Streetcars in Kansas City

[4] Kansas City joined all but five North American metropolises – Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans – in replacing all streetcar networks with buses.

In 1875, the Corrigan Consolidated Street Railway Company held a municipal monopoly on streetcars, all mule-drawn, and wanted a new 30-year city contract against competition.

William Rockhill Nelson, publisher of the newly founded Kansas City Star, considered Corrigan corrupt and favored an upgrade from mules to cable car infrastructure.

Famed Kansas City developer J. C. Nichols constructed streetcar lines to serve the new communities he built.

First is an extension south along Main Street to connect with the Country Club Plaza and UMKC's campus.

When the city closed its streetcar service, it was sold to the Toronto Transit Commission in 1957 and became TTC 4762.

In 1973, the streetcar was sold to the San Francisco Municipal Railway, renumbered as Muni 1190 and ran as a tourist attraction.

In 2006, KC Regional Transit Alliance purchased the streetcar, restored it as KCPS 551 and put it on static display at Union Station.

The Kansas City streetcar map peaked at 25 routes, but the last 20th century route was closed in 1957.
Prior to 1908, streetcars on some routes were propelled by grasping underground cables. [ 1 ]
PCC #551 was on static display at Kansas City Union Station .