McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
Encyclopedia
The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MATA), a non-profit organization, operates the M-line Streetcar line in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 (USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

). The offices and car barn are located at 3153 Oak Grove, Dallas, TX 75204. It is an example of a heritage streetcar
Heritage streetcar
Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...

 running historic cars. The main stretch of the M-line runs down McKinney Avenue in Uptown.

The M-line Streetcar is free to the public, thanks to a joint operating subsidy received from Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
The Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority is a transit agency based in Dallas, Texas . It operates buses, light rail, commuter rail, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Dallas and 12 of its suburbs...

 (DART) and the Uptown Improvement District. DART designates the streetcar as route 825 at transit stops.

The M-line Streetcar connects with the DART light rail station at Cityplace Station
Cityplace Station
Cityplace is a DART Light Rail station located in the Cityplace district of Oak Lawn Dallas, Texas beneath North Central Expressway at Haskell Avenue...

 on the Red
Red Line (Dallas Area Rapid Transit)
The Red Line is a light rail line in the system of mass transit in Dallas, Texas operated by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system. Along with the , it is one of the original modern rail lines in Dallas....

 and Blue
Blue Line (Dallas Area Rapid Transit)
The Blue Line is a light rail line in the system of mass transit in Dallas, Texas , operated by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system. Along with the , it is one of the original modern rail lines in Dallas....

 lines. The downtown end of the line currently terminates at the corner of Ross and St. Paul near the Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...

, but there are plans to extend the M-line further into downtown.

History

Metropolitan Dallas had numerous streetcar lines from the late 19th century through 1930s. Previous to MATA, the last streetcar ran in Dallas during the mid-50's. Numerous maps of the old trolley routes are available online.
During the 80's, there was a movement to restore streetcar service in Dallas's Uptown neighborhood after some of the original rails were uncovered on McKinney Avenue. New rails were first laid in September 1988 near Hall Street. The initial infrastructure would be in place in the summer of 1989. On July 22, 1989 Dallas saw a return of the streetcar as Car 122 broke a celebratory banner.

In 1995, the agency had to fix subsidence in Cole Avenue causing a dip in the tracks between Hall and Bowen Streets. About 200 feet of track was replaced.

By the late 1990s, it became apparent that the 110 year old brick pavement on McKinney Avenue could no longer support modern day car, truck and bus traffic. Repairs began in July 1999 and were completed in December 2000. The street was repaved with concrete brick and most of the old brick was saved for sidewalks and other amenities. Work was done on one lane of the street at a time. Many times the streetcars were rerouted, sometimes with a shoofly. For several months the north loop was inaccessible due to utility work at Allen and McKinney.

The first expansion of the system opened in 2002. Both DART and MATA desired the streetcar to meet up with DART's Cityplace subway station a few blocks from the route. The first new track for the Cityplace extension was laid on Cole Avenue south of Blackburn in June 2001. In the summer of 2002 while the tracks were being laid, construction crews unearthed history as old center-of-the-street rail from Dallas Railway and Terminal tracks were discovered. On April 13, 2002, the extension was opened for the public. It is now possible to ride the DART LRT system and get off at Cityplace station and board the streetcar to Uptown.

Expansion

The City of Dallas and MATA have expressed a desire for further expansion of the current streetcar system. The current southern terminus ends in Downtown Dallas at Saint Paul Street and Ross Avenue. The plan is for a line to split off from the current line at McKinney and Olive Streets and travel down Olive to the light rail transit mall downtown near Pearl Station. The agency will also have a new car barn built at the northwest corner of Olive and San Jacinto streets.

The federal government has given MATA 3.5 million for their mile expansion into downtown's Arts District
Arts District, Dallas
The Arts District is a performing and visual arts district in downtown Dallas Texas .It is south of State Thomas, southeast of Uptown, north of the City Center District, west of Bryan Place and east of the West End Historic District. It is bounded by St...

. The total cost of the expansion is approximately 6.8 million dollars.

Part of the money needed for the expansion was put to voters in the form of a bond. On November 7, 2006, the voters of Dallas approved Proposition One, which asked voters if they would like to approve "The Issuance of $390,420,000 general obligation bonds for street and transportation improvements." The bond was approved 87.4% to 12.6%. Engineering for the project is currently in progress with construction planned for 2010.

On Thursday, July 8, 2010, it was announced that the Federal government would grant an additional $5 million for the M-Line streetcar project, specifically to help complete the downtown loop for the McKinney Avenue trolley line, and the line will be able to run faster, more modern cars and penetrate deeper into downtown
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...

.

Building on the previously funded work (set to begin later in 2010), the newly funded addition will now allow the streetcars to carry passengers from far north Uptown
Uptown Dallas
Uptown is a PID and neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Uptown is adjacent-to and north-of downtown Dallas, and is bordered by US 75 on the east, N Haskell Avenue on the northeast, Katy Trail on the northwest, Bookhout Street and Cedar Springs Road on the west, N Akard Street on the southwest and Spur...

 down McKinney Avenue to Olive Street and then across the new Woodall Rodgers Deck Park
Woodall Rodgers Park
The Park, also known as Woodall Rodgers Park, is a public park being constructed in downtown Dallas, Texas, USA. Utility construction began in January 2009 with a ground-making ceremony held on September 14, 2009. The park is expected to open in the fall of 2012.The Park will create an urban green...

