What an excellent video! It shows what life was like in the days of the streetcar heyday. It almost feels like I was there watching the cars ply the streets of Omaha and the people riding them as a matter of daily living. It was also very informative, with the narrator explaining how a trolley car works. He talked about the motors, the overhead wires, the trolley wheel, the pole and springs as well as the operation of the track switches and the wire frogs. It was fascinating to me to see how the cars were backed up so frequently, as when using the wyes and entering the carbarns in reverse. Here in Philadelphia, the cars enter the carbarns going forward and when they re-enter service, they just come out the other end of the barn. Another thing I enjoyed about the video was the many times it showed my favorite cars, Studebakers, parked along the streets or being driven near the trolley cars. I guess it shows my age but nevertheless it was wonderful. Just a great video. Too bad for the people of Omaha and what they've lost.
Wow, amazing footage of Omaha streetcars! Color film was not cheap back when this was shot. So, a lot of expense went into what we're enjoying here. Nice to see well detailed descriptions of how streetcars and the electric overhead wire systems operate. Besides the streetcars, I loved seeing the period cars, trucks, gas stations, grocery stores, people's dress code back then, etc.,. Well made documentary on Omaha's street railways. Thanks for sharing this wonderful "electric trolley time machine!"
Your grandfather was a great contributor to fans and modelers of traction. I love his turnouts and track products and am glad they continue to serve the traction modeling community today!
This was wonderful. I use to hear about the street cars from my late Grandmother and Auntie. How they use to ride the street cars. I was born in 1961 So all I remembered were many of Railroad brick streets even as of 2018 there are still of view in certain area's. I visit those streets sometimes when I go back to Omaha and visit. I live in Michigan now for over 35+ years. I still love my beginnings and its history. Thanks for sharing
You can actually see the original brick road in the potholes big enough on dodge in downtown. If your from Omaha you know the potholes can be mistaken for the Tunguska crater of 1908
This is a beautifully produced, wonderfully narrated and thoroughly informative documentary that shows Omaha history at a vital conjecture. Many of the communities featured in this video were abandoned by commercial developers in the 1950s and decimated by the 1970s. Its beautiful to see them held perfectly in perpetuity. My only wish is that each segment were clipped and posted separately. However, I am only grateful and appreciative for this beautiful work by Mr. Orr, and I will share this as much as possible.
I enjoyed this so much. It's amazing that this footage was preserved for future generations. To those responsible for this wonderful presentation, thank you for taking the time and making the effort!
I grew up in South Omaha but the street cars were gone before I was born. I remember an old streetcar barn at 24 and Vinton St before they built a Bakers there. I recognized many of the buildings along Vinton St.
I hope this video is also in the Internet Archives. Someone looking for an informative documentary like this would look there first. I may have actually ridden on one of those street cars in the videos. I was born in 1954 in Omaha and my mom said she took me with her as a child. Sorry, I don't remember. The first ride I remember was a bus. Thanks for the ride down memory lane.👍
Thank you for this wonderfully done video, my Great Grandfather came to Omaha from Sweden in about 1873-75 he and my great grandmother are buried in Omaha, (1913) somewhere. It's so nice to see what was going on during that time period. I'm not from Omaha, but was there in 1964, I didn't return until 2017 and It had changed so much!! Didn't recognise anything on Dodge at all. I guess, I shouldn't have expected it to be the same, considering the years that had went by. Found it sad tho, progress, they can keep it. I love streetcars and trains, so seeing all this was wonderful!
Mrs. Frances Roe wrote a book "Letters from An Army Officer's Wife 1871-1888". Stationed with her husband in various forts and outposts on the central plains for years, she was thrilled and excited to be finally posted to a "civilized place": Omaha. She wrote with delight of her ability to ride into town on the streetcar to do shopping, dine with friends and be able to make her way back to her quarters without escort.
What a treasure this is; thank you! I am amazed by the vitality of downtown and the various communities with stores and people everywhere. What a different time it was. What a shame that the street cars were removed. I wonder how different Omaha would be if the street car system had been developed and expanded...
You can see the vitality that results from a modern tramway system in cities such as Manchester UK, and throughout Europe. Covid of course has flattened everything, but we will overcome it.
