Photo from “Pikes Peak Trolleys”

John’s History Corner
Fall & Streetcar Employee Job Changes

The change of season had a radical meaning for many streetcar operators.  There was always a great need for personnel to carry out additional maintenance on the cars during the winter months when passenger traffic was the slowest. 
In 1906 the Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway Company began to manufacture its own cars.  CS&I stood tall beside the big boys such as Brill, St. Louis or Cincinnati, using the same materials that they used: etched glass for the windows, mahogany, ash, maple and oak. The wood had to be dried in our climate before becoming fashioned into the fine products CS&I put out. 
Under a new hiring policy, those accepted for employment as trainmen had to already possess some skill for car construction and repair.  Thus the younger and newer men gained seniority doubling as carpenters, painters and mechanics, metal workers, blacksmiths and electricians.
Prior to this policy the operators with low seniority were laid off once the tourists went home from late summer until the following spring when tourists would again flock to the city.  This system worked well with both the company and its employees, and many a trainman could continue working year-round rather than face unemployment.
Twenty-nine handsome two-man cars were assembled in the CS&I shops in the 500 block of South Cascade Avenue – this in addition to handling all winter maintenance on existing cars.
Today, businesses, such as the Convention and Visitors Bureau,  Computer Resources and South Side Johnny’s occupy the old shop and storage buildings in the 500 blocks of Cascade Ave and Tejon Street.