Nostalgia & History > A Funny Safety Picture, Streetcar Fender

From the Online Repository of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division and captioned, "Streetcar safety demonstration, Detroit, Mich." No date. The actors had to hold still for the photographer.

The device on the front of the streetcar is called a fender. According to the American Public Transportation Association it was invented in 1890 and described as: "Attached to the front of electric streetcars, the fender would "scoop up" inattentive pedestrians and keep them from being swept under the wheels and crushed. Numerous manufactures supplied them as OEM equipment, among them Providence, Parmenter, Universal and Berg."


Enjoy,
Marty Bernard

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There were many designs of such devices, all intended to scoop up a person rather than allow them to get caught under a cars wheels. On double end cars, they could be folded up to discourage freeloaders from riding on them on the back of the car. Some were interlocked to the brakes, so if a person were struck the car would be stopped.

Some systems, however, used fixed steam engine style "cowcatchers".

Minneapolis/St Paul (left) and Duluth (right) cars, on the other hand, used fixed baskets, with no additional safety features.

-John

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Marty,

Great picture I think that is Central United Methodist Church on the corner of Woodward Avenue & Adams in downtown Detroit, MI.

If that's correct the pic is after 1916 as you can see the 6 story church house in the background. Looking at Woodward it's before
it was widened in 1936, with work beginning in 1933 it went from 66' to 120' wide.

Wish I could read that sign. If it happened to be a State Route M-10 sign that would further pin point the date to after 1919.

So many cool things to see in just an ordinary picture of the day. With what we can see so far we can narrow down the year to 1916
more likely 1917 or 1918 when the church house was completed to 1933.

Your pic also kind of ties in to history today as the first rails for the M1 light rail line were laid on Woodward. While it's nothing
like any of the other big systems laid down in recent decades for Detroit and Michigan it's a start. And of course you have to start
somewhere.

Thanks for posting.

Kris

dcmkris Wrote:
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> Wish I could read that sign. If it happened to be
> a State Route M-10 sign that would further pin
> point the date to after 1919.

Unfortunately even in a 150MB tiff file the image is still basically unreadable.

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"Two men demonstrate the latest dance craze, the Trolley Hop!"

dcmkris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Marty,
>
> Great picture I think that is Central United
> Methodist Church on the corner of Woodward Avenue
> & Adams in downtown Detroit, MI.
>
> If that's correct the pic is after 1916 as you can
> see the 6 story church house in the background.
> Looking at Woodward it's before
> it was widened in 1936, with work beginning in
> 1933 it went from 66' to 120' wide.
>
> Wish I could read that sign. If it happened to be
> a State Route M-10 sign that would further pin
> point the date to after 1919.
>
> So many cool things to see in just an ordinary
> picture of the day. With what we can see so far
> we can narrow down the year to 1916
> more likely 1917 or 1918 when the church house was
> completed to 1933.
>
> Your pic also kind of ties in to history today as
> the first rails for the M1 light rail line were
> laid on Woodward. While it's nothing
> like any of the other big systems laid down in
> recent decades for Detroit and Michigan it's a
> start. And of course you have to start
> somewhere.
>
> Thanks for posting.
>
> Kris


Kris, you nailed the location.
Here is a 2013 street view at about the same
spot the original photo was taken.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.33685,-83.0507826,3a,40.6y,11.15h,90.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sIURe0nTvxroNavoQln8Vtg!2e0

See the post about the coyote and the SUV

In San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Eclipse fender was standard up into the 1940s.

1) In SF both Market St. Ry. and Muni cars had them, but with the coming of PCC cars, the Lifeguard fender, which was mounted underneath the front of the car, became standard. Here we see Muni 1, restored to nearly as-built condition but with some modern add-ons, with the fender deployed during the Muni Centennial on Dec. 28, 2012.

2) In LA, all LA Railway cars had them, again until the arrival of PCCs in 1937. LARy Huntington Standard 665 is seen on Broadway at Orange Empire Ry. Museum in Perris CA.

3) Pacific Electric cars had Eclipse fenders only if they ran on lines that included LA city street running, so the PE Birneys had them only when working on the Western-Franklin line. During World War II, the requirement was lifted, so a photo of a PE car with the fender can be dated as before about 1943. PE got rid of them as fast as possible, because they were a major headache to both the train crews and the maintenance personnel. I'm reasonably sure no PE fenders were preserved, so to get this photo of 717 in its pre-1940 paint job, the fender was borrowed from LARy derrick 9225.

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That's the author of the previous reply blowing the whistle on PE "Hollywood Car" #717 at Orange Empire Railway Museum.

Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/14 17:58 by MartyBernard.

Thanks, Marty.

I should also mention that in my other retirement occupation, honorary roadie for an "alternate rock" band, "Fender" means something entirely different. The young lady on the right plays a Fender Precision Bass.

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