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Winfield Streetcars
Subject: Streetcars in Winfield
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:27:47 -0700
From: Ralph Decker
After sending you the question about William Newton Memorial Hospital I noticed that much of your material is on railroads in and around Winfield. The railroads are a major interest of mine. I grew up in Boston which had streetcars, subways, and commuter trains pulled by steam locomotives. It was all quite fascinating to a four-year-old. Additionally, all my Dad's family worked for the Erie Lackawanna.
However, here is an article I wrote on the Winfield streetcars for inclusion in a history book about Cowley County. It may be of interest to you.
The trolley car once played an important role in Cowley County transportation. Dubbed the "Kling Klang Kars" by the "Winfield Daily Courier," service was provided on city lines in Winfield and Arkansas City as well as on the interurban route between the two cities.
The first city service in Winfield was provided by mule cars. On August 4, 1886, a charter was issued to The Union Street Railway with service beginning later that year. The president of the company was William Mathewson of Wichita, W. J. Kennedy served as secretary, and C. Ferguson served as general manager. In 1893 S. E. Compton and Associates leased the line and in 1897 purchased controlling interest. By 1900 the system included ten miles of track and ran six cars. Southwestern College, St. John's College, the four railroad depots, Island Park, and the fairgrounds were all stops on the mule car system.
May 1909 saw the end of the mule car service in Winfield. D. H. Siggins and Associates of Warren, Pennsylvania, had obtained a charter for the Southwestern Interurban Railway Company to provide electrically powered service between Winfield and Arkansas City as well as city service in each town. On May 7 the last mule car made the last trip to College Hill and on May 17 the last trip was made on Main Street.
The original officers of the Southwestern Interurban Railway Company were: D. H. Siggins, president; E. Kirkpatrick (Arkansas City furniture dealer) secretary; and W. H. Somermeir (Winfield druggist), treasurer and general manager. The new company immediately began replacing the narrow-gauge mule-car tracks in Winfield with wider, standard gauge tracks for the new city cars and the interurbans. The mule car tracks on the Summit Street line in Arkansas City were already standard gauge and ready for immediate use once the trolley wire was strung over them.
The new company's main concern was the establishment of the fourteen-mile interurban line between Arkansas City and Winfield. To provide power for the line a power plant with a steam generator was built at Hackney, the mid-point on the line. Also constructed here were a passing track and a repair shed. The first run was from Hackney to Arkansas City on June 14, 1909. On June 17 service was extended to the edge of Winfield where a steel bridge allowed the cars to cross the Walnut River. On July 3, with the re-gauging of the track in Winfield completed, interurban service was extended into town and the Winfield city cars began running.
Three streetcars operated on the city lines in Winfield and one in Arkansas City. These city cars had a single truck and a single trolley which was reversed at the end of the line. The cars were about twenty-five feet long and seated thirty passengers. A motorman and a conductor manned each car. Originally these cars had hand brakes operated by the motorman, but later a conversion was made to air brakes.
In Arkansas City the city line was on Summit Street running north from downtown to the municipal golf course. In Winfield there were three lines. Cars ran from the fairgrounds east on Ninth Avenue to College Street and then north to Southwestern College. It was also possible to go from Island Park south on Main to Fourteenth Avenue and then west to the Santa Fe station or on to Sixteenth Avenue and east into the residential area. Service was provided on half-hour schedules with the fare being a nickel.
The cars used in interurban service were larger and heavier. Of double-truck construction, these wooden cars were somewhat over forty feet in length and seated approximately seventy riders. The cars had air brakes and a trolley at each end. The original interurban cars were replaced by more luxurious cars in 1922. These later cars had leather seats and separate compartments for smokers and baggage. There was also a freight trolley to accommodate the needs of shippers along the route. This car was built on a single truck and similar in size to the city passenger cars.
Interurban service began in Winfield at Ninth Avenue and Main Street and went west on Ninth. Stops on the run to Arkansas City were Manning Street, Menor Street, Mansfield Street, Stewart Street, Lowry Street, the Fairgrounds, West Riverside, Winfield Country Club, Crane's Crossing, Sub-Station, Snyder's Crossing, North Hackney, Hackney Power Plant, United Brethren Church, Gillis Crossing, Anderson's Crossing, High Bridge, Thurston's Heights, Gueda Springs Crossing, Walker, Spring Hill, Wiley's, Sheperd's, Municipal Golf Course, White Star Dairy, Kansas Avenue, Linden Avenue, Cypress Avenue, Sycamore Avenue, Pine Avenue, Birch Avenue, Maple Avenue, Cedar Avenue, Vine Avenue, Spruce Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, Central Avenue, and Fifth Street.
Originally there was hourly service from each town from 6:00 a.m. until midnight with the run taking about forty-five minutes. In later years only one car was used leaving Arkansas City on the even-numbered hours and Winfield on the odd. Those passengers traveling the entire route paid a quarter while lower fares were charged for rides to intermediate points.
The "Courier" provides glowing reports of plans to extend the Winfield city line to the State Hospital and the interurban to Gueda Springs, Ponca City, Burden, Dexter, and Wichita. Connections in Wichita were supposed to allow through service to Larned over the Arkansas Valley Interurban and the Hutchinson and Western. However, no extensions were ever built. In fact, in 1919 service was discontinued on the Main Street and Sixteenth Avenue lines in Winfield. By the mid '20s service was also discontinued in Arkansas City.
In 1922 George Theis purchased The Southwestern Interurban in hopes of merging it with his other properties. The name was changed to The Arkansas City and Winfield Northern and reconstruction of the track and other improvements were undertaken. Despite new people and new ideas the last trip was made on the College Hill line on May 24, 1926. Then when Theis was killed in an airplane accident the interurban was abandoned, the last run being made June 8, 1927. A city bus took the place of the College Hill trolley and Southern Kansas Stage Lines, a bus company, provided service between Winfield and Arkansas City.
So now you know why there are those concrete stripes between the bricks on Sixteenth Avenue. Close your eyes and imagine those trolleys you have seen in New Orleans, Boston, or San Francisco carrying loads of passengers from the Santa Fe station on Fourteenth Avenue to the Chautauqua in Island Park. Want to know more? Find a copy of the book Trolley Through the Countryside by Allison Chandler. Pages 249 through 265 are the most complete account of the Southwestern Interurban available and pictures are included!
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Ralph W. Decker, Jr.
Coordinator of Donor Records
Southwestern College
100 College St
Winfield KS 67156-2499
