Waterfront Streetcar
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The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a 1.6-mile-long streetcar line run by Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, so named because much of its route was along Alaskan Way on the Elliott Bay waterfront. Service began on May 29, 1982, which was the first streetcar run in Seattle since April 13, 1941.
The streetcar halted operation November 19, 2005, when the maintenance barn was demolished to make room for Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park. A new maintenance barn has been proposed to be built at Occidental Park and allow the resumption of operations at some point in the future. The new "barn", however, has not yet been approved and portions of the track have been paved over. It is unknown if the street car will ever return to service. The street car was replaced by Metro bus route 99 during the halt in operations. The streetcars are currently stored at an unknown Metro Transit warehouse in the SoDo district.
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[edit] History
Service began on May 29, 1982, which was the first streetcar run in Seattle since April 13, 1941. The first two streetcars had been brought to Seattle from Melbourne by George Benson (1919-2004), a former pharmacist, who was a Seattle City Councilman from 1973 to 1993. Three more Melbourne streetcars were acquired between 1990 and 1993. All were W2 class trams that had originally been built in the late 1930s.
[edit] Route
The line ran mostly northwest-southeast along Alaskan Way on abandoned Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway trackage. From S. Main Street in Pioneer Square east to 5th Avenue S. it ran in the center median, with its last block on the west side of 5th Avenue between S. Main and S. Jackson Streets. The line originally ended at Broad Street, but due to Olympic Sculpture Park closing and destroying the barn and the station there, the line will now end at Vine Street if it is to open again in the future.
[edit] Stations
- Along Alaskan Way
- Broad Street: Myrtle Edwards Park, Seattle Center NOTE: This station was also torn down with the maintenance barn when the line shut down.
- Vine Street: Port of Seattle headquarters, Victoria Clipper
- Bell Street: Belltown, Bell Street Pier
- Pike Street: Pike Place Market, Seattle Aquarium
- University Street: Downtown, Seattle Art Museum
- Madison Street: Washington State Ferries' Colman Dock
- Washington Street
- Occidental Park (S. Main Street and Occidental Avenue S.): Pioneer Square, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Jackson Street (S. Jackson Street and 5th Avenue S.): International District, Safeco Field, Qwest Field, King Street Station, Uwajimaya
All of the stations with the exception of Occidental Park and Jackson Stations along the Alaskan Way used to be all painted brown when it the line first opened, but in 2004 all of them were painted marine blue and refurbished. The Occidental and Jackson stations were furbished to the surroundings of the streets and parks when the line extended in the 90's. Jackson Street had a Asian Pagoda style station while Occidental park had a vintage station.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
The route was named by National Geographic Society as one of the 10 Great Streetcar routes along with:
- Berlin (Berlin Straßenbahn) Tram 68
- Lisbon's Companhia de Carris de Ferro de Lisboa (Carris) 28 Tram
- Toronto's 501 Queen (TTC)
- New Orleans Regional Transit Authority St. Charles Streetcar Tour
- Hong Kong Tramways
- San Francisco Municipal Railway Streetcar F
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Waterfront Streetcar gets a new home. King County Metro. Retrieved on 2005-12-23.
- Benson, George (1919-2004), Father of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar
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