Fort Collins Municipal Railway - History of Original System

History of Original System

Electric streetcar service in Fort Collins began operating on December 29, 1907. The first local street railway service had actually begun on August 8, 1907, temporarily using a steam locomotive borrowed from the Colorado and Southern Railway, hauling four elderly passenger coaches, on a newly constructed single-track line along Mountain Avenue. True electric trolley/streetcar service was inaugurated with the formal dedication of the new street railway system, on December 29 of the same year. Its owner and operator was the Denver and Interurban Railroad (D&I), a subsidiary of Colorado & Southern Railway. Fort Collins was reportedly one of the smallest cities in the United States to operate streetcars. The system struggled financially, its light ridership making it no longer economically viable as a private venture, and not long after D&I itself went into receivership it abruptly ceased operation of its Fort Collins trolley system, on the night of July 10, 1918. This left the town without any public transportation service at all, and it was proposed that the city purchase the system and restore service. This was approved by the city council and, in January 1919, in a vote by the citizens, and the Fort Collins Municipal Railway (FCMR) was formed. Rolling stock was not part of the deal, so four new Birney-type streetcars were purchased from the American Car Company, numbered 20–23, arriving on May 24, 1919. Within one to two weeks of that date, streetcar service in Fort Collins had been restored. A fifth Birney car, No. 24, was purchased in 1920 from the Cincinnati Car Company, and in 1924 two secondhand Birneys (built in 1922 by American Car) were acquired from the Cheyenne Electric Railway Company, becoming Fort Collins cars 25–26. In the mid-1940s, cars 24 and 25 were replaced by two other Birneys, bought used from the Virginia Electric Power Company. The system operated three routes and ran on a 20-minute schedule. During its period of municipal ownership, 1919–1951, Birney-type cars made up the entire fleet, with a total of just five to seven cars (numbered in the range 20–26) on the active roster at any time. It was the last all-Birney streetcar system in North America.

By the end of service in 1951, the Fort Collins Municipal Railway was the last streetcar system in the United States to be using any Birney cars, and had among the lowest fare (5 cents) of any public transport system in the nation.

Operation came to an end on June 30, 1951, after several unprofitable years. Fort Collins was the last city in Colorado to operate streetcars. Other streetcar systems in the state included the service in Pueblo, which ended in 1948, and the Denver Tramway, which terminated streetcar service in 1950.

At least five of the seven cars were preserved after the closure by individuals or groups. Car 21 was the only one to remain in Fort Collins, where it was placed on display outside the Pioneer Museum, predecessor of the Fort Collins Museum.