There's a lot of similarity between Omaha and Denver Tramway. The livery is.almost the same, they were both single ended car operations and Denver converted some of it's fleet to a two window front end. Omaha and Denver both had a double deck car house.
wow i am amazed im a 12yr old railfan and rail enthusiast but i wish i lived in the 40s 50s and 60s to see all of omaha downtown then and all the trains i liked the video you sould make one on the railroads of omaha back then keep up the good work!!!!
Mr. Orr, this film was nothing short of fascinating to watch! Thank you very much for compiling these films we would otherwise never see. I was so busy spotting old cars & familiar locations, I got lost in it! Q: How far west did the streetcars go? I saw 50th/Underwood and wondered. City buses in the 50's went to 78th/Dodge, just past the city limits at 72nd st.
Those were surely worse times but as a streetcar enthusiast i can't stop imagining how great it would be to be the conductor of one of these trams Does anyone know when did the birneys have been retired?
I really enjoyed watching old Omaha roll by--and the technical details you provided about streetcar operation were fascinating. I do have one specific question--at about the 42nd minute mark, you have a street car turning right onto 40th off of Farnam towards Dodge. I've been trying to locate a pre-Embassy Lounge photo of the building at the southeast corner of 40th and Farnam (now Sullivan's). Wondered if the shot you had showed this building before the Embassy Facade was added? Can't quite tell in the video--but it's such an almost, that I had to ask. Really appreciate the work you put into this video. Fascinating!
Pleased you like this video... as stated in details above, it was the complete creation of Richard Orr so I wouldn't be able to answer your specific question.
I grew up in central Omaha in the 50's, 60's & 70's and some of the shots I recognized right away. I remember the trolley cars but they were just starting to be replaced by buses. The transition left a whole lot of useless, unsued track in the streets and it was years before all of it was removed or covered over; I don't remember which. I left in '79 and now live in the Andes mountains but I'll always be basically, essentially and enthusiastically a guy from Omaha.
I'm an Omaha native but this all pre-dates me and represents a part of the city history that I never experienced. There are still sections of the brick streets ( which I remember and traveled myself ) but there's probably little evidence of the trolley tracks.
The building at 1:18:51 looks very familiar. I think Mr. Orr is almost filming on "my" property 68 years ago. The Sycamores seen on the side of the street the filming is occurring have been removed.
42:15 That scene does not look much different at all, even nearly 70 years later. The Walnut Hill Reservoir is covered, but is still there. However the 40th and Cuming St. scene has definitely changed since the 50s. The location at 1:09:46 is still recognizable as 40th and Hamilton. The building on the right is still standing. The tree-covered hill straight ahead on 40th is a corner of the property of the Walnut Hill Reservoir.
Hello Steve, I hope you still come back here to look for new comments. I am planning a video of our streetcars at the Minnesota Streetcar Museum in Minneapolis next month and this is an excellent presentation to prepare viewers for my hands-on demonstration of what makes a city streetcar and how things on it work. If you see this, please drop a comment on my latest entry at "bus old man phil".
@@steveraglin7607 We're planning to record the video Wednesday August 5. If the rehearsal comes out good, that will become a take. I'm keeping it quiet around here as I we don't want people around with the Covid thing. Yours is the only video with more than mindless runbys. Yours got into some of the non-revenue movements. Glad you presented Mr Orr's work . We have many film pieces here of our TWIN CITY RAPID TRANSIT system. OK if I give your channel a plug to introduce my clip?
it was neither gm nor cars: the problem is that unfortunately the trams were no longer as indispensable as 20 years before now the buses were accessible to everyone and in large numbers and there was no longer any reason to maintain all the permanent way installations and vehicles which now needed to be rebuilt / replaced, and so it went as it went
This video is really awesome!
I lived in Omaha from Summer 1981 to January 1989. And I can't recognized any of these. But it's so amazingly wonderful.
We were there from 74 to 86. Miss Omaha
What an excellent video! It shows what life was like in the days of the streetcar heyday. It almost feels like I was there watching the cars ply the streets of Omaha and the people riding them as a matter of daily living. It was also very informative, with the narrator explaining how a trolley car works. He talked about the motors, the overhead wires, the trolley wheel, the pole and springs as well as the operation of the track switches and the wire frogs. It was fascinating to me to see how the cars were backed up so frequently, as when using the wyes and entering the carbarns in reverse. Here in Philadelphia, the cars enter the carbarns going forward and when they re-enter service, they just come out the other end of the barn. Another thing I enjoyed about the video was the many times it showed my favorite cars, Studebakers, parked along the streets or being driven near the trolley cars. I guess it shows my age but nevertheless it was wonderful. Just a great video. Too bad for the people of Omaha and what they've lost.
