How to Relive Route 1’s Streetcar Line

Route 1’s streetcar line last ran from Washington to Branchville on Sept. 7, 1958, but you can still see traces of it in communities throughout the corridor.

In a history of the Route 82 Maryland line written for the soon-to-open Streetcar 82 Brewery, Arthur J. Malestein lists some of the ways you can revisit the streetcar.

First, there’s the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail, a bike trail that stretches from downtown Hyattsville to Greenbelt Road along the old Branchville Loop right of way.

The roundabout in the middle of Baltimore Avenue at Mount Rainier, now used as a bus turnaround, dates back to the City & Suburban Railway, which used it to turn streetcars around starting in 1897.

A passenger station for the streetcar line in Riverdale Park stands across from the Town Center Market and is home now to the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation. Another passenger station in Laurel is now the home of Oliver’s Old Towne Tavern.

And if you want to see the streetcar itself, the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, Md., has Washington Railway & Electric #650, a car that was used on Route 82.

This entry was posted in College Park, Hyattsville, Mount Rainier, Riverdale Park and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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