Detroit, which dismantled its citywide streetcar system in the mid-1950s, is building a single line that will pale in comparison. M-1 Rail will run just 3.3 miles.
The website Detroit Transit History says this about the final day of Detroit's streetcars:
On Sunday, April 8, 1956, the last regularly scheduled streetcar operated its final run in Detroit. At 4:15 a.m., PCC car #223 left the Fairgrounds Loop for its last southbound "through" trip to Jefferson and Woodward Avenues. On board this final trip were twenty railfans; the DSR Superintendent of Transportation James Bostick; and none other than DSR General Manager Leo J. Nowicki, the mastermind behind the conversion from PCC cars to GM diesels.
At 5 a.m., car #223 made its last northbound trip and arrived at the Fairgrounds Loop at 5:45 a.m. It completed its final run when operator Paul Payne, badge #351, pulled PCC #223 into the Woodward Carhouse at 5:56 a.m., ending streetcar operation on the Woodward line, which dated back to Aug. 27, 1863. The era of a once large and vibrant street railway operation in the city of Detroit had just come to a close. Consequently, with the elimination of its streetcars, the city of Detroit replaced Cleveland, Ohio as the largest U.S. city with an all-bus operation.
We came across this video:
