Kirby Adams, Louisville Courier Journal
Published
10:03 am UTC Feb. 2, 2021
The same day jockey Eddie Arcaro drove Citation to victory at the 74th Run for the Roses, a major form of public transportation in Louisville slammed on the brakes.
Derby weekend 1948 may have been the first stop on the road to the Triple Crown for Citation but it was also the end of the line for the Louisville streetcar. The system started to crumble in the late 1930s, said Louisville
historian Tom Owens. That main Fourth Street Line that took passengers to Churchill Downs was the last to shut down.
Once the most modern and coveted form of transportation, the cost of laying streetcar rail and vying for space on streets alongside cars and buses were among the reasons the rail system petered out in cities across the country. It didn t take long for Louisvillians to forget all about the old lines that used to crisscross the area, except for a few public transportation enthusiasts a