Northern Texas Traction Company
Encyclopedia
The Northern Texas Traction Company was a subsidiary of Stone & Webster
that operated the streetcar system and interurban
lines in Fort Worth, Texas
.
The Northern Texas Traction Company began with the purchase of the City Railway of Fort Worth by George T. Bishop in 1900. Bishop also acquired the Dallas and Oak Cliff Elevated Railway to gain access to Dallas. Construction of the second interurban line in the State of Texas linked the city of Fort Worth with the city of Dallas to the east with operations commencing on July 1, 1902. The Bishop interests sold out to Stone & Webster
Engineering in 1905. In 1905 the street cars were moving at 8 mph, but by 1923 the speed had picked up to 65 mph.
The power generating plant and workshops for the interurban line were located in the small town of Handley just east of Fort Worth. The Northern Texas Traction Company bought land south of Handley where it developed a trolley park
called Lake Erie. The pavilion at Lake Erie included a roller skate rink, a dance hall, restaurant and rides on a pier above the water. See: Handley (Fort Worth)
Safety Car and Crimson Limited Interurban deluxe service.
NTT was one of the first 3 traction cities to obtain Birney Safety Cars, the first city to fully equip a line with Birney Cars and a member of the Presidents' Conference Committee, which produced the PCC streetcar
(although PCCs did not see service in Fort Worth until the advent of the Tandy Center Subway).
Stone & Webster sold the company in 1934 as the result of diminishing profits and anti-trust action brought by the federal government. The last interurban run was completed on Christmas Eve, 1934. Streetcar service was maintained by the transit company until 1937 when the city charter was renewed and revised.
Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster is an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Stone & Webster was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles Stone and Edwin Webster in 1889. It was acquired by The Shaw Group in 2000. The company...
that operated the streetcar system and interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
lines in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
.
The Northern Texas Traction Company began with the purchase of the City Railway of Fort Worth by George T. Bishop in 1900. Bishop also acquired the Dallas and Oak Cliff Elevated Railway to gain access to Dallas. Construction of the second interurban line in the State of Texas linked the city of Fort Worth with the city of Dallas to the east with operations commencing on July 1, 1902. The Bishop interests sold out to Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster is an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Stone & Webster was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles Stone and Edwin Webster in 1889. It was acquired by The Shaw Group in 2000. The company...
Engineering in 1905. In 1905 the street cars were moving at 8 mph, but by 1923 the speed had picked up to 65 mph.
The power generating plant and workshops for the interurban line were located in the small town of Handley just east of Fort Worth. The Northern Texas Traction Company bought land south of Handley where it developed a trolley park
Trolley park
In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. These trolley parks were created by the streetcar companies to give people a...
called Lake Erie. The pavilion at Lake Erie included a roller skate rink, a dance hall, restaurant and rides on a pier above the water. See: Handley (Fort Worth)
Handley (Fort Worth)
Handley was a town in Tarrant County, Texas USA. It is located between downtown Fort Worth and Arlington along State Highway 180, and is now a part of Fort Worth.-Brief history:...
Award winning service
Northern Texas Traction actively fought the loss of passenger traffic to the private automobile. Its efforts to maintain ridership led the company to receive the Charles A. Coffin award in 1927. Numerous ideas to improve service and improve profits were implemented including the BirneyBirney
A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...
Safety Car and Crimson Limited Interurban deluxe service.
NTT was one of the first 3 traction cities to obtain Birney Safety Cars, the first city to fully equip a line with Birney Cars and a member of the Presidents' Conference Committee, which produced the PCC streetcar
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
(although PCCs did not see service in Fort Worth until the advent of the Tandy Center Subway).
Stone & Webster sold the company in 1934 as the result of diminishing profits and anti-trust action brought by the federal government. The last interurban run was completed on Christmas Eve, 1934. Streetcar service was maintained by the transit company until 1937 when the city charter was renewed and revised.
See also
- North Texas Historic TransportationNorth Texas Historic TransportationNorth Texas Historic Transportation is an American non-profit volunteer organization focusing on the history of trolleys in the Fort Worth, Texas, area.The business address of NTHT is Post Office Box 861, Fort Worth, Texas 76101...