Capital Transit

Company History: CTCo was the result of the 1933 merger of the Washington Railway, Capital Traction, and Washington Rapid Transit – all streetcar lines operating in the greater Washington D.C. area. In 1937, they received their first PCC cars. In less than a decade, they would have 489 PCC cars on the roster. Long standing ordinances prevented trolley wire from spoiling the streets of Washington D.C. so many CTCo cars were equipped with both trolley poles and pickup shoes that collected electricity from a conduit beneath the pavement. The resulting slot in the pavement between the rails made this electric line look more like a cable car line. Capital Transit’s freight business mostly consisted of moving coal from a connection with B&O to a power plant at Benning. Steeple-cabs were used for this service. In 1955, CTCo faced labor demands for higher wages just after having been denied permission by the government to raise rates. The result was a seven week long strike that crippled the company (and traffic in Washington.) The following year, the company was sold and became DC Transit.

Successor/Parent History: DC Transit, the streetcar line serving Washington D.C., was born in 1956 following a devastating 7 week strike against their predecessor Capital Transit. The new company was formed with the goal of converting rail operations to buses as soon as practicable. The last streetcar ran in January of 1962. Overhead trolley wire had been banned within the city since the turn of the 20th Century so DC Transit and its predecessors used underground conduits for power on these lines.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.