http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/25/street-cars-trolleys-making-comeback-in-us/
Windmills and streetcars...what's next?
Windmills and streetcars...what's next?
Good News for Trolley Fans
- Thread starter Euphod
- Start date
Interesting you should raise this about trams. There is a monthly tram magazine that comes out here in Gt Britain and I like to see it being a tram fan. In the news section for around the world there is a regular slot ffrom dozens of countries and the US figures regularily for new systems/extensions. In fact a number of cities have brought them back often using the modern name of "light rail" which is just a nifty name for trams, or streetcars/trollies across the pond. Europe has always had these and we have cities here with them again and the surge is spreading in America. I think this is good news as modern transport though I can skip the windmills as they don't travel very far.......
Under construction on the Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise) Queensland is a new Light Rail system intended to be operational in 2014,there's a lot of dissention about it's construction through the main shopping centers, with many shops claiming the disruption is costing them a lot of money.
I have allready changed my old "Surfside Trams 2" route too include it, as 80% was already there and only needed a change of track Plus adding another 3 Kl west of SouthPort to the New
University Hospital>
NormP
I have allready changed my old "Surfside Trams 2" route too include it, as 80% was already there and only needed a change of track Plus adding another 3 Kl west of SouthPort to the New
University Hospital>
NormP
It is a wee bit funny I suppose. But the modern vehicles tend to be more than one car and are still trams. In occasional places in Europe there have been tram-trains and there has been talk of such here too. Trams basically I supose are 'light rail' but for the vast majority of folk they are trams or as across the pond, trollies/streetcars. Remember to that many here and in Europe given the modern name which all it is, run on streets as awell as reserved tracks. This happens in the US too.
schweitzerdude
Active member
Euphod: I agree with you
North American terminology reflects recent new LRT (and streetcar) systems, in my opinion because previous non-metro electric transit systems were largely eliminated after WWII, whereas in Europe/UK they were not.
Portland, Oregon, USA has
1. modern light rail transit (MAX)
2. modern streetcars (city center)
3. a suburban commuter rail line
4. an "aerial tram"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram
5. Buses.
Here's a link to see what they have - I have ridden some of it but still have much to ride.
http://trimet.org/schedules/index.htm
This link describes the Portland Streetcar (1st new streetcar system in the USA since WWII using modern equipment (Skoda) and the difference from Portland's light rail transit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar
North American terminology reflects recent new LRT (and streetcar) systems, in my opinion because previous non-metro electric transit systems were largely eliminated after WWII, whereas in Europe/UK they were not.
Portland, Oregon, USA has
1. modern light rail transit (MAX)
2. modern streetcars (city center)
3. a suburban commuter rail line
4. an "aerial tram"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram
5. Buses.
Here's a link to see what they have - I have ridden some of it but still have much to ride.
http://trimet.org/schedules/index.htm
This link describes the Portland Streetcar (1st new streetcar system in the USA since WWII using modern equipment (Skoda) and the difference from Portland's light rail transit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar
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Whether we call tem trams, trollies, light rail the word is interchangeable over all of them. However there are a whole list of American cities with light rail-trams, etc. Places like the US and UK dismissed these years ago as old fashioned yet other places in the world kept them and continued to modernise. In France the governemnt actually introduced a policy stating how many miles they wanted across their cities. Now the US and UK have rediscovered them. We could of cours nitpick about terminology but I have noted that systems which used former rail lines and labelled "Light Rail" also operated on city streets. In the old days on both sides of the pond, trams had one carriage but there is no hard and fast rule on that description. Trams on the Continent went on to become more than one carriage but still trams. Whatever we call them they are a modern method of transport and still extending in the world at large and long may that continue. I find them more comfortable to ride than a damn bus that shows you every bump in the road!
We always called them trolleys. Even now the Green Line in Boston is all LRVs but we call them trolleys. At one time they were those famous PCC Trolley cars and before that they were DeWhitts and Brills. Very rarely did Boston ever run single cars. They were always in pairs or triple-set units.