. It will loop around the downtown Dallas Arts District, then travel up St. Paul Street back toward McKinney Avenue.
The funds come just months after the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Dallas $23 million for a new downtown streetcar line between Union Station and Methodist Hospital, which has been the goal of the Oak Cliff Transit Authority.

Currently in service

122 - Crescent Rose or Rosie

122 was built to a standard American design by the J. G. Brill and Company of Philadelphia in 1909 for export to Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. Rosie is similar to early streetcars that once operated in Dallas. 122 was retired from service in Porto in 1978. 122 only needed minor work to bring it into service on MATA's opening day. However, in the late 1990s 122 received a more extensive restoration. Shortly afterward, 122 developed motor problems which kept it in the barn. These problems have been solved and 122 is currently the oldest streetcar in daily service in North America.

186 - The Green Dragon

186 was built by the St. Louis Car Co. for Dallas Consolidated Electric Street Railway in 1913. The car served for 43 years in Dallas before being retired in 1956 when the streetcar system was abandoned. 186 was stripped of its running gear and electrical wiring and sold to a private individual who used it for a hay barn in far North Dallas. Ed Landrum, one of MATA's founders, acquired the car in 1979 and cosmetically restored it. The Green Dragon was originally displayed in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...

. When the museum closed, Ed removed 186 and donated it to MATA, which restored the Green Dragon to running order in 1989.

369 - Matilda

369 was built in 1925 by James Moore, Ltd. for the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramway Board in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The W2-class
W class Melbourne tram
The W class is a class of electric trams that operates in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tram model series is a cultural icon to Melbourne...

 car was in continuous service in Melbourne for six decades before being purchased by MATA in 1986. Matilda arrived in Portland, Oregon by ship and was then trucked to Dallas. Acquired in running order, Matilda only required cosmetic modifications to give her a more North American appearance. In 2008, the car was equipped with air conditioning (eight roof-mounted units, powered by an inverter
Inverter (electrical)
An inverter is an electrical device that converts direct current to alternating current ; the converted AC can be at any required voltage and frequency with the use of appropriate transformers, switching, and control circuits....

 hidden under a seat).

636 - Petunia

Car 636 was part of an order for 25 streetcars for the Dallas Railway Co. from the J. G. Brill Co. Petunia, a "Birney Safety Car," (or Birney
Birney
A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...

, for short) is named after its designer, Charles O. Birney of the Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster
Stone & Webster is an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Stone & Webster was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles Stone and Edwin Webster in 1889. It was acquired by The Shaw Group in 2000. The company...

 Co. The design incorporated numerous operational and safety improvements over earlier streetcars that permitted one man operation and thereby allowed street railway companies to reduce their expenses. Birneys were known for their bouncy riding qualities and were never very popular with the Dallas riding public. Nevertheless, 636 ran in Dallas until 1947 when it was replaced by more modern equipment. MATA's Ed and John Landrum, Frank Schultz and Dean Smith designed and built 636's current 8-foot-long truck using parts from the extra Melbourne trucks purchased along with Car 369. MATA later added shock absorbers to smooth out the Birney's characteristic bouncy ride.

636 is the first of the original cars to be equipped with air conditioning. A single unit was installed in 2007 as a test, with three more units later installed on the roof to provide full cooling.

Miss Daisy (no number)

Built by the Fairmont Company of Fairmont, Minnesota
Fairmont, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,889 people and 2,962 families residing in the city. The population density was 747.5 people per square mile . There were 5,036 housing units at an average density of 345.7 per square mile...

 around the turn of the 20th Century. Cars of this type were widely used by railways all over the world for track inspection. Volunteer Richard Fowler donated Miss Daisy to MATA in complete, but not operable condition. Used with a welder trailer and a rail grinder trailer, Miss Daisy enables MATA personnel perform minor rail repairs.

143 - Winnie

Built as a single-ended PCC (President's Conference Car)
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...

 streetcar by St. Louis Car Company
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...

 in 1945 for (Washington) DC Transit. Operated by DC Transit as car 1506 until abandonment of that system in February 1962. Bought by Fort Worth's Marvin and Obediah Leonard for their rail shuttle line from their vast parking lot to their downtown department store's basement station via a 1,400-foot subway. Rebuilt as a double-ended car and given a more "modernized" appearance in Fort Worth — stainless steel siding and blue roof trim. This modification did not completely conceal its standard PCC design heritage. Old 1506 was renumbered as M&O #2. No. 2 served as a Tandy Center Subway car until the line was abandoned on August 30, 2002. Despite modifications to soften the car's lines, it retained a distinctive shape reminiscent of a Winnebago
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...

 -- hence the nickname.

Winnie has had air conditioning, mechanical and electrical problems that kept it out of service since 2006. The car is currently stored off-site.

