Dad knows my favorite way of getting around town is on my bike. He bought me a neon green light reflector jacket and always asks if I have my helmet.  I morn the day it goes into the basement for winter. With two saddlebags, lights and a bell, I  go anywhere.  High heels don’t stop me — I don’t use my heels when I peddle.

He taught me how to ride when I was five.  He told me to climb on my red Schwinn and said that he would hold the back of the bike as I pumped. I did — he didn’t.  Thrilled with my little ride, I slowed down, pushed back on the brakes and set my feet on the ground. I turned for his affirmation and he was standing 100 or so yards back where we had started, cheering.

When we were growing up, Dad always rode his bike to work. When he was growing up, he got around town on streetcars.  –Debbie

It’s interesting to read about all the arguments over light rail going on right now.  When I grew up, that’s all we had was light rail.

There were streetcars everywhere. The Joblanskis lived next door to us on Pierce Street. They had adult children who worked. On Saturday I’d go over there and they’d give me their streetcar passes. I don’t know if it was legal or not but I’d take them down to the corner of Concordia and Holton and I’d sell the passes for 10 cents each. If someone didn’t buy it, it would cost them 10 cents each way — if they bought mine they’d save a dime. So I’d sell passes on Saturday night.

The streetcars came down Holton Street and they were just everywhere. After Dolores and I got married they were on Oakland Avenue and they ended right there on Kenwood. They’d switch to a single track and the conductor would come out and raise the attachment that had been in the back of the car up to the power line. Then he’d go to what had been the front and pull down the power line attachment. He’d take his controls out of what was now the back and put them on the other end and switch the whole thing around and drive it out. They’d come out at the single track and jog over to the track going the other direction.

They had a change box that they’d move around from end to end but they finally had to drop that — I think because they were getting robbed. But anyhow, street cars were all over, North Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, everywhere. The last line was Wells Street That used to run across the valley where Miller Brewery is. There was a wooden trestle they had built for the street cars and the cars would just shake back and forth as they went across that trestle because being just wood, it wasn’t perfect.

Then for out of town trips there was the interurban. It was like a streetcar but it had plush seats and you could take that one north to Sheboygan or west to Watertown.  Somewhere along the line I had a job cutting grass out in Thiensville so I’d take the interurban.

I was on the golf team one semester. There were ten guys on it and I was number ten.  We’d take the interurban out to Brown Deer Park. You could get anywhere on them.

From there they went to the trackless trollies.  They were like buses but they still had connection to the overhead power.  Eventually, we went to motorized buses and all the electric power was gone. It was interesting because that was a good method of transportation and we had all these routes that were dedicated. They tried to save them and make walkways out of them but they’re mostly gone now. It’s too bad. If we still had the right-of-ways, it would be easier to return to  light rail.

When it was announced that the last run of the streetcar was coming up I took you, Ed and John – Joan wasn’t born yet — down to Wells St. We got on the streetcar and road around. I wanted you all to have a chance to ride on the streetcar.

Anyhow, that’s the light rail of my childhood and early adulthood.”

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