John
John
TramDU1214
No custom Title :-(
I'll quote the former mayor of Hamburg about the closure of the tram network:
But in former east Germany, there are some small networks still alive, which have survived due to politic reasons, because the government limited cars and supported public transport (cheap fares, new routes, new trams). Most were modernized after the reunification, but some (Woltersdorf, Nauenburg and the Kirnitzschtalbahn) even have nostalgic value, they use old trams in regular service.
In west Germany, we have lost quite a few tram networks (Western Berlin, Hamburg, almost Munic and many more) due to a stupid ideology of a "car friendly" city, not due to understandable reasons (financial situation, traffic situation etc.).
But in former east Germany, there are some small networks still alive, which have survived due to politic reasons, because the government limited cars and supported public transport (cheap fares, new routes, new trams). Most were modernized after the reunification, but some (Woltersdorf, Nauenburg and the Kirnitzschtalbahn) even have nostalgic value, they use old trams in regular service.
The east German cities were smart and forward thinking. We have many regrets today too for removing our tram networks. Boston has the remaining trolley (tram) network in the area and this runs from Cambridge to Newton. There were once other branches but they were removed over the past 50 years. The last two came up in 2009 and 2012, although they hadn't been used in over 25 years prior. Sadly the people wanted them and even went as far as to sign petitions in favor of the lines. The MBTA, which runs the Green Line as it's called, removed the tracks anyway.
Is Hamburg considering replacements or rebuilding their lines they foolishly removed?
John
GossenGarrat
New member
I think a lot of cities are realizing that removing their trams/trolleys/streetcars was a poor decision. Atlanta, Ga had a huge trolley network, but it was torn out during the 60s and I only know of two surviving cars, both awaiting restoration at the Southeastern Railway Museum. Now Atlanta is building a light rail line to try and revitalize the dying downtown.
TramDU1214
No custom Title :-(
The last attemp last year was killed by the elected mayor
... again.
The idea usually pops up around elections and disappears shortly after.
Instead they use Bendybusses up to every 2 minutes (this line was the last Tramline)
... again.The idea usually pops up around elections and disappears shortly after.
Instead they use Bendybusses up to every 2 minutes (this line was the last Tramline)
It would be interesting to know how many American cities actually do have tramways today as I am aware that several cities have brought them back. We have 5 cities with modern tram systems plus Blackpool which is now converting to modern trams and never closed (apart from city centre routes before WW2). The Continent had the right idea keeping them and gradually modernising. On my two visits to the Netherlands, I was most impressed with the Amsterdam network andgot a runabout ticket to spend some time tramming.
GossenGarrat
New member
RJHowie, this site has a list of all cities that have or are planning a tram system in the US and Canada.
http://www.railwaypreservation.com/vintagetrolley/trolleylist.htm
http://www.railwaypreservation.com/vintagetrolley/trolleylist.htm
Thanks for that information GossenGarrat. The monthly Tram magazine that I occasionally browse through here gives the news from around the world and of course if there is no news then you don't know who has a system or not. That is helpful and confirms my view that there has been a trend over there in recent years.
The Lowell Trolley is run by the Lowell Mills National Park. There is a single trolley car that runs around on a former B&M branch line that once served the mills in the city. It would be nice if the old Eastern Mass. lines were still in use. The trolley is a replica of an old one in the style of the Eastern Mass. trolleys that used to run in Lowell on the streets. The old street running tracks are long gone, probably dug up in the late 1950s when EM went under.
At one time, the Eastern Mass. ran all over the state with a line that went up to Salem New Hampshire where there was a trolley park. Canobie Lake Amusement Park is still open today. In Salem, NH on Route 97 is a former trolley barn. This building now houses multiple stores. Across the street along Lawrence Road is a little bit of old ROW still in existance.
John