The Birney Safety Streetcar #224, an original Ft Smith streetcar, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The car dates from 1926, and still serves the transportation needs of tourists and some locals around Fort Smith.
Blasterz were lucky enough to ride this car during a delightful and entertaining trip through Fort Smith. When not running, the car is on display at the AR Trolley Museum. The waymark coordinates are at the trolley stop near the Ft Smith NHS, where most folks seem to get on and off.
The nomination form for this streetcar can be found through the Preservation Arkansas website here: (
visit link)
From the nomination form:
"Streetcar No. 224 is a Birney Standard Safety Car built in 1926 by the American Car Company in St. Louis, Missouri that was operated in Fort Smith until the streetcar line was closed in 1933. The streetcar was subsequently utilized for a short-order diner in Ashdown, Arkansas.
In 1979, the car was purchased by the Fort Smith Streetcar Restoration Association, who, after twelve years of research and restoration, returned the twenty eight passenger trolley to its
original condition in 1991. The streetcar now runs between the Fort Smith Trolley Museum at 100 South Fourth Street and the Old Fort Museum at 320 Rogers Avenue.
....
The history of street railway transit in Fort Smith began in 1883 with mule-drawn cars. The Fort Smith Railway Company headed by Samuel J. McLoud operared the cars which could seat between 14 and 16 passengers.
Electric streetcar service started in 1893 when the Fort Smith & Van Buren Electric Street Railway Light & Power Company was granted a franchise on the condition that it construct a bridge across the Arkansas River to Van Buren. The company operated two streetcars and had a malt electric generating plant and facilities for light streetcar repairs. In 1902, Lernert and O'Neil acquired control of the company and purchased the first double-truck streetcar the following year. Later in 1903, McCloud's company, which had partially converted to electric streetcars, combined with Lernert and O'Neil to form the Fort Smith Traction Light & Power Company. The company was reorganized shortly thereafter and the name slightly scrambled to create its final form, the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company. In 1904, the H. M. Byllesby Engineering & Management Company of Chicago, Illinois, obtained controlling interest in the company through stock purchases.
At this time, there were fifteen streetcars running on trackage extending out Towson Avenue, Little Rock Avenue (now Rogers Avenue), North Eleventh, and North E Streets. Fifteen open style cars were ordered, and improvements were made to the popular McCloud Park, an amusement park with a roller coaster, auditorium, pavilions, baseball park, and similar amenities that was owned by the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company. Renamed Electric Park, it proved to be profitable for the company largely through proceeds garnered by the streetcars transporting patrons to and from the facility. The company also benefitted from a three-mile track extending to Arkoma, Oklahoma, where the baseball park drew big crowds from Fort Smith on Sunday (at that time, baseball games were banned in Arkansas on Sunday).
The bridge over the Arkansas River to Van Buren was finally completed in 1912, and streetcar service was now available to citizens of that tom. Additionally, passenger movement between these two towns accounted for nearly 40,000 cash fares a month.
By the end of this decade, however, streetcar patronage suffered from the increasingly more automotive-oriented society. The need for a lighter and more efficient streetcar was answered by the Birney Safety Streetcar, which first appeared in Fort Smith in 19 29. It was designed and engineered by Charles O. Birney of the Stone and Webster Engineering Company in 191 6 and featured a single truck trolley moth front and rear wheels supported by a single frame) and a 28-passenger capability. The Birney Safety Streetcar consumed approximately 40% less electricity than the standard trolleys at that time, and provided single operator capability, At 56,000 per car, the Birney Safety Streetcar was also substantially less expensive than the older, heavier trolleys. These cost-saving features allowed the company to lower fares and schedule suns more frequently, thus presenting a competitive and attractive alternative to the automobile.
The Fort Smith Light and Traction Company owned fourteen of these cars, and 224 was from the last batch ordered before the system was abandoned.
Still, operating expenses increased, and the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company imposed a six cent fare in 1920. A year earlier, the Chicago headquarters had ordered the closing of Electric Park, which was subsequently dismantled in 1920. This loss was compounded by the construction of the new baseball park some distance from streetcar service. As fares continued to increase, the management attempted to improve public relations by comparing Fort Smith to other streetcar cities in terms of mileage in relation to population:
Fort Smith - 33 miles of track, 33,000 population
Little Rock - 36 miles of track, 75,000 population
Muskogee, OK - 15 miles of track, 30,000 population
In February of 1923, the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company purchased Byllesby's holdings in the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company. The Oklahoma company controlled the Fort Smith streetcar system until November 15, 1931, when citing heavy financial losses, all streetcar operations ceased.
The restored Birney Safety Streetcar 4 224 is being nominated under Criterion A with statewide significance for its direct association with the streetcar era of public transportation that existed in nine Arkansas cities before World 7Nar TI. Under Criterion C, the trolley is significant not only as the best example of a Birney Safety Streetcar, but as the only operating historic streetcar of any type in Arkansas."