Galveston–Houston Electric Railway Company (G&HE)

[woolie]

The Houston street car book has route maps, but I wasn't able to find a copy at Brazos. I haven't tried the library yet. I can buy a copy directly from the author but it's a bit pricey.

Does anyone have a map of the original routes?

Galveston-Houston Electric Railway Co. Electric Interurban Railway Streetcar Map from the Stone & Webster Management Association, 1922, and 1923.

[nmainguy]

Check out the Julia Ideson. There are maps galore.

[gonzo1976]

Try this map from 1913. It's a bit hard to read, but if you check out the Street Car Guide listing under the street index, you can follow the routes drawn on the map.

[Vertigo58]

The Houston street car book has route maps, but I wasn't able to find a copy at Brazos. I haven't tried the library yet. I can buy a copy directly from the author but it's a bit pricey.

Does anyone have a map of the original routes?

Glad you brought this up. I was told of a book called Electric Houston which supposedly focuses on history

of our 1st street cars. So far I have had no luck finding it. As I mentioned in another thread there is a cool book titled Historic Photos of Houston which have great shots of ribbon cuttings, etc.

[gonzo1976]

Glad you brought this up. I was told of a book called Electric Houston which supposedly focuses on history

of our 1st street cars. So far I have had no luck finding it. As I mentioned in another thread there is a cool book titled Historic Photos of Houston which have great shots of ribbon cuttings, etc.

I think Houston Electric can only be purchased from the author at his Web site. I've never seen it for sale at any of the major bookstores.

Edited April 26, 2007 by gonzo1976

[Vertigo58]

I think Houston Electric can only be purchased from the author at his Web site. I've never seen it for sale at any of the major bookstores.

Fantastic! See if it wasn't for haif or Gonzo this wouldnt have been possible! Thanks!

ps I wonder if the Gonzo is in reference to Ted Nugent's Double-Gonzo album 1978-ish? yes/no/maybe!?

[woolie]

Thanks everyone. I'll probably end up buying a copy of the book as well. I haven't been to the Houston Room in a while... sounds like a trip might be in order.

[Hunter]

I think Houston Electric can only be purchased from the author at his Web site. I've never seen it for sale at any of the major bookstores.

I have a copy of that book in my libary at home!

[yak23flora]

I have a copy of that book in my libary at home!

Me too, it is an excellent look at Houston in the rail era, magnificent pictures and so much detail that any local history buff can hardly do without this gem.

[Subdude]

I think Houston Electric can only be purchased from the author at his Web site. I've never seen it for sale at any of the major bookstores.

The best place to look for books on local topics is Brazos Bookstore on Bissonnet. You might also want to try a couple used book sites. I've found books like this at Powells from Portland before.

[yuan1274]

My dad passed away last year and he left me some old photographs. One of them was of an old electric railcar in a big city. I don't know where it is. Would someone out there know if it was one on the Houston-Galveston Electric Railway which operated from 1911-1936?

[IronTiger]

I don't think so. Although I can't confirm, it looks more like the original Houston streetcar trolleys. The interurban ran on its right-of-way, I read (this is taken up by high-voltage power lines nowadays). There's some pictures by Boris somewhere on HAIF with pictures of the backfilled tunnels, but I haven't been able to find them.

[IronTiger]

Just re-checked, and no, it isn't it. The windows of the interurban were arched, except in the back.

[NenaE]

http://blogs.chron.c...etcar_co_1.html

here's a link to J.R.'s Bayou City History, with info. and pics of Houston streetcars. See the photo gallery.

Some cars really took a beating.

I agree, that photo in post 1 looks like a regular streetcar...not the interurban. It's nice, thanks for sharing.

http://blogs.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2009/02/

interurban car

Edited March 28, 2011 by NenaE

[yuan1274]

I remember Tommie Vaughn Ford, but not Luke Johnson Ford. Does anyone else remember it? Where was it located?

Edited March 22, 2012 by yuan1274

[Dagnabbit]

I remember Tommie Vaughn Ford, but not Luke Johnson Ford. Does anyone else remember it? Where was it located?

Strange.....that you included this post on a thread about a Houston-Galveston Electric Railway or that its nearly a year to the day that you started this thread....

Anyway, to answer your question. Luke Johnson Ford was on the SW Frwy,nothbound between Hillcroft and the Westpark curve.It was later known as Westway Ford and is currently Sterling McCall Ford.

[ernie5823]

Luke Johnson Ford was "originally" (in the early 60s) on Broadway - about where it intersects Harrisburg, IIRC. Even further back, into the 50s, I think that building was Jack Roach Ford.

[yuan1274]

I don't log on as much as I used to. Speaking of car dealers, my first car was a 1963 Rambler American. Here's a Rambler dealership in Houston that I never knew anything about:

[Slick Vik]

Houston Galveston railway was an incredible feat of engineering considering when it was built. It's incredible we still have no such rail at this time. Just goes to show the power of lobbying.

