Kenneth C. Springirth, with a lifelong interest in rail transportation. Born and raised in the United States, he commuted to Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University) in Philadelphia by trolley car, subway, and sometimes commuter train. His father was a trolley car motorman in Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a trolley car motorman in Washington D.C. A detailed researcher, Ken's interest in rail transportation by 2013 has culminated in writing 20 books on trolley car systems and railroads covering a variety of locations.
Philadelphia’s Suburban Red Arrow Trolley Heritage is a photographic essay of suburban Philadelphia’s Red Arrow system and operation by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). By 1899, the Philadelphia &...
Philadelphia’s Streetcar Heritage is a photographic essay of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, streetcar system. The first electric streetcar line in Philadelphia opened in 1892 and quickly replaced horsecar service by 1897....
Cincinnati Streetcar Heritage is a photographic essay of the Cincinnati, Ohio, streetcar system. Cincinnati's first electric streetcar line was the conversion of the Mt. Adams & Eden Park Inclined Railway...
Viewing SEPTA'S Rail Heritage began with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) acquiring the Philadelphia Transportation Company in 1968 followed by acquiring Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company in 1970, and taking...
Viewing Norfolk Southern Railway covers the history of this railroad, beginning with the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company, which in 1830 operated the first regularly scheduled passenger train...
On August 7, 2011, former Pennsylvania Railroad type E8A diesel units No. 5711 and No. 5809 are passing through the borough of Greenville in Mercer County, Pennsylvania on the former...
Viewing Pittsburgh’s Trolleys and Inclines is a photographic essay covering Pittsburgh’s trolley car system that under Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRC) operated about 600 miles of trolley car lines that linked...
CSX Transportation Railroad Heritage is a photographic essay of this major railroad that was formed in 1980 by a merger of the Seaboard Coast Line with the Chessie System, providing...
New Jersey’s Trolley Heritage is a photographic essay of trolley cars that once served Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Wildwood, plus the modernized Newark City subway, along with the new...
Detroit's Streetcar Heritage is a photographic essay of the Detroit, Michigan, streetcar system. Replacement of slow moving horsecar service began with the opening of an electric street railway by the...
San Francisco's first cable car line opened in 1873. The successful development of the electric streetcar by Frank Sprague in 1888 plus the 1906 San Francisco earthquake resulted in the...
Reading Railroad Heritage is a photographic essay of the history of a well-run system up to its acquisition by the Consolidated Rail Corporation in 1976, and its legacy that includes...
Traces the history of the Stourbridge Lion, America’s first steam locomotive, and the railroads shaping northeastern Pennsylvania’s Stourbridge Line. Stourbridge Lion to the Stourbridge Line begins with the Stourbridge Lion,...
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Heritage started in 1849 with the opening of the Aurora Branch Railroad in Illinois from Aurora to Chicago’s west side. This grew into the Chicago,...
Union Pacific Railroad Heritage covers the history of this amazing railroad that was founded in 1862 and completed the United States first transcontinental railroad in 1869. With the need to...
West Chester Railroad is a photographic essay of the railroad that linked the borough of West Chester, Pennsylvania, via Media to Philadelphia. West Chester (25 miles west of Philadelphia and...
The first street railway opened in New Orleans in 1835. Over the years various methods of powering the streetcars including horses, stream locomotives, overhead cable system, and fireless locomotives were...
The Toronto Beaches Lions Club Easter Parade of April 8, 2012 leading off with Toronto Transit Commission historic Presidents' Conference Committee car No. 4500, vintage Peter Witt car No. 2766,...
Chicago's South Shore Line is a photographic essay of the last interurban electric railroad operating in the United States. Completed as the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway (CLS&SBR)...
Baltimore was the first United States city to begin regularly scheduled electric railway service in 1885. However, because of technical problems the line had to go back to horse car...
Street Cars of Washington D.C. is a photographic essay of the history of the well-kept modern street car system that provided frequent transit service to much of our nation's capital...
Trolleys of Pennsylvania is a photographic essay covering trolley car systems in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania had more operating trolley companies than any other state in the United States. Fairmount Park in...
