Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Jim Toman, local author
For almost a century, the railcars of the Shaker Rapid have been shuttling people between the suburb and downtown Cleveland. Operating originally as the Cleveland Interurban Railroad, the line became “rapid” when the Van Sweringen brothers carved out a new express route for the line in 1920. Cars heading west were then forced to reach surface tracks at East 34th Street. In 1930, however, with the opening of Cleveland Union Terminal, the route became express all the way to Public Square. The operation truly became the “Shaker Heights” Rapid Transit when the suburb took over the line’s ownership in 1944. Mr. Toman’s presentation looks at how the Shaker Rapid has changed over time, and at the different fleets of street railway cars that have served it over the years into the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority era (1975 to the present). The Rapid to Shaker Heights has certainly had a colorful history!
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