Butler High School Students of Distinction butlereagle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from butlereagle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rebirth of the Streetcar
KC Streetcar, Kansas City. William C. Vantuono photo
RAILWAY AGE, MAY 2021 ISSUE: Nearly wiped out decades ago, the lightest form of light rail has made a remarkable comeback.
Two centuries ago, before anyone had the idea of laying rails on the ground so wheels could run swiftly and smoothly over them, nobody could travel faster than they or a horse could walk, or a boat could sail. Then came trains and streetcars, and everybody’s world suddenly seemed smaller.
Then, in the past century, came the decline of passenger trains and the near-extinction of streetcars in the United States and Canada. The past few decades have brought the rebirth of the streetcar, but not necessarily the way it was in its former Golden Age. It has become a genus, with several different species of vehicles that could be classified as “streetcars” or as the related species of “light rail” in all parts of the nation.