[flyingman]

Glad to find this post. Just purchased the book! I can't believe we went backwards on this over the years. Glad to see us SLOWLY stepping forward again. Can you imagine how rich the city would be to have been able to revitalize along the same routes and stations?

[gregpet]

Check out this link:

http://www.cg-publishing.com/railroads.jpg

I lived in Uptown Dallas for a while and loved the McKinney street line. I was told that the reason that they were able to bring the McKinney line back was the discovery that the original tracks were still under the asphalt.

Looking at the streetcar Map, I wonder if the tracks are still under Washington Ave? Has anyone heard if this has ever been checked? I wonder who would know?

Greg

[SpaceGhost]

Check out this link:

http://www.cg-publishing.com/railroads.jpg

I lived in Uptown Dallas for a while and loved the McKinney street line. I was told that the reason that they were able to bring the McKinney line back was the discovery that the original tracks were still under the asphalt.

Looking at the streetcar Map, I wonder if the tracks are still under Washington Ave? Has anyone heard if this has ever been checked? I wonder who would know?

Greg

 

It's likely that the tracks were torn out many years ago. The most likely explanation is that the tracks were torn out during either the beginning of the Great Depression for the scrap value, or during the start of WW2 to help the war effort. It's most likely that it was a combination of the two. It's possible that some small sections of track still exist, but highly unlikely.

[IronTiger]

There was another post where until the 1980s, many of the downtown-area roads were just layers of asphalt on top of brick, oyster shell, and dirt, and they were torn out and totally rebuilt.

Some of this did include streetcar tracks, apparently.

[mollusk]

There was another post where until the 1980s, many of the downtown-area roads were just layers of asphalt on top of brick, oyster shell, and dirt, and they were torn out and totally rebuilt.

Some of this did include streetcar tracks, apparently.

 

Yep - though the rebuild began in the very late 1990s.

 

IIRC, the previous major downtown street project was just after WWII; part of it was to remove the streetcar tracks.

 

They didn't.  Surprise.

 

As a result, and along with a number of other surprises (like the giant concrete foundation under Main at McKinney) the rebuild ended up taking a lot longer than originally projected.

[gregpet]

It's likely that the tracks were torn out many years ago. The most likely explanation is that the tracks were torn out during either the beginning of the Great Depression for the scrap value, or during the start of WW2 to help the war effort. It's most likely that it was a combination of the two. It's possible that some small sections of track still exist, but highly unlikely.

Don't disagree that it is highly unlikely that the rail has stayed in place but interesting that the rails were left up in Dallas. Also, I wouldn't expect the downtown rail to be there but Washington Ave hasn't seen nearly as much attention as the downtown streets (not unlike McKinney in Dallas).

A Washington Ave trolley would be a perfect compliment to what's going on in the area and maybe eventually extend to Montrose and Midtown (I can dream!)

[9075]

A few years ago, when N. Main St was being rebuilt through Sunset Heights, I remember seeing the work crew excavate some of the old railroad ties from the streetcar line.  The rails themselves had been removed in the early 1940s, and probably melted down as scrap for the war effort.

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

there are still some streetcar tracks on Walker St in front of the soccer stadium

[kylejack]

there are still some streetcar tracks on Walker St in front of the soccer stadium

 

Nah, that's the old Texas Limited tracks. It was a passenger train that went from Houston to Galveston until 1996.

Here's a pic from 1991 by the Maxwell coffee plant. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=34204&nseq=4

Edited October 19, 2015 by kylejack

[Hunter]

There was another post where until the 1980s, many of the downtown-area roads were just layers of asphalt on top of brick, oyster shell, and dirt, and they were torn out and totally rebuilt.

Some of this did include streetcar tracks, apparently.

 

Some of the tracks are still in place. When the temps are just right you can see them here and there on the old right of ways. But the majority of the tracks have all been torn up. Now many of the right of ways are still in place and some are even hiking and biking trails now. It is fun to walk them. Just be careful a few of the trails go through some pretty rough areas. 

 

I have always wondered why the new Metro rail line did not just follow the old Street car right of ways. Woudl have been so much easier and caused a lot less problems. 

[IWantTransit555]

The Galveston Houston Electric Railway was an electric railway line opened in 1911 that ran from downtown Houston to downtown Galveston. It operated between 1911 and 1936. A few weeks ago I decided to make a map of it out of interest and curiosity from hearing about the Interurban on this site and other Houston discussions. Here is the complete map of the line, with more details and information than the other 2 or three maps others have made. Link to the map. Here are the sources I used (and other information about the line you might want to see) : Historic Quadrangles (1 2), Timetables (1) and general information (1 2) from their own magazine (1 2 3) (an interesting read of it's own), Bridge Hunter (Check the causeway bridge more more good photos) (1), Wikipedia (1), Houston Streetcar History Pages (1 2), The GS tram site (1), and some other pictures from Google that I don't remember.