http://www.freep.com/article/20100307/N ... streetcars
For a generation of Detroiters, streetcars -- not automobiles -- were often the sole means of transportation and their lifeline to the world beyond their neighborhoods.

Having ridden them since his youth, Jack Schramm never outgrew his fascination with streetcars and eventually became an employee with Detroit Street Railways, the department that was renamed the Detroit Department of Transportation.

Mr. Schramm, who chronicled the streetcars' past in myriad articles and a series of books he coauthored, died Feb. 24 of a heart attack at Park Place at Heritage Village in Warren, an assisted living facility. He was 85.

Another article about Mr. Schramm:
http://detnews.com/article/20100309/OBI ... it-transit
Jack Schramm was so captivated by Metro Detroit's transportation system, he set out to track its history.

The Detroit Department of Transportation veteran became a veritable expert, spending years collecting information for several books chronicling the area's streetcar and inter-urban electric railway operations.

"He was probably 'the' Detroit historian for transit," said Jim Hinkins, regional chairman for the Michigan Association of Rail Passengers and former board member of Transportation Riders United.

"He's catalogued every type of bus and every type of streetcar we had in Detroit."