page_title: Denver Tramway
section_title: A true monopoly, a faltering reputation
hierarchical_section_title: Denver Tramway / History / A true monopoly, a faltering reputation
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: electricrailway341909newy (find matches) Title: Electric railway journal Year: 1908 (1900s) Authors: Subjects: Electric railroads Publisher: (New York) McGraw Hill Pub. Co Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Denver City Tramway—Interior 1909 Type Motor Car Denver City Tramway—Concrete Mixing Car Plate X Text Appearing After Image: Plate XI Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The Denver Tramway, operating in Denver, Colorado, was a streetcar system incorporated in 1886. The tramway was unusual for a number of reasons: the term "tramway" is generally not used in the United States, and it is not known why the company was named as such. The track was 3 ft 6 in narrow gauge, an unusual gauge in the United States, but in general use by railways in Japan, southern Africa, New Zealand, and Queensland, Australia.
  The tramway made use of a variety of types of streetcars, including conduit cars, cable cars, and trolley cars. At the height of its trolley operations, the tramway owned more than 160 miles of track and operated over 250 streetcars. By the end of trolley service, only 64 streetcars were still in use.
  After streetcar operation ceased in 1950 the tramway operated trolley coaches and conventional buses, but continued to use the Tramway name. In May 1971, the Denver Tramway Corporation ceased operation of Denver's transit system, selling its assets and operations to the City and County of Denver.
context_section_description: With its monopoly on the railways and its power in the local government secured the company began to maximize its profits and many locals felt that it wasn't compensating the city adequately. In 1895, Thomas S. McMurry was elected mayor after running on a platform stating that the city's government should be divorced from the city's public service corporations. McMurry vetoed a token peace offering from the Denver City Tramway, wanting instead a yearly return on the company's profits. The company then campaigned against McMurry and he lost the 1899 election. With a new mayor more friendly to the company in power, the Tramway company was not required to give the city any of its profits.
  But public opinion had begun to turn against the Denver City Tramway Company. Resentment peaked in 1905 when the company's franchise should have ended. The company continued to stand by its claim of a perpetual franchise but as a precaution drew up a new franchise in 1906 to appease the public. A reconstructed Colorado Supreme Court handed down a decision in 1910 which ruled against all perpetual franchises on the grounds that they were prohibited by the constitution. Thus the only Tramway franchise now valid was the one adopted in 1906.
  The franchise charter the company had drawn up in 1906 was very generous for itself. Still it was based on the previous charter drawn up in 1885 and included terms such as a fixed rate fare, set at 5 cents, and an agreement that the company would contribute 50% of all maintenance costs for roads on which it had a two-way line. As automobile traffic began to increase, so did the wear and tear on the roads. Though the company was seeing record ridership levels - by 1917 it was making 62 million trips a year - it was not able to increase its fares to cover its increased expenses. The Tramway company petitioned the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, who authorized a 2-cent fare increase. The city of Denver sued and in 1919 Dewey C. Bailey was elected mayor on a promise to reinstate the 5-cent fare. The Denver Tramway Company responded with layoffs and pay cuts.
caption: Trams at the Denver City storage yard, 1909
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