TheCable Tramway Company ofOmaha, Nebraska started in 1884 and ended in 1895.[1] It was the onlycable car line ever built in Omaha, and had only four lines of tracks in operation.[2]
The Omaha Cable Tramway Company was originally formed in 1884, and began operating in 1887. Its power house was at 20th and Harney Streets inDowntown Omaha.[3]
Frederick Drexel, who came to Omaha in 1856, helped incorporate the Cable Tramway Company in 1887.[4] FormerOmaha mayorEzra Millard was the first treasurer of the company when he died in 1886,[5] andSamuel R. Johnson was the president.[6]
The company had a bad image because of frequent disruptions in service caused by cable breakages. The cables were made of wire andhemp rope. In 1887 the company was sued by theOmaha Horse Railway for infringing on its territory after the Cable Tramway Company built tracks on the same street the railway operated on. The case was dismissed by a district court judge.[7]
After electrically powered trams were introduced in Omaha, in April 1889 the Cable Tramway Company consolidated with the Omaha Horse Railway under the nameOmaha Street Railway Company, which was then disbanded in 1896.[8]