Just got a tip from Darrin Goodman (the mando from Horsetooth Mountain Rangers) that construction on Remington and Pitkin has exposed tracks.
According to the Fort Collins Muni Railroad folks, there were originally 3 streetcar lines in Fort Collins, with one going to the “new” high school at Remington and Pitkin (which is now the “old” high school or the “new” University Center for the Arts).
Street car at Pitkin and Remington, 1948. From http://history.fcgov.com
Pitkin and Remington, July 2009
Those are, in fact, streetcar tracks making a turn from Remington onto Pitkin. But they won’t be for long. City crews are digging them up as part of a project to repave Remington.
A man in a hard hat at the scene told me they intend to remove one old section of track and take it to the Trolley Barn. But he wasn’t confident the track could survive the excavation.
The Fort Collins steetcar system ran from 1919 to 1951. A restored line and car has run along Mountain Ave, between City Park and Downtown, on summer weekends since the mid-1980s.
Tracks after excavation.
I fondly remember the “Gallopin’ Goose”, as the Fort Collins Trolley cars were nicknamed. I remember especially one of the motormen, whose name was Jess Beeler. He was a thin, wiry fellow who seemed to get the best speed out of the trolley cars. We kids were always excited to get on and see him driving! I remember too, especially in the Fall of the year, when dry autumn leaves would fall on the tracks and cause the iron wheels to shoot a lot of sparks!