Wow, amazing footage of Omaha streetcars! Color film was not cheap back when this was shot. So, a lot of expense went into what we're enjoying here. Nice to see well detailed descriptions of how streetcars and the electric overhead wire systems operate. Besides the streetcars, I loved seeing the period cars, trucks, gas stations, grocery stores, people's dress code back then, etc.,. Well made documentary on Omaha's street railways. Thanks for sharing this wonderful "electric trolley time machine!"
Dick Orr is my grandfather. Very cool to see this online. Thanks for posting!
Your grandfather was a great contributor to fans and modelers of traction. I love his turnouts and track products and am glad they continue to serve the traction modeling community today!
This was wonderful. I use to hear about the street cars from my late Grandmother and Auntie. How they use to ride the street cars. I was born in 1961 So all I remembered were many of Railroad brick streets even as of 2018 there are still of view in certain area's. I visit those streets sometimes when I go back to Omaha and visit. I live in Michigan now for over 35+ years. I still love my beginnings and its history.
Thanks for sharing
Great memories. I used to ride that trolley it went right by grandparents home 52nd and Underwood
You can actually see the original brick road in the potholes big enough on dodge in downtown. If your from Omaha you know the potholes can be mistaken for the Tunguska crater of 1908
This is a beautifully produced, wonderfully narrated and thoroughly informative documentary that shows Omaha history at a vital conjecture. Many of the communities featured in this video were abandoned by commercial developers in the 1950s and decimated by the 1970s. Its beautiful to see them held perfectly in perpetuity. My only wish is that each segment were clipped and posted separately. However, I am only grateful and appreciative for this beautiful work by Mr. Orr, and I will share this as much as possible.
I enjoyed this so much. It's amazing that this footage was preserved for future generations. To those responsible for this wonderful presentation, thank you for taking the time and making the effort!
Yes, wonderful footage! As my notes about video state, it's entirely the work of just one person: Richard Orr
Thanks for the video!
I grew up in South Omaha but the street cars were gone before I was born. I remember an old streetcar barn at 24 and Vinton St before they built a Bakers there. I recognized many of the buildings along Vinton St.
I hope this video is also in the Internet Archives. Someone looking for an informative documentary like this would look there first.
I may have actually ridden on one of those street cars in the videos. I was born in 1954 in Omaha and my mom said she took me with her as a child. Sorry, I don't remember. The first ride I remember was a bus.
Thanks for the ride down memory lane.👍
Nice to see small businesses where the proprietors care personally about their customers.
Thank you for this wonderfully done video, my Great Grandfather came to Omaha from Sweden in about 1873-75 he and my great grandmother are buried in Omaha, (1913) somewhere. It's so nice to see what was going on during that time period. I'm not from Omaha, but was there in 1964, I didn't return until 2017 and It had changed so much!! Didn't recognise anything on Dodge at all. I guess, I shouldn't have expected it to be the same, considering the years that had went by. Found it sad tho, progress, they can keep it. I love streetcars and trains, so seeing all this was wonderful!
Mrs. Frances Roe wrote a book "Letters from An Army Officer's Wife 1871-1888". Stationed with her husband in various forts and outposts on the central plains for years, she was thrilled and excited to be finally posted to a "civilized place": Omaha. She wrote with delight of her ability to ride into town on the streetcar to do shopping, dine with friends and be able to make her way back to her quarters without escort.
What a treasure this is; thank you! I am amazed by the vitality of downtown and the various communities with stores and people everywhere. What a different time it was. What a shame that the street cars were removed. I wonder how different Omaha would be if the street car system had been developed and expanded...
You can see the vitality that results from a modern tramway system in cities such as Manchester UK, and throughout Europe. Covid of course has flattened everything, but we will overcome it.
@@MarmiteCrumpets Please watch what happened in Toronto : th-cam.com/video/8XCYzpHBEkI/w-d-xo.html Thanks
@@MarmiteCrumpets at least in florence the modern LRV has simply devastated the city
This was really cool to see. Thank you for posting. I learned so much.
