Columbia Railway

The Columbia originally ran one-man one horse cars called "bobtails" but these were so unpopular that they led to a rider's strike.

In 1890, companies were authorized to sell stock to pay for the upgrades, provided they did not involve overhead wires.

[4] The Columbia won permission in 1898 to build a line east along Benning Road NE.

Since this route was outside the city as defined at the time, overhead wires could be used to provide electric power.

One branch ran to Kenilworth, and the other connected at Seat Pleasant with the terminus of the steam-powered Chesapeake Beach Railway.

But the holding company had borrowed too heavily and paid too much for the subsidiaries and was quickly in financial trouble.

Columbia Railway Company Car Barns aka Trinidad Cable Car Barns, Fifteenth Street NE & Benning Road NE. The barn was built in 1895, converted to electric power in 1899 and to a bus barn in 1942. In 1971 it was demolished.
Map of the Washington, D.C. Streetcar System at the end of the Horse Car era in 1888