Much dismissed as a slow moving nuissance to automobiles, the city's streetcar system, which began in 1859, was electrified beginning about 1890, and was abandoned by late 1963 moved large numbers of people about the bustling city with unparrallled efficiency.  Many artifacts of this impressive system remain intact today, offering a glimpse into this people mover of the past.
	No streetcar could operate without the tracks.  While very few examples survive uncovered today, many portions emerge routinely beneath the wearing pavement of the city streets.
	Streetcars called the "Car Barns" home in between jaunts along their lines.  Though becoming increasingly endangered, some of these barns persist today, with others carrying minor surviving evidence.
	With its running on electric power, the substantial system needed power stations to keep the cars flowing smoothly.  Here's a look at some neat power structures that remain intact.
	Poles and wire were the final part of the equation to making the system operate smoothly.  The distinctive support poles for the span wire surivie all about town years after the dismantling of the system.
	Intended as a connection between Baltimore and Washington, this ambitious line never made it beyond Ellicott City.  Still it lasted for several decades as one of the most interesting of the car lines.
	An example of one particular line and its surviving relics: the #6 line served thousands of residents and commuters in its journey from Orangeville to Fairfield and Curtis Bay.
	Another ambitious interurban project intended to stretch to Butler, Pennsylvania, the B&N made it as far as Glyndon before giving up.  Stretches of its original route remain visible today.
	One of the more unforgettable trips to many a youngster in the early to mid 20th Century, the Bay Shore's picturesque route to the Chesapeake is largely undisturbed over 50 years later.
	The City Park Railway was the area's first powered local rail route, connecting City residents with Druid Hill Park.  Three ornate shelters and a swath of right of way linger long after the line's demise.
	Among the three most picturesque streetcar lines in the area, along with the Ellicott City and Bay Shore routes, the Lorraine Line offered an unusual ride out to the middle of no-where, or so it seemed.
	A unique experiment among the area's rail operations, the Towson and Cockeysville offered electric streetcar service without wires, with a succession of battery powered cars that limped along.
	The 1897 map of Baltimore offers an intriguing mystery, an unusual alignment for the Walbrook streetcar line along Clifton Avenue.  Witness the search for clues for this hook shaped grade.
	To attract ridership in the early days, the streetcar companies constructed a number of waiting shelters to the convenience of its riders.  Some of these continue along today.
	Though rarely admitted by those who insist that "Light Rail" is new, many if not most of Baltimore's Streetcar lines had portions of private running that were often extensive.  Some persist today, the proof:...
	Not all the trolleys ran on the rails.  Unlike the pseudo-quaint "trolley" buses of today, the trackless trolleys of old were designed to speed large numbers of commuters in electric comfort and silence,