south side trackage

[Donald Galt]

A follow-up to my observations about the south end of the Brady Street 
Bridge:

Derrick also asked about the Sarah Street horsecar line.

The topo map of 1931 was of course published after the Sarah Street line 
closed. It does show the following unexplained trackage on the South Side. 
Most of it corresponds with "early trackage, only partial detail" on the PTM 
map.

THE FOLLOWING appears to be the remnants of a line running eastward 
from 10th Street via Bingham, 15th, Roland, 17th (returning via 17th, 
Bingham), Jane almost to 28th; mostly single-track except for the loop 
section between 15th and 17th, and about three blocks of double track on 
17th and Jane:

- Single line in the middle of Bingham street east from 10th Street (no 
connection), around the north side of Bedford Square and dead ending at 
15th Street (again, no connection)

- Single line in 15th Street south from Bingham (no connection shown 
around the corner to the above line) across Carson to Roland Street, then 
east on Roland and south on 17th Street.

- Single line on the east side of 17th Street from Bingham to Carson, dead 
ending at both ends.

- Single line on the east side of 17th Street south from a dead end at 
Carson; from where this is joined by the line turning from Roland Street, the 
two form a double track south to Jane Street to 18th Street, where they 
dead end.

- Single line in the middle of Jane Street eastward from a dead end at 18th  
Street to 21st Street, where it is broken at the railway crossing; then 
continuing a bit more than a half block further before ending again; picking 
up at the east side of 22d Street, broken at 23d Street but continuing again 
at the east side of 23d, onward to halfway between 27th and 28th.

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THE FOLLOWING appears to be the remnants of a double track line south 
on 19th Street from Carson to Mary Street, thence west to 18th:

- Single track on the east side of 19th Street between Carson and Sarah 
(the clockwise loop of Carson/19th/Sarah/18th occupied the west side of 
19th) then picking up again across Sarah Street as double track extending 
not quite to Mary Street.

- Double track in Mary Street in the block between 18th and 19th, not 
connected around the corner to the above trackage.

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THE FOLLOWING appears to be the remnants of a line branching off 
Carson on 12th, looping via Sarah, 11th and Bradish, serving the bottom 
station of the Knoxville incline:

- Double track in 12th Street from Carson to a dead end at Sarah, with a 
west-to-south connection shown from Carson to 12th; the northbound track 
dead-ending at Carson.

- Single track in the middle of 12th Street in part of the block between Sarah 
and Bradish

- Single track in the middle of Bradish Street in most of the block between 
11th and 12th

- Single track in the middle of 11th Street in part of the block between Sarah 
and Bradish.

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THE FOLLOWING doesn't show at all on the PTM map:

- Single track in the middle of 13th Street between dead ends at Carson and 
Sarah Streets.

As I said above, most of this trackage appears to be explained as "early, 
only partial detail" on the PTM map. This shows the Sarah Street line as 
running in that street between approximately 12th Street and the 30th 
Street carhouse.

What, then, was my line from 10th and Bingham to 28th and Jane, much of 
it only a block from Sarah Street? The 1890 sketch map in the Arnold 
Report appears to show it as a horse car line feeding the electric line ending 
at the south end of the 10th Street Bridge. The 1910 map in the same report 
appears to show it, as well as the Sarah Street line, but both these maps 
are very small in scale and not terribly carefully drawn.

And, assuming that this line closed long before Sarah Street, it is passing 
curious that the 1931 shows remnants of its track but not of that in Sarah 
Street.

Don G