Photo Record
Images
![Lester Sirkel standing in entrance to TER car [back]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/pastperfectonline/images/museum_1030/018/thumbs/cp2024gc54-2.jpg)
Metadata
Title |
Lester Sirkel standing in entrance to TER car |
Date |
1948, October |
Description |
Lester Sirkel standing in the entrance to an unidentified Texas Electric Railway box motor. This photo was taken just months before the line in Waco took its last run, likely at the Waco Terminal. It was noted by Johnnie J. Myers: Johnnie J. "Sirkel would not have worn one of the [Operator] hats [which his family later donated] on the box car on which he was standing since he was not performing the duties of an Operator at the time." It seems as if he might have worked multiple jobs at the railway, or even switched roles at some point. At the bottom of the photograph, handwritten in blue ink, is "Dad 37 yrs". On the far right edge of the photo is printed 'Oct. 1948 Stude_ S.A.TEX. On the back, part of an article (The Interurban Line) from the Waco Tribune-Herald has been glued to the photograph. The full article is "Shadows of Waco's Past" by Carl Hoover, Waco Tribune-Herald, July 12, 1997, pages 1 and 10. 'The Interurban Line' transcribed: Where: the Waco terminal was located at Fourth Street and Washington Avenue. What's there now: Bridge pilings in Lake Brazos between the Suspension Bridge and Washington Avenue bridge remain from the longest bridge crossing on the Interurban line between Denison and Waco. What was there: The Southern Traction Company's Interuban Line, an intercity electric train that connected Denison, Dallas, Fort Worth, Corsicanan and, at its southern terminus, Waco. The Interuban began Waco operations in 1913 -- Santa Claus arrived in Waco on an Interurban car that year -- and ran trains on an hourly schedule for much of that time. In the 1940s, Waco riders could pay a little more than $3 for a round-trip ticket to Dallas; a one-way trip took just under three hours. After World War II, an increased use of the automobile spelled the end for the Interurban service, and its last run took place Dec. 31, 1948. |
Place |
Unknown |
Associated People |
Sirkel, Lester |
Photographer |
Unknown |
Print Size |
5" x 3 1/4" |
Search Terms |
McLennan County Waco Waco Terminal |
Collection |
Lester A. Sirkel Collection |
Copyright |
The City of Plano / Interurban Railway Museum have all rights without restriction. |
Catalog Number |
CP.2024.GC.5-4 |