Interview: James Rhoades

]THE TROLLEY STORY

John A. Rhoades, a long-time resident of Belmont, attended Belmont Elementary and Stivers High School.  He was in the armed services for four years.  He shares his memories of the streetcars of Dayton.

“I have many fond memories of the old Dayton-Xenia Interurban and city streetcars.  The streetcar was my main mode of transportation, and I could ride downtown for three cents each way.  I could then go to a movie for a dime, then go to Gallaghers Drug Store soda fountain to buy a cherry Coke for a nickel.  That was really living.

In the 1930s, I lived on Ferncliff Avenue, which was the last street in the city limits off  Watervliet Avenue.  The streetcars only came out Watervliet to the turnaround located at Kingston Ave, across from the local Kroger store.  This was a long walk for me after leaving the streetcar.  The only cars going past the turnaround were the interurban on the way to Xenia or local streetcars going to the car barn which was located in Greene County on Grange Hall Road.

The interurban operated as an express.  After leaving downtown, it would not stop to pick up or discharge passengers until it was past the turnaround at Kingston.  When we were lucky enough to make the connection downtown, we could ride the interurban because we were riding past the Kingston turnaround.  These cars were more plush and comfortable than the regular streetcars, and we only had to walk a short distance to our home after alighting from the car.  

In the front of the streetcar by the motorman, there were holes in the floor which were spaced to align with the tracks below.  When the motorman wanted to change the direction of travel from one set of tracks to another, he would insert a large tool through the hole to the track and turn the tool causing the track to switch position.  One of the motormen was adept at chewing tobacco and spitting through the hole in the floor – he never missed!

One of the memories I cherish most is the sound of the first streetcar arriving in Dayton after its departure from the car barn in the early morning hours.  In the summer when it was warm and the bedroom windows were open, the chirping of crickets was suddenly interrupted by the growling sound of that first streetcar leaving the barn.  I would listen as it groaned and creaked its way up the hill by the state farm.  As it passed the Richmond Farm, it became louder, then softened as it made its way through Belmont until it made the turn to Arbor Avenue.