There's a lot of similarity between Omaha and Denver Tramway. The livery is.almost the same, they were both single ended car operations and Denver converted some of it's fleet to a two window front end. Omaha and Denver both had a double deck car house.
wow i am amazed im a 12yr old railfan and rail enthusiast but i wish i lived in the 40s 50s and 60s to see all of omaha downtown then and all the trains i liked the video you sould make one on the railroads of omaha back then keep up the good work!!!!
Great footage! Thanks!
It is good to see the way it was, thanks!
Mr. Orr, this film was nothing short of fascinating to watch! Thank you very much for compiling these films we would otherwise never see. I was so busy spotting old cars & familiar locations, I got lost in it! Q: How far west did the streetcars go? I saw 50th/Underwood and wondered. City buses in the 50's went to 78th/Dodge, just past the city limits at 72nd st.
Those were surely worse times but as a streetcar enthusiast i can't stop imagining how great it would be to be the conductor of one of these trams
Does anyone know when did the birneys have been retired?
unvaluable job of documentation of history. Well, well done, thanks
Really cool to watch.Thanks
I really enjoyed watching old Omaha roll by--and the technical details you provided about streetcar operation were fascinating. I do have one specific question--at about the 42nd minute mark, you have a street car turning right onto 40th off of Farnam towards Dodge. I've been trying to locate a pre-Embassy Lounge photo of the building at the southeast corner of 40th and Farnam (now Sullivan's). Wondered if the shot you had showed this building before the Embassy Facade was added? Can't quite tell in the video--but it's such an almost, that I had to ask. Really appreciate the work you put into this video. Fascinating!
Pleased you like this video... as stated in details above, it was the complete creation of Richard Orr so I wouldn't be able to answer your specific question.
Absolutely fantastic. Awesome!
I grew up in central Omaha in the 50's, 60's & 70's and some of the shots I recognized right away. I remember the trolley cars but they were just starting to be replaced by buses. The transition left a whole lot of useless, unsued track in the streets and it was years before all of it was removed or covered over; I don't remember which. I left in '79 and now live in the Andes mountains but I'll always be basically, essentially and enthusiastically a guy from Omaha.
I'm an Omaha native but this all pre-dates me and represents a part of the city history that I never experienced. There are still sections of the brick streets ( which I remember and traveled myself ) but there's probably little evidence of the trolley tracks.
The building at 1:18:51 looks very familiar. I think Mr. Orr is almost filming on "my" property 68 years ago. The Sycamores seen on the side of the street the filming is occurring have been removed.
Pure heaven
are the trams in n.c.l colors at this time ?
42:15 That scene does not look much different at all, even nearly 70 years later. The Walnut Hill Reservoir is covered, but is still there. However the 40th and Cuming St. scene has definitely changed since the 50s.
The location at 1:09:46 is still recognizable as 40th and Hamilton. The building on the right is still standing. The tree-covered hill straight ahead on 40th is a corner of the property of the Walnut Hill Reservoir.
Hello Steve, I hope you still come back here to look for new comments. I am planning a video of our streetcars at the Minnesota Streetcar Museum in Minneapolis next month and this is an excellent presentation to prepare viewers for my hands-on demonstration of what makes a city streetcar and how things on it work. If you see this, please drop a comment on my latest entry at "bus old man phil".
Hello, Phil -- TH-cam gave me the "heads-up" that you had left a comment. Good luck with your presentation! I'll check out your page soon.
@@steveraglin7607 We're planning to record the video Wednesday August 5. If the rehearsal comes out good, that will become a take. I'm keeping it quiet around here as I we don't want people around with the Covid thing. Yours is the only video with more than mindless runbys. Yours got into some of the non-revenue movements. Glad you presented Mr Orr's work . We have many film pieces here of our TWIN CITY RAPID TRANSIT system. OK if I give your channel a plug to introduce my clip?
are the trams in n.c.l colors at this point ?
this is pretty dope
So many 7up ads and of corse streetcars.
🇦🇺I live in Australia and we call these things trams.
It is sad what GM did to this country when they bought the streetcars, trolly lines. GM made a lot of money at our expense.
James Dougherty GM didn’t do it, all us car drivers did it
it was neither gm nor cars: the problem is that unfortunately the trams were no longer as indispensable as 20 years before
now the buses were accessible to everyone and in large numbers and there was no longer any reason to maintain all the permanent way installations and vehicles which now needed to be rebuilt / replaced, and so it went as it went
Narrator sounds like Tom Osborne (I know it’s not though).