Dear all,

I'm interested in the Charleston, West Virginia, urban streetcar system, but can't find anything online. I know some facts about the two interurban lines running out of Charleston from the obligatory literature (and there is a thread about it in this forum, I know), but nothing about the streetcar network itself. I'm especially interested in maps or other info in which streets the tracks laid and when the lines were opened and such, but any info is welcome, of course. I would be very grateful, if someone can point me to published and available literature about it (or any websites I didn't find). Of course, if anyone has a timetable of the streetcars lying around in their commode and feels like scanning it, I would be totally happy.

Do you have (or have access to) the 1924 McGraw Electric Railway Directory? It will at least give a "snapshot" of what they had 90 years ago.

Hi, thank you! Not yet, but I'll get myself a copy. There is a reprint of 1970, I think.

I want to write up a summary of the history of that streetcar system (will be in German, but available online, of course, like the others I wrote), but going to local libraries or archives is obviously not possible.

Many years ago, I had been told the C&O bridge, connecting South Charleston with Charleston WV had been engineered as a "streetcar" bridge. I have never found any evidence, however, to support the assertion.

This structure included two through-trusses over the navigable channel of the Kanawha River, the southernmost of which failed (floor beam hanger at the top chord of the truss) under a C&O movement that was moving "north" to deliver interchange to CR. By some miracle, the span did not collapse, though the truss was significantly deformed and the rails on the south end were approximately 12" out of cross-level at the failed hanger!

The C&O crew cut away with the head portion and the rear portion was pulled back into South Charleston. Two loaded cars of stone straddled the most severely damaged portion.

When some temporary reinforcement was completed, CR c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y pulled the two cars off the bridge, toward the north.

I wonder: were the origins of that structure as a part of Charleston's streetcar system true, or was that just another made-up legend?

Here's a picture of a couple of Charleston streetcars from Dave's Electric Railroads.
http://davesrailpix.com/odds/wv/htm/chstn01.htm

Hm... http://bridgestunnels.com/bridges/west- ... on-bridge/ does not say anything like that, but has at least nice pictures of the bridge.

BUT: The Poor's Manual of Railroads 1911 (p. 420) says: