FCMR History: The Birneys Arrive

After trying a gasoline bus and a railcar in 1918 with little success, the City realized that it could not function without reliable public transportation. In January 1919, the CIty asked citizens weither they should purchase the system and pay $100,000 to revitalize it. The vote was 8:1 in favor of keeping the system! As it turned out, Fort Collins would continue to be the smallest city in the USA to operate a regularly scheduled streetcar service.

The City quickly acquired the streetcar line from the D&I and began upgrading it. Four new single-truck Birney Safety Cars were ordered from the American Car Company in St. Louis, MO. Much of the line to Lindenmeier Lake was removed, the rail and materials used to extend the Mountain Ave. line down Roosevelt Ave, through the City Park, and back to Mountain Ave. at the bridge over an irrigation ditch. The loop at the west end of Mountain Ave. at the cemetery entrance was removed, as was the loop near the high school at the south end of town. The City also replaced the inefficent 700 VDC generator set with new motor-generators delivering 600 VDC.

The new Birney Safety Cars were equivalent of what we now call "light rail." The new cars cost the City $6,200 each and were numbered 20 through 23. After arriving first in May 1919, car 21 was used to test the updated system. Shortly after, service was resumed on the three lines on a 20-minute headway. Car 25 and others are shown above meeting downtown at the Mountain & College wye. This operation continued daily from 6 AM through midnight until halted in 1951.

Between 1920 and 1946, Fort Collins purchased five more single-truck Birneys to supplement the original four. Car 24 came new from Cincinnati, but was retired shortly after arrival. Cars 25 and 26 arrived from Cheyenne, WY in 1924. Replacements for cars 24 and 25 arrived from Richmond, VA in 1946. For more about second car 25, see Bring Back Car 25!

Fort Collins operated its small but quality system continuously until May 1951. By then, private autos had replaced the need for a public system in our small town and the City had grown far beyond the reach of its 6.2-mile line. The cars were also in need of expensive upgrading. After running the system in the red for four years, the end came on June 30, 1951. Car 22 was the last to run over the line.

The fare from 1919 through 1951 remained 5 cents. For a nickel, a rider could travel the entire system on the same car as long as desired. Every summer we talk to riders who rode the Birneys as kids, either to get to and from the high school on Pitkin St. or when their parents would visit the City. Visitors would put their kids on the streetcars while they visited friends or shopped. The City provided cheap day care that the kids remember fondly.

Although thousands of Birneys were built for cities around the world from 1917 through 1923, Fort Collins operated the last regularly scheduled single-truck Birneys in the USA. Most of the tracks were quickly paved over or torn up by 1952, and the cars were soon scattered across the country. Car 21, the first of the original Birneys to operate, was kept and put on display. For 27 years it sat on a short piece ot track next to the library (now the Pioneer Museum), slowly giving in to the elements. Most of the other cars faired better, as listed on our Equipment Roster.

Next: The FCMR is Back!