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History of Clayton Streetcars

Source: 'Streets and Streetcars of St. Louis' (book);
Mark D. Goldfeder's permission; Internet search; Personal stories
TIP: To view in full screen, click on interactive image below.


TIP: Click on arrow below to view slideshow.




PERSONAL STORY:
The 04...By Ed Murphy, Clayton High School Class of 1943. (This article appeared in the Winter 2002 issue of the [now defunct] CHS alumni bulletin. Ed passed away 8/19/2004 at age 78.)

"March 12, 1949 was a sad day for Clayton old-timers. This was the last day the 04 ran. For over 50 years, the 04 trolley (aka streetcar) had been an exciting means of local travel for many St. Louis and Clayton citizens. But, buses were faster, and the two-car family, spawned by the post-WWII prosperity, lessened the need for affluent Claytonians to depend upon public transportation. Since trolleys ran on tracks that often resided in the middle of a busy street, they were also a source of traffic tie ups. While there were divided factions on whether to continue the “04,” It was reported to have been losing over $70,000 per year and would require a $500,000 facelift.

It was time.

Trolleys were powered by electricity. They obtained electricity via an arm that extended from the top of the trolley to rest on a bare overhead wire that was strung above the track. These wires on occasion came down during storms. It was also scary to see the arm connection spark during the rain. The 04 was a bit shorter and not as tall as today’s bus. A ten cent ride could take you a long way: The west bound route of the Clayton 04 started at the intersection of Skinker and what is now Millbrook, the northeast corner of the Washington University campus. At that point it could accept transferring passengers from the University streetcar line which ran along what is now Millbrook and along the northern boundary of Washington U. From that point, the Clayton 04 went south along Skinker to the intersection with Wydown. There were two tracks in the middle of Skinker, and at that point the Clayton 04 shared the tracks with the Demun streetcar line. Both tracks turned west at Wydown and headed west in the parkway now in the middle of Wydown.

At Demun Avenue, the Demun line parted company with the Clayton 04 and headed south in a parkway in the middle of Demun Avenue to Clayton Road, where it wound around the east and south side of St. Mary's hospital and on south into Maplewood. The Clayton 04 continued west and had Wydown all to itself from then on.

It passed Wydown School, Fontbonne, the entrances to all the fancy subdivisions, and eventually arrived at Hanley Road. Glaser Drugs was on the northeast corner, a Standard Oil gas station on the northwest corner, a Socony (later Mobil) station on the southeast corner and a residence fronting Polo Drive on the Southwest corner (Starbucks is now in the Glaser location, a hair salon is in the Standard location, and a parking lot is in the Socony location.)

The Clayton 04 tracks then proceeded west on a private right of way along the northern boundary of the Polo Drive subdivision just to the south of the Standard Station in sort of an "S" curve layout bending to the north and crossed what was a southern extension of Bemiston Avenue that ran into an entrance to Polo Drive. This southern extension of Bemiston was where there is now an access bridge to Millbrook going east. The way from Bemiston into Shirley and Polo drives is now blocked to automobile traffic but open to pedestrians.

The Clayton 04 continued one block west (on the south side of what is now the westward extension of Millbrook, which itself is built on the old right of way of the Rock Island railroad) to a point which would been a southward extension of Central Avenue and near the northeast corner of the Meramec School property. At that point, the 04 met a double set of north-south tracks on which the Kirkwood streetcar ran. Shortly to the north, there was a steel streetcar bridge carrying the two street car tracks over the Rock Island railroad tracks. (Now at that place there is an exit ramp and highway bridge for eastbound traffic on the Inner Belt into the Clayton business district.)

The 04 turned right, or north, crossed the old bridge and headed north down the middle of Central Avenue until it reached Forsyth. It then turned left or west, went in front of the old county courthouse, crossed Meramec and what is now Brentwood, and then headed in a southwesterly direction on its own right of way along the west side of what is now Shaw Park. At this juncture, it became a one track route. The right of way essentially went behind Shaw Park on what is now call Parkside Drive which is just before the Bank of America satellite. From here on out, it drove through wooded and essentially undeveloped areas.

It continued just to the east of what was later the old Clayton Community Center, crossed over what was then the Rock Island Railroad Line track on a short timber bridge, came within a stones throw of the old County Hospital (where Enterprise Leasing headquarters now resides on Brentwood), and then headed west on a line that would take it across McKnight Road at the southern boundary of the Dromera Road subdivision. At this point it was following a small creek (called Black Creek) at the bottom of a valley which runs east and west parallel to and a short distance north of Clayton Road.

The 04 continued west through the woods to Price Road, passing the campus of Community School and John Burroughs School on the south side. It continued west and eventually reached the end of the line with a return-loop just east of where the Ladue City Hall is now located on the north side of Clayton Road. It then retraced its way back to Skinker. How did it turn around and go south at Skinker after completing its northerly route? It didn’t! At the end of the line at Skinker, the 04 conductor would take his change maker to the other end, flip all the seats to face the other direction, get out of the 04 and disengage the electric contact arm, and in lieu, engage the an arm at the other end of the trolley. The trolley was bi-directional. It then went the other direction and crossed over to the southbound track through a track connection. I would have forgotten the 04 long ago, but every once in awhile, a hard winter will chew up Clayton downtown streets, and a track will peak out of the asphalt to remind me of its splendor and slower and simpler times."


PERSONAL STORY:
By J. Charles Binder (posted online 12/28/2005 on usgennet.org website)

"I too have fond memories of streetcars in St. Louis. By the time most of the lines were retired in the sixties they were running sleek modern cars. But, as a toddler in the forties I remember the older cars too that still ran at the same time as the modern cars. Along side a pre-school I attended in Clayton, somewhere between Hanley and Brentwood and south of Forsyth (it was called Mrs. Goldstein’s Nursery School), the old boxy car reached the end of its line (might have been the University-Clayton line). The operator would get out and lower the trolley boom in the back and raise the one in the front and get back on and operate the car from the other end, thereby making the front the back and the back the front. No turn-around loop was required but he might have had to use a crowbar to move the track slightly to redirect the car to the parallel track on the other side of the street. Even in the sixties streetcars at the Delmar loop had to have the operator get out and use a crowbar to select one or the other of the two parallel westbound tracks on Enright. There was enough streetcar traffic at the loop that two tracks were required for all the arriving cars to lay over and queue up for their return trips to wherever they came from, downtown or to Creve Coeur. I remember where the cars went to bed, the big old car barn near the intersection of Hodiamont and Skinker. Going to Wellston on the Hodiamont line was always an adventure. My father had a business in Wellston and my mother took me as far as the Wellston loop, a very busy place. In those days Wellston was full of beggars. I suppose today they would be called street musicians. The sidewalks were crammed with shoppers and with the street people it was even harder to get around. Most of them played country music on their guitars or accordions."