Was the electric trolley the forerunner of a light-rail system in Washtenaw County?

Street scene of Ann Arbor with trolley car and buses, circa 1925. The banners on the trolleys sported messages such as "Goodbye Folks! The Scrap Heap For Mine." Buses in the back of the line were to take over public transit service.

Courtesy Bentley Historical Library

Transit lines of the past, Hildebrandt explained, were privately-owned ventures meant to address a need in the marketplace - not as a public service. In the early days, trolley cars were a more pleasant and attainable transit option than their predecessor - the horse.

Before trolley cars became popular in the early 1900s - and long before Henry Ford mastered mass production - a person who wanted to get from one side of town to the other had 3 options: walk, ride a horse or borrow a friend's horse.

But horses were expensive, large and required food and storage. Given the chance to trade in a horse for a fare card, men and women around Washtenaw County gladly chose the latter.

It was good business for the companies that ran the trolley systems. But as Hildebrandt noted, Ann Arbor's streetcar era was a short one.

One photograph Hildebrandt brought to his talk showed an electric trolley system in Saline, circa 1905. The system's tracks occupied the bulk of the road. A car was parked on the shoulder of the road on the grass, as if no one knew exactly how it would fit into the grand scheme of things. 

By the late 1920s, the die had been cast. The automobile won out. 

Hildebrandt cited the 1925 folding of the Ypsilanti-Saline interurban line after the line was ordered to vacate a main thoroughfare for the back roads to make room for automobile traffic.

Most of what remained of the trolley lines was pulled up for scrap metal in the early stages of World War II.

Today, leaders like Michael Ford, CEO of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, are envisioning a new mass transit system.

The city of Ann Arbor has been working for years to provide alternatives to the automobile - by expanding bus service, offering incentives for riders to leave their cars at home during the work day, and increasing bike lines.

But there's just something exciting about light rail, Hildebrandt said. A retired Ann Arbor pediatrician, Hildebrandt has been collecting photographs, postcards and memorabilia related to trolley systems around the world - but especially the local system - for decades.

He met co-author Martha Churchill, an attorney from Milan, when she came looking for a source for a story she was writing on a failed rail line off Platt Road. Churchill wasn't at the lecture, but Hildebrandt said their shared love of trolleys built a friendship that turned into a partnership.

Local historian and author Grace Shackman, who attended the lecture, said when it comes to transit-related issues, Hildebrandt is a reliable and regular source.

Hildebrandt believes a light-rail system would be viable in Ann Arbor, even though upgrades to the bus system would come cheaper. And unlike the trolley lines of old, a light-rail system run by the AATA wouldn't be expected to make a profit.

"(Light rail) isn't going to survive on the money from the fare box," Hildebrandt said. "It's something we have to decide we want and something we've got to pressure the people in charge to invest in."

James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.