Tilt; OMAHA SUNDAY HEK: JANUARY 31, 1900.
No. 2
EARLY HORS
RIOD
The first officers of the Omaha Horse Railway Company
were as follows:
President G. W. Frost.
Treasurer John McCormick.
Secretary J. F. Coffman.
Board of Directors John McCormick, G. VV. Frost, J. W.
Paddock, J. F. Coffman, E. B. Chandler.
Besides being a director, Mr. Chandler was the first super
intendent, a position which he held until 1873.
According to the Omaha Daily Herald of November 15,
1868, "The gentlemen mentioned as the officers and directors
will be sufficient assurance that the enterprise will be conducted
in the regular way of Western enterprise."
The Omaha Horse Railway Company was not superstitious.
Construction was started Friday,
November 13, 1868. The first
shovelful of earth was dug in
Farnam Street near Ninth Street.
Crowds stood and watched the
laborers all day. Material had
been purchased or arranged for to
complete li miles of single track
road, but most of the route was
undecided when construction
began.
"The road,"said the Herald,
"is located on Farnam Street
between Ninth and Fifteenth.
Beyond this point the location is
postponed until a future meeting
of the Board. The road will be
started with first-class , cars and
horses and trips will be made
every 15 minutes." the first street
Offices for the transaction
of the company's business were established in what was known
as the Caldwell Block, at Fourteenth and Farnam. They were
on the second floor above "Williams & Baker's Store," and
looked out on Fourteenth Street. These offices were occupied
by the company until the spring of '73, when A. J. Hanscom,
who was at that time in control of the property, built a small
frame office at the horse car barn on 21st St., between Cuming
and Izard.
It was more than twenty months from the time the charter
rights were conferred by the Territorial Legislature before a be
ginning was made on building the road. Many other enterprises
promised quicker and larger returns to capital. The franchise,
however, required that at least one mile of single-track be down
within two years and by the winter, of 186 the time had grown
short to less than four months, in fact.
Therefore, when work was once under way it vVas pushed
diligently through the stormy days of the Winter. At times 100 or
more men were busy on the job. There was no general contrac
tor to take responsibility from the officers of the company, nor
to take a profit from the company's treasury. The construction
was handled by the road itself by day labor, a practice which has
prevailed down to the present day through successive physical
transformations and reorganizations.
Progress, was recorded in the public prints in a somewhat
desultory way. December 6th most of the gang was engaged in
cleaning away snow and "planking" between the rails on Farnam
Street. Rails, ties and other material were on the ground. By
December 30th track had been laid on Farnam Street from
Ninth to Fifteenth, north on Fifteenth to Capitol Avenue, and
up the Avenue to Sixteenth. By January 3d another block had
been put in on Capitol Avenue, but the track on Farnam Street
was "completely covered with show."
The road proceeded to Eighteenth, north on Eighteenth to
Cass, where the one-milt requirement was met; then west on
Cass to Twentieth, north on Twentieth to Cuming and up that
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CAR RUN' IN OMAHA
street to Twenty-first, where the terminal was established and a
car barn built, stabling 26 horses and sheltering four cars in a
"lean-to." On the other end of the line the track was extendec
from Farnam down Ninth to the old Union Pacific Passenge
Station, or to about Jones Street.
This was Omaha's first street railway. It covered a distanc
of two miles, traversed the business district, was able to take dele
gates to and from the Capitol and the depot, and experienced no
expansion for five years.
The first track construction consisted of iron "T" rail weigh
ing 25 pounds to the yard, laid on six-foot,' light, hewn white-oak
ties, three feet apart. The specifications were high-class at the
time. Construction cost probably $6,000.00 a mile at the time.
At first the road was planked between the rails to Capitol Ave
nue, but when the original plank
ing wore out it was not replaced,
partly because the Company could
not afMrd it and partly because
Farnam Street was macadamized
in the ,early '70s. There were
turntables at each end of the line
to reverse the cars, and turn-out
switches at different points so that
cars might meet and pass on the
single track. ,
The first car operated is still
preserved in about as good condi
tion as it ever was. President
Frost bought it second-hand in
Chicago for $700, and innocently
acquired a gold-brick thereby.
Sometime prior to January 22,
1869, the car, which is merely an
omnibus mounted on flanged iron
wheels, was brought to Omaha and
attempts made to start operation with it. The car refused to stay
on the rails when going around curves, and its active career was
short.
This car is today the single piece of property of the horse railways
of Omaha that remains intact and in existence.
The first real street cars were four "standard horse cars," 16
feet long, with open platforms. They were put on early in 1869
and ran every fourteen minutes. The trip one way over the two
mile route was made in 28 minutes. These cars were manned by
a driver and a conductor.
The rate of cash fare was 10 cents. Commutation books were
sold for 50 cents good for eight rides. History says that during
the first few years the stockholders composed the majority of
passengers.
Money was lost so rapidly that the directors were driven to
measures which would at the same time cut down the payroll and
stimulate patronage. The 16-foot cars were disposed of and re
placed by four 10-foot cars with a single step at the rear in place
of a platform, and intended to be propelled by a single horse.
Owing, however, to the heavy grades of Omaha's streets it was
found necessary to use two horses after all. The conductors were
dismissed and fare-boxes placed in the froot ends of the cars, the
driver being made responsible for the collection of fares and mak
ing change.
The rate of fare was cut to. 5 cents, it being concluded that
the abolition of conductors would overcome the difference in the
rate of fare. It was also thought that the reduced rate might in
crease traffic to a point where revenue, also, would be increased.
These innovations were put into effect May 1, 1872. Conductors
were never again used on the Omaha horse cars.
Horse railways in other Western cities were content to get
along without conductors from the start, but in Omaha every
effort was made to keep on the conductors and the larger cars as
long as possible.
G. W. WATTLES, President,
Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Co.
(Th JSiory of the Early Horn Car Ptriod Will Be Continued Rext Sunday.)
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