Brad Preston is passionate about streetcars. He's not just the man who keeps them running in Kenosha, Wis. He's also a tour guide, part-time driver and amateur videographer, having posted more than 100 videos on YouTube devoted to the cars and other historical modes of transportation. "I really enjoy them," said Preston, who began working for Kenosha as a mechanic in 1985 and has worked on the electric streetcars for the past decade. "I really enjoy meeting all the people who come out to see them."

Visitors from as far away as England and New Zealand have stopped by Preston's shop — officially the city's transit center but dubbed the "streetcar barn" — to see the electric streetcars and go for a ride along the nearly 2-mile loop near the city's redeveloped lakefront.

As I waited with my sister outside the center to hop aboard, it was easy to see why they attract admirers. The clang, clang, clang drew a giddy smile from both of us as the 1951 orange-and-white "Kenosha" car glided through the fog toward us, a black jack-o-lantern face (a special addition for Halloween) smiling back at us from the front of the car.

The Kenosha car is one of seven that operate along the line; the other six are also named after cities that once had streetcar lines, said Ron Iwen, the director of Kenosha Area Transit.

In the early 20th century, streetcars were a major mode of transportation for many Kenosha residents, as they were in other cities across the country.

But the Great Depression and the rise of the automobile after World War II killed most of the lines.

A couple survived — including in Toronto and New Orleans — and today there are a handful of modern streetcar systems and heritage streetcar lines like Kenosha's.

The city's streetcars are all 1951 PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) cars that formerly operated in Toronto and Philadelphia.

"They were given this Art Deco appearance to look like a modern vehicle," Preston said. "And people remember them in their cities when they were kids, or people are just drawn to them because they're different."

My sister and I stepped on, deposited $1 each, and settled in for a short ride around downtown Kenosha.

The inside isn't much different from that of a city bus — carpeted plastic seats, shiny silver poles, pull cords to signal the driver to stop.

This car's Halloween motif continued inside, with cobwebs, skulls, creepy pictures and other festive decorations carefully hung throughout the car.

The streetcar followed a route west along 54th Street, south along 11th Avenue, then east toward the lakefront along 56th. The tracks run mostly along grassy medians, but occasionally on the street. While the cars can hit a top speed of 38 miles per hour, Preston said, they usually travel an average of 11 mph.

Less than 10 minutes later we were clang-clanging through Harbor Park, Kenosha's beautiful lakefront park that's home to a marina, three museums, new condos and green space, among other attractions.

The route finishes back along 54th Street. It's a short but leisurely ride, clearly mostly a fun diversion for tourists and locals rather than a serious mode of public transportation. Iwen said they get 53,000 passengers a year.

"There are local people that will bring their families or grandparents that bring their grandkids," Preston said, adding that some people do use it to get from the marina to the Metra station or other spots downtown. That number could increase as Kenosha looks to expand the route.

The new loop would travel a north-south route for a 4-mile, half-hour trip. Only one car would operate at a time, as it does now, with additional cars added during special events such as July 4th.

Preston said that while the existing line doesn't really follow the route it did in the early 20th century, the new addition would follow some of the historical route.

Preston has photos from that time inside the streetcar barn, alongside photos of the same spots today. Visitors can see the photos and all of the streetcars, including a look underneath, on a tour with Preston. He's usually at the barn weekdays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is happy to show people around if they call ahead.

"People won't come from the Czech Republic here just to do this," he said, "but while they're here and going to Chicago, or wherever, they will come to Kenosha because of the streetcars. Otherwise they'd just fly or drive on by."