Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway

The Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway (CS & IRR, CS&IR) was an electric trolley system in the Colorado Springs, Colorado that operated from 1902 to 1932. The company was formed when Winfield Scott Stratton purchased Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway in 1901 and consolidated it in 1902 with the Colorado Springs & Suburban Railway Company. It operated in Colorado Springs, its suburbs, and Manitou Springs. One of the street cars from Stratton's first order is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

Colorado Springs & Interurban Railroad car, 1907 or 1908

Background

The Colorado Springs and Manitou Street Railway began horsecar trolley service in 1887. It ran between the Colorado Springs business district and Colorado College. The following year the route extended north and west with a total of ten horse-drawn trolleys.[1][2] The Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway, chartered in 1890,[3] bought the system and established the first electric trolley line to Manitou Springs in October 1890, as they transitioned from horse-drawn to electric trolleys.[1][lower-alpha 1] In 1898, trolleys ran west to Colorado City, east to Knob Hill, to Cheyenne Park, and connected with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger Depot.[4]:16 With the additional destinations, there were 44 electric trolleys in 1900.[1]

Interurban railway company
Winfield Scott Stratton, 1901

The Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway Company was created after Winfield Scott Stratton bought the Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway in 1901[1][5] and consolidated it with the Colorado Springs & Suburban Railway Company in September 1902.[6][7][lower-alpha 2] Service ran to a trolley park beyond Boulevard Park in 1903.[9] The north/south main line provided service from a loop at the town of Roswell[10]

Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway ridership peaked in 1911 and within three years it began to suffer financially as automobile ownership increased.[1] By 1916, its offices were located at 530 South Tejon. At that time there were separate cars that ran from the Main Post Office and Federal Courthouse to the Printer's Home.[11] The east/west mainline extended from Manitou's Iron Springs neighborhood eastward through Garden of the Gods Balanced Rock Station in 1916.[12]:35[lower-alpha 3] In 1916, the system had a power house building at 205 Rio Grande West.[12] It served Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City, Manitou Springs, Ivywild, and Roswell over 38 mi (61 km) of track with 56 motor cars and 13 trail cars in 1917.[6]

Over the years, service ran east to the North Colorado Springs suburb and southward from the ATSF/Rock Island railroad bridge through the city to the Ivywild and Broadmoor suburbs, where the Cheyenne Mountain Country Club was along the Cheyenne Canon street car line and the terminus[lower-alpha 4] It also ran to Broadmoor Park and adjacent to Stratton Park at the entrances to the North and South Cheyenne Cañons. A north/south branch line on Spruce and Walnut streets extended from Yampa street southward to Huerfano Street.

Buses began replacing the system's railcars in 1931 and the last electric tram ran on April 30, 1932. In the mid 1930s, the Works Progress Administration removed most of the street car rails.[1] The Colorado Springs & Interurban power house site at the northwest corner of S Sierra Madre and Las Animas streets[10] remains an electrical power station (now of Colorado Springs Utilities).

Historic property

Winfield Scott Stratton ordered streetcars for the Colorado Springs & Suburban Railway in 1901. It was the first set of cars purchased by Stratton and they were outfitted with safety features, like the retractable Narragansett steps, retractable windows that could be adjusted in transit, and had separate non-smoking and smoking sections. It was a step in the transition from wood to steel framed cars and used the Brill convertible design. Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway (CS&IR) Streetcar No. 48, the only remaining streetcar from that order, is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.[15]

See also

Notes
  1. The power house was located at the northwest corner of Moreno Avenue and Tejon Street[4]:16 and the company office was at 528 South Tejon in 1898.[4]:91, 349
  2. In 1902, The Street Railway Review reported that Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway completed a power house on Las Animas, near Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad tracks, installed heavy rails,[8]:69 built the North canon line terminus station at Dixon Park,[8]:108 and planned to improve and expand the company's infrastructure.[8]:162 It reported that Colorado Springs & Suburban Railway, began using Studebaker sprinkling cars,[8]:58, 243, 489 and would receive 15 open Narragansett cars from Brill.[8]:426 The CS&IR officers in 1903 were A. G. Sharpe, president; D. H. Rice, vice-president; William Lloyd, secretary and treasurer; and D. L. MacAHree, general manager and superintendent[9] That year, the company building on the Freeman Block at 117 E. Pikes Peak Avenue and the car barn was on Tejon between Cimarron and Moreno.[9]:127
  3. The railway's Balanced Rock Station building later became an automobile tourist station and the central building for the Black Canyon camp ground in 1927.[13]
  4. A 21st century business at the former Dixieland Casino building claims the south trolley station was named "Stratton Park Meadows Station".[14]

References
  1. "Colorado Springs Trolleys: About us". Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation, Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
  2. Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs City Directory (PDF), Francis, 1888, p. 44, Colorado Springs and Manitou Street Railroad-President, Irving Howbert; Vice-President, Louis R. Ehrich; Treasurer, J. A. Hayes, Jr.; Secretary and Manager, A. Van Vechten. Directors-J. J. Hagerman, L. R. Ehrich, Irving Howbert, J. A. Hayes, Jr., G W. Thorne, J. B. Orman, Wm. H Earle.
  3. American Street Railway Investments. Street Railway Publishing Company. 1902. p. 71.
  4. Directory of Colorado Springs (PDF) (almanac), The Out West Printing and Stationery Co., 1898, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-12, retrieved 2013-11-05
  5. "Improvements and Extensions of the Colorado Springs Rapid Transit System". Street Railway Journal. XX (2): 70. 1902. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
  6. Moody's Manual of Investments, American and Foreign. 8. Moody's Investors Service. 1917. p. 1919.
  7. Transit Journal. 20. New York: Street Railway Publishing Company. September 13, 1902. p. 377.
  8. "Recent Street Railway Decisions [p. 28]". The Street Railway Review. 12. 1902. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
  9. The Giles City Directory of Colorado Springs and Manitou (PDF) (almanac). The Giles Directory Company. May 1903. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-02. Chapters: The Giles Classified Business Directory of Colorado Springs [p. 559] … of Colorado City [p. 715] … of Manitou [p. 755]
  10. Tourists guide to Colorado Springs, Manitou, Colorado City and the Pike's Peak Region (Map). "Geo. S. Clason, Denver, Colo.". 1906. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
  11. Colorado Springs, Colorado City and Manitou City Directory. Vol. XIII. The R. L. Polk Directory Co. 1916. p. 373. 1916 advertisement for Nob Hill Lodge sanatorium home
  12. Colorado Springs, Colorado City and Manitou City Directory. Vol. XIII. The R. L. Polk Directory Co. 1916.
  13. "Historical Tidbits". Manitou Heritage Center Springs. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  14. "Our History". TheCheyenneCanonInn.com. Retrieved 2013-12-09. Stratton Park Meadows Station directly across the street…many bands that played at the park pavilion…
  15. "El Paso County". HistoryColorado.org. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2014-05-04.

Further reading
External images
New "power plant" in 1902
Car at Manitou/Ruxton avenues
Car at Stratton Park
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