the track
at the curves. So they had to take
it off. 1t is still preserved as curl
osity and appeared in the recent his
torical parade.
Get Shorter Cars.
Four Standard horse cars" were
bought then They were sixteen
feet long and had front and rear plat
forms! They were manned by con-
ductors and drivers. The conductors
had little to do because hardly any
body used the cal. It was quicker
and pleasanter to walk.
The track was built OF "T" rails,
laid on ties rhe ties were placed
three feet apart. Planking was laid
between the rails, lat when this rot
ted out the company was so nearly
busted" that it was not replaced.
Fourteen ..lnrtes was the schedule
time from one end of the line to the
other-about four miles an hour.
- Fare was 10 cents, or eight rides for
so cents.
The company didn't do much ex-
cept lose money. Finally they took
off the sixteen-foot cars and replaced
them with ten-foot cars. These had
no rear platforms. The conductors
were discharged and the drivers made
fare collectors.
There was fare box at the front
end of the car where the driver could
see it. He also had a mirror in front
of him so he could see people as they
came into the car If they didn't
step up and drop their fare in the box
he rang a little bell to warn item.
Fare was reduced to cents. Dur
ing the rush hours" sometimes there
were ten or twelve people crowded
into a car, with one hanging on the
rear step.
Bells on Horses.
The horses wore jingling bells on
their necks to warn pedestrians to
get out of the way. Daily receipts
OF the corporation sometimes ran as
high as $35. The drivers worked
fourteen hours day and received
$l.50. Cars ran till 10 p. m.
The line was extended from Eight
zenith and Cass, west to Twentieth,
north to Cunning and west to Twenty
first. From Ninth and Farnam it
was extended south to the Union Pa
cihc passenger station. This gave it
total length of two miles and the
entire distance could be covered lex
cept on rainy or snowy days. in
twenty EIGHT minutes.
The Green Line.
The cars of this line were painted
red. In 1874 a line was built from
Eighteenth and Cass north to Ohio
street and the cars on this line were
painted green. They were then known
respectively as the "Red line" and the
Green line"
The horses worked in three shifts
and Travelled about fourteen miles
each per day They had to learn to
walk the ties" in muddy weather
when the cinder and brickbat ballast |
was washed out.
The line from Farnam on Tenth
street to the Union Pacific station was
built in 1876, the 'grasshopper year." |
when everything looked dark Bonds
for $4,000 were issued and sold at |
big discount. And in 1873 the poor
old company went broke" and the
road was sold for less than the value |
of the bonds.
Captain w. w. Marsh, an old Black |
Hills stage driver, was president and |
he bought it and operated it from
1878 to 1888 The stock was worth |
about 5 cents on the dollar and there
were no buyers at that
Some change from that day TO |