Electric Streetcars (1890s to 1950s)
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/0/6/26062495/5052643.jpg?366)
Image Source: Lehmann, 2000
Starting in the 1890s, cars were rapidly converted from horse power to electric power.
While clearly more efficient and powerful, the transition to an electric system put a severe financial strain on the Green Line system. Consequently, it was purchased in 1892 by a group of Cleveland investors and renamed the Covington-Newport-Cincinnati Railway (CNC). With a new influx of capital, the lines expanded further into Kentucky's early suburbs: Ft. Thomas, Latonia, Ludlow, and Southgate (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009).
After another group of local investors bought the company back again, the owners built a new car storage facility and power plant (along the Licking River in Newport) and began to supply their own power for their cars. The company eventually started selling the surplus electricity to nearby residents and businesses. Power sales actually grew to surpass transit revenues and the company was renamed the Union Light Heat and Power Company (ULH&P), which was later sold to the Columbia Gas & Electric Company / CG&E in 1907, though the company still operated the transit service under the Green Line name (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009). The utility / transit company continued to expand its transit lines into Park Hills, Highland Cemetery, Ft Mitchell, etc. (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009).
At its height in 1910, the Green Line transit system operated over two hundred cars and over fifty-eight miles of tracks in Campbell and Kenton counties (shown in the map below) and carried fifteen million passengers annually (Lehmann, 2000).
While clearly more efficient and powerful, the transition to an electric system put a severe financial strain on the Green Line system. Consequently, it was purchased in 1892 by a group of Cleveland investors and renamed the Covington-Newport-Cincinnati Railway (CNC). With a new influx of capital, the lines expanded further into Kentucky's early suburbs: Ft. Thomas, Latonia, Ludlow, and Southgate (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009).
After another group of local investors bought the company back again, the owners built a new car storage facility and power plant (along the Licking River in Newport) and began to supply their own power for their cars. The company eventually started selling the surplus electricity to nearby residents and businesses. Power sales actually grew to surpass transit revenues and the company was renamed the Union Light Heat and Power Company (ULH&P), which was later sold to the Columbia Gas & Electric Company / CG&E in 1907, though the company still operated the transit service under the Green Line name (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009). The utility / transit company continued to expand its transit lines into Park Hills, Highland Cemetery, Ft Mitchell, etc. (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009).
At its height in 1910, the Green Line transit system operated over two hundred cars and over fifty-eight miles of tracks in Campbell and Kenton counties (shown in the map below) and carried fifteen million passengers annually (Lehmann, 2000).
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/0/6/26062495/1396390906.jpg)
According to the US Census, population in the three counties hit 140,000 in 1920, 73% of the population lived in the five 'river cities' of Ludlow, Covington, Newport, Bellevue, and Dayton.
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/0/6/26062495/1396390970.jpg)
the Suspension Bridge (1920)
looking north towards Dixie Terminal
Image Source: Cincinnati-Transit.net
In 1921, the Green Line extended to Cincinnati using the new Dixie Terminal, with access directly from the Roebling Suspension Bridge (thus avoiding congestion on Cincinnati streets), as its hub. Cars would cross the Roebling Bridge, enter into the Dixie Terminal, pick up riders and circle back to Northern Kentucky. The Kenton County cars went into the second floor of Dixie Terminal, in a ramp directly off the suspension bridge, while the Newport cars came into the first floor, off Cincinnati's Third Street (Lehmann, 2000).
By 1929, the Green Line employed over five hundred people and was one of Northern Kentucky's largest employers (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009).
Previous Phase: Horsecar Lines | Next Phase: Transition to Buses
By 1929, the Green Line employed over five hundred people and was one of Northern Kentucky's largest employers (Tenkotte and Claypool 2009).
Previous Phase: Horsecar Lines | Next Phase: Transition to Buses
Images Source: NKYviews.com