332 - The Morning Star

332 is one of four box motor
Box motor
A box motor, in railroad terminology, is a self-propelled boxcar, normally powered by electricity and running on an interurban railway or a streetcar line. Many box motors were converted from passenger cars on the systems that ran them, with the seats and most of the windows removed and large...

s built in the Northern Texas Traction Company
Northern Texas Traction Company
The Northern Texas Traction Company was a subsidiary of Stone & Webster that operated the streetcar system and interurban lines in Fort Worth, Texas....

 interurban railway shops in 1912. When NTT ceased operations in 1934, a farmer near Granbury, Texas
Granbury, Texas
Granbury is a city in Hood County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,718. It is the county seat of Hood County and the principal city of the Micropolitan Statistical Area....

 (southwest of Fort Worth) bought 332 and used it for grain storage. John Landrum, MATA's Chief Operating Officer, purchased the car in 1986. The Morning Star will primarily be used as a party or charter car, but due to its flexible seating arrangement, could also be used in regular transit service.

754

754, a 19 short ton, 48 feet (14,630.4 mm), 54-seat streetcar was built in 1926 by American Car Company
American Car Company
American Car Company was a streetcar manufacturing company based in St. Louis, USA. It was founded in 1891 by William Sutton and Emil Alexander, who had previously founded the Laclede Car Company in 1883 also in St. Louis, and had both got their start working in the streetcar business at St...

 for Dallas Railway and Terminal Co. It was originally a Peter Witt
Peter Witt streetcar
Peter Witt was a Cleveland Railway commissioner, who designed a model of streetcar known by his name, and used in many North American cities, most notably in Toronto and Cleveland.-Features:...

 center entrance car. The DR&T later removed 754's center doors when the company rebuilt each of its Peter Witts for one-man operation. The 754 was on the active DR&T roster until the end of operations in January 1956. Shortly after system abandonment, Ben Carpenter (son of the president of Dallas Railway and Terminal Company from 1927 to 1935) moved 754 to his family's Hackberry Creek Ranch in Irving, Texas
Irving, Texas
Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...

, and placed it on concrete blocks. 754 spent its retirement years there serving as a playhouse for the Carpenter children and grandchildren. The family built a miniature town around the car body. When all of his children and grandchildren had grown up, Mr. Carpenter decided it was time to donate the trolley to MATA.

754 was partially restored at EIKON International
EIKON International
EIKON International is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and makes interurban cars, trolley cars and streetcars. EIKON also restores and manufactures other types of rail cars, including streetcars...

. On June 21, 2009, 754 was brought by truck to Dallas, where it is now being kept in the MATA barn, awaiting trucks, AC
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....

 traction motors, and other various operation components. This car is planned to be the first at MATA equipped with AC traction powered from DC inverters. If the operation of 754 proves to be reliable, the AC system will eventually be installed on other cars in the fleet.

183 and 189

183 and 189 were built for Dallas Railways in 1913 by St. Louis Car Company. They are typical Stone & Webster designed streetcars, sisters to the operating 186. In 1991 John Landrum discovered the two cars built into a home in Lewisville
Lewisville, Texas
Lewisville is a city in Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2010 United States Census placed the population at 95,290 within . The city also includes of Lewisville Lake....

, a few miles north of Dallas. Since the building was about to be demolished, on January 10, 1994, MATA volunteers went to Lewisville and tore the warehouse down to expose and recover the cars.

323

323 is a 13-window Stone & Webster "turtleback" type street car built in 1915 as part of an order for 26 such cars for the Northern Texas Traction Company of Ft. Worth. 323 is the only known surviving example of the Stone and Webster "stretch" streetcar.

4613 and 4614 (Ex-Toronto PCCs)

Toronto
Toronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...

 was once the largest operator of PCCs in the world with 745 cars. Eventually only nineteen Toronto PCCs remained and these were used on only one route — the 509 Harbourfront
509 Harbourfront
509 Harbourfront is a streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.-History:The Harbourfront LRT, originally designated 604 Harbourfront, began service in 1990...

. The Toronto PCC era ended on December 8, 1995, when the last such cars ran on that line. These PCCs were built in 1951 and extensively rebuilt by the TTC in the early 1990s, making them the equivalent of almost brand-new streetcars. Not wanting to see these last PCCs scrapped, John Landrum helped Tom Twigge, a Toronto Transit Commission employee, form a coalition of trolley museums to save the remaining cars from being scrapped and new find homes for them. MATA bought these two cars.

3334 (Ex-MBTA 3334, Dallas 612)

MATA acquired this double end PCC in late 2009. It first operated in Dallas as #612, then sold to the MBTA. Most recently, it was in the Lake Shore Electric Railway (museum)
Lake Shore Electric Railway (museum)
The Lake Shore Electric Railway was an attempt to start an electric railway museum in Cleveland, OhioThe former Trolleyville USA museum in Olmsted Township closed down in 2005. At that time, organizers sought to relocate the museum's collection of 31 trolley cars...

collection. The car's interior is stripped down and the car is stored off-site awaiting restoration.

External links

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