Exposed Streetcar Lines on E. Washington St
New civilizations are built on the ashes of old, and so cities ever grow higher by adding layers. Peel back some of the growth rings and experience a slice of life as it once was.
The old rail lines in front of Audubon Court in Irvington, East of downtown Indianapolis
Downtown Indianapolis during the days of the streetcars
Earlier last week, Indianapolis used the asphalt eaters to strip down East Washington Street in preparation for finish work on the new interchange with I-69/I-70. By good luck, I happened to be driving through and took some photos of the old street car lines that were exposed.
The bad part is that I had to take the photos at night, so please excuse my poor photographs. It was covered up by the next day, so there was no opportunity to come back in daylight.
The old rail lines in front of Audubon Court in Irvington, East of downtown IndianapolisDowntown Indianapolis during the days of the streetcarsEarlier last week, Indianapolis used the asphalt eaters to strip down East Washington Street in preparation for finish work on the new interchange with I-69/I-70. By good luck, I happened to be driving through and took some photos of the old street car lines that were exposed.
The bad part is that I had to take the photos at night, so please excuse my poor photographs. It was covered up by the next day, so there was no opportunity to come back in daylight.
DIG-B also covered this in an earlier post, but I wanted to share the experience once again. See Urbanophile's post for a full description and aerial image of the interchange.
This shot has several exposed rails and the original brick infill
A close-up view of the rail and brickHere's a modern take on the streetcar scene by Circles and Squares, downtown business interests want the old streetcars back in some fashion or another. I know in some sense it is sad that these old bits of history have been covered up, but the bright side is that they are well protected for the time being.
Labels: Public transit, Urban Environment
posted by Graeme at
7:30 AM
3 Comments:
*sniff**sniff*...the loss of the streetcars never fails to make me nostalgic.
I'm always amazed when I notice one of Chicago's streets has worn down to the brick underlayer. It makes me wonder how much of our nation's older cities have hand-constructed street beds.
I think most streets in US cities have laid brick as the original wearing course under the asphalt. I guess it was easier to cover it up than to dig up and replace. But on the other hand, I have never seen exposed streetcar lines like they have here in Indy.
Other options were macadam roads or early forms of concrete (c. 1910) or asphalt (c. 1925).
Brick pavers make a poor surface for high speed vehicular traffic, but they work great for slow speed traffic. German Village in Columbus, OH still has brick streets and it makes a huge visual impact.
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