Many of us don’t remember Cincinnati’s old streetcars.

The streetcar (above) shown turning onto 5th street was taken in the 1940.’s   Look closely at the left-hand side of the picture -when the Tyler Davidson Fountain was once located close to the corner. There was a time that Cincinnati relied heavily on streetcars to get around although the latest version of Cincinnati’s streetcars seems doomed for mothballs.

Long ago the city had a streetcar system that ran over 200 miles and carried 100 million passengers a year at its peak.  The underpowered streetcar system was supported by the Inclines which had enough power to get up (and then down) the hills that surround Cincinnati.  Sadly the only remnants of the Incline are some stone piers and steps.

The neat part about streetcars is the fixed track.

Whimsical politicians and wealthy donors cannot move the location from one to street to another without considerable expense and public scrutiny.  Maybe it a throwback to simple times but it would be nice to see the latest version of mass transit fully functional.

Interested in Cincinnati Streetcar history – more neat pictures and information:  Cincinnati Traction History