American Experience - “The Race Underground” (America's first subway)

[Mr Downtown]

There was virtually no private ROW for streetcars in the US. The Southern California interurban system (not the LARy streetcar system) had some, and there were the median operations in New Orleans, but otherwise just a very few short special situations here and there. In 1937, for example, Chicago had 1038 miles of track. Less than 7 was on private ROW.