Editor’s note: We recognize how quickly Charlotte has changed over the years, so here’s us trying to preserve its story. In this series, native author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about historic places in Charlotte. Submit inquires about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things to davidaaronmoore@post.com.
From what I’ve read and stories I’ve been told, Charlotte once had a fairly extensive trolley system. If it was still around today, it would definitely add some additional charm to our lovely city. Why was it discontinued? – Paula Raymond, Charlotte
- Robinson/Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library
- These trolley cars serviced Myers Park and Hoskins, as well as the large number of employees who earned their living by operating the system, some of whom are pictured.
Like many cities around the U.S., Charlotte fell prey to the wiles of the automobile industry. Documentaries on the demise of trollies in America point a finger at Ford Motor Co. for offering various kickbacks to prompt towns to dismantle the early form of mass transportation to make way, of course, for the increasing popularity of combustible-engine vehicles.
To say that Charlotte’s trolley system was without flaws, however, would be inaccurate.
Although it may be only coincidence, the trolley system ceased operation almost seven years to the day of the worst trolley disaster in Charlotte’s history.
On the morning of March 26, 1931, J.F. Shoemaker, a friendly fellow who was known to welcome his passengers onboard with a smile and a nice greeting, was behind the controls of a trolley that traversed between the city’s north and south sides.
Most of the riders were women, like Marie Johnson and Ola Etheridge, who made their living as housekeepers for some of the wealthier families that lived in and around the downtown area. Other passengers included poor but hard-working men like Joe Faulkner and Sam Robinson. In total there were 49 individuals along for the early morning ride.
The trolley had already passed through Independence Square and was just about to make the railroad track crossing on West Trade Street. Heading into Charlotte around the same time was Southern Passenger Train No. 11. Going southbound from Danville, Va., to Greenville, S.C., the train carried businessmen bound for Atlanta and families visiting relatives at stops along the way. As usual, it was packed to capacity and on time for its 7:30 a.m. pass through Charlotte.
It had been an uneventful morning and business as usual for Southern Conductor J.A. Sifford and engineer C.M. Martin. All of that was about to change.
“I was standing with the motorman on the Second Ward car when we stopped at the lowered gates to allow a handcar of section men to pass northbound,” trolley passenger R.H. Callahan told the Charlotte Observer. “The gates raised and we started across the tracks. A store on our left blinded the view of the tracks to the north. Halfway across the tracks I heard a bell start ringing and at that moment I saw a southbound train roaring down the track. The motorman seemed to try to reverse the car but it was too late and he had no time. For five seconds I stood appalled as the train bore down on us. The passengers broke into screams of terror. After an awful rending crash, I had a nauseating sensation of floating through space, as if hurled at great velocity, and then I was knocked unconscious. I must have fallen through the door of the trolley and slid several feet on the pavement.”
The watchman evidently did not see the train approaching from the north and raised the gates when the trolley passed along from the south.
According to various accounts in both the Observer and the Charlotte News, the train locked its wheels in an attempt to stop but simply did not have the time. Within seconds, the long passenger train slammed into the trolley, pushing the 40-ton streetcar aside like a child’s toy. The train suffered relatively little damage. The trolley, however, fared far worse.
- Robinson/Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library
- This trolley, which was used to carry riders between downtown and Lakewood Amusement Park, is similar to the one destroyed in the crash on March 26, 1931.
From the Observer: “The street car was crushed in the middle, hurled off its track to one side and every pane of glass was shattered. Several of the screaming passengers were thrown through the windows.”
Etheridge was thrown through a shattered window and clear of the tracks. She sustained head injuries and was in a state of shock. Johnson was tossed from the car through the boarding door, breaking an arm and also sustaining head injuries.
Robinson suffered severe lacerations to his right side, dislocated his shoulder and was left with extensive visual impairment from shards of window glass.
Faulkner was thrown from the trolley directly into the path of the oncoming train, which rolled over him, severing his right foot.
According to newspaper articles of the time, blame for the incident was never fully assigned.
Of the 49 passengers on board, 43 were injured. Fortunately there were no fatalities, though the death knell for the Charlotte trolley had quite likely begun to toll.
Moore is the author of Charlotte: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem. His writings have appeared in numerous publications throughout the U.S. and Canada.
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2014.
Interesting story, but a terrible answer to the question asked. This crash clearly had nothing to do with the downfall of trolleys as a transportation system in Charlotte and across the country, especially when you take into account the awful crash statistics of cars in those days. You touched on it, but this article should have been about the pressure from Ford and the shift to suburban planning.
It was GM colluding with others, not Ford.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy
Commuter rail is most effective when it operates in dedicated right of way. Rail, because it cannot maneuver around traffic problems, does not mix well with automobile traffic in the road. There is a reason that large cities put their rail below ground or elevated above the roads.
That said, rail can move a lot of people fast, efficiently, and always on time.
Not always on time but almost always more efficiently……
Critical mass of people in proximity and critical mass of destinations are a requirement. Suburban sprawl was a creature of the automobile based society, while denser suburbs with small lots, multi family and separate retail centers were not only reliant on trolleys and interurbans, but also made them sustainable. There’s no practical reason why I should need to drive a car to buy a quart of milk, mail a letter or visit a dentist, but since the 1940’s we’ve built a metropolitan area that is based on that expectation, and it has come to own and define us.
I’m pleased to see that turning back to something more sustainable now, and only wish that I could afford to live in any of the now desirable areas near the rail lines, also being old enough to have lived in them when they still worked on other major urban centers.
Several years ago one of the PBS stations aired a program that described the history of Duke Trolley and the discovery and restoration of #85. I would buy a copy of it if I knew where it was available.