Shooting the Bull: Podcast for October 23, 2008

In this week's edition of "Shooting the Bull," community activist John Schelp joins Barry and Kevin for the first of a two-part series looking at transit and transportation in the Bull City, with a look back on how Durham developed and how trolley and bus lines grew to support the young city's neighborhoods. Plus: Plenty on Plensa, the new bus designs, the Joy Johnson/Joseph Craig case -- and how about those "Tampa Bay/Durham Rays," anyhow?

Thanks as always to the folks at WXDU for the opportunity to host this weekly show.

If you missed the Thursday night broadcast, you can download or listen to the show from the Internet Archive, or listen to it via this embedded player. You can also subscribe to the show in iTunes, via WXDU's hosted podcast.

Comments

[John Schelp]

Kevin & Barry,

I really enjoyed our interview last night. That was fun. (And it was cool to see how you two operate behind the scenes.)

Here's a 1920 map that shows the old trolley lines and neighborhood streets near the WXDU studios... http://www.owdna.org/1920map.htm

Despite the tremendous pressure to recant, it looks like I was pretty close on my dates for the trolley in the Bull City. :)

Durham's street cars lasted from 1887 until they started to get phased out and replaced by gasoline driven buses in 1925. Here are excerpts from Durham Sun columnist and historian, Wyatt T. Dixon:

* The history of Durham's street transportation system is an interesting one. It began in 1885 when the Durham Street Railway Company was organized to operate a street railway system, and the mule-drawn cars made their appearance for the first time about two years later... In 1901, the second chapter in the story began with the purchase of the company's franchise by the Durham Traction Company, now a part of the Duke Power system, and the replacement of the lowly mule by electricity... The final chapter began with the demise of the street car for the gasoline driven bus which form of transportation continues today... Of the three forms of transportation, the streetcar was doubtlessly the most popular. (page 184)

* Durham's first street cars were drawn by mules and the car line extended from a point near the present Duke University women's campus [East Campus] down Main Street to Ramseur Street. (page 249)

* Electric street cars served the people until 1925 when they were replaced by buses. The change-over was completed sometime later. (page 271)

* Durham is said to have been the first city in North Carolina to replace [street cars] with buses. (page 29)

* The bus finally replaced the streetcar. Restricted to its tracks, the streetcars faced competition from the operation of automobiles called "jitneys" which operated in areas not served by streetcars. This was one of the compelling reasons for the change to the bus system. (page 184)

* When the street car system gave way to the bus tracks were not removed and they remain in some sections as mute reminders of another era in Durham's life. (page 249)

Source: How Times Do Change. Central Carolina Publishing Co. Durham. 1987. Dixon's columns, "How Times Do Change," appeared from the 1940s until the 1980s.

[BCRVisitor]

Is it my speakers, or is there a lot of distortion in the broadcast? Just checking.

[stratopodcaster]

BCRVisitor: the podcast via iTunes sounded just fine.

[Random Complaint]

Hi all,

I hate to rain on you at all, because I love that you all provide us Durham with a local podcast. Prefacing this then: thanks so much!

I must say though that the opening music, its killing me. It is so loud and punctatious (to that 3ft bubble of 'personal space' I keep around me) that...well, I cringe and skip the first couple minutes every show. Consider something mellower or quieter so as not to scare away new listeners?