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Tulsa's streetcars 1922: Frequent service

As a point of comparison, Tulsa Transit bus service doesn't run evenings (except for a few special night lines), and typical headways are 30 minutes or longer between buses. DO YOU KNOW THAT STREET CAR SERVICE STARTS On the Kendall-West Fifth car line at 5:00 a.m. and after 6:44 a....

Posted by Michael Bates on January 4, 2012 1:03 AM

The old paths: Historic Oklahoma USGS maps

My apologies for the lapse since my last post. I've been writing, but it's all technical stuff for the gig that pays most of the bills. While I was at the Coffee House on Cherry Street cranking away on that technical documentation, a customer at the next table, a gentleman...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 29, 2010 1:29 AM

Tulsa streetcar and interurban lines in Google Maps

In response to a thread at TulsaNow's public forum, here is a map showing the routes of Tulsa's three streetcar/interurban lines: Red is the Tulsa Street Railway, blue is Oklahoma Union Traction, and green is the Sand Springs Railway. The latter two lines had interurban routes to Sapulpa and Kiefer...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 15, 2009 12:30 AM

Tracks of the trolley

I mentioned a few weeks ago my stunned amazement as I drove down Quincy Ave.: Looking south on Quincy Ave. from 6th St., I noticed a tell-tale pair of parallel cracks in the asphalt, each crack about the same distance from the middle of the street. The distance between the...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 4, 2009 7:21 AM

Cracks and tracks

I was driving around the Pearl District -- the topic of my upcoming column -- this evening just about sunset. Looking south on Quincy Ave. from 6th St., I noticed a tell-tale pair of parallel cracks in the asphalt, each crack about the same distance from the middle of the...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 15, 2009 6:47 PM