Comeback for trolleys in Brooklyn?

[dhermann1]

This guy Bob Diamond has been around for decades trying to revive interest in trolleys in New York City. At times he's looked like an outright crackpot. But I admire his perseverance. And of course he's right. Trolleys SHOULD be brought back in New York, and all across the country.
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stor...ould-make-a-comeback-in-red-hook/Default.aspx

 

[Feraud]

I am beginning to tally the lost limb count from New Yorkers hopping on an off a trolley. Let the lawsuits begin.

 

[Tomasso]

Let's throw in some horse-drawn vehicles as well!

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[olive bleu]

Great article! We have a Trolley here that makes several runs a day, giving tourists rides through historic Halifax. And I know many places do the same, but i would love to see them come back as a viable form of transportion for residents not just as a tourism gimmick, for all of the reasons mentioned here..

 

[DutchIndo]

I agree with Feraud, I see lawsuits. Remember that was a different time. There was no OSHA, Paint Buckets with Child Drowning warning signs. It seems back then people weren't thought of as idiots. There was also a lot of PERSONAL Responsibilities back then. I won't even get into crime. They had tried the Blue Line here in Long Beach years ago. I don't know if it suceeded or not.

 

[dhermann1]

I would suspect that with modern technology trolleys are a lot safer than they were 100 years ago.
I had a friend, who, if he's still alive, would be about 95 by now, who was a trolley conductor in the 1920's He had a terrible accident once. The catenary boom on top of the trolley became disengaged from the catenary wire above. When this happened, the conductor had to get out, grab a rope attached to the boom, and pull the boom down and over, and hook it back onto the wire. As he was doing this the trolley was hit by a car or a truck or something. His body was messed up for the rest of his life.
But I don't recall ever hearing of a major accident on any of the existing light rail systems in the country right now, such as San Diego.

 

[David Conwill]

Streetcars (I can’t bring myself to call them trolleys - as I don’t live in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood), are an excellent idea, and still in use all over the world. I heard recently, but haven’t confirmed, that the old Detroit Street Railway cars still ply the tracks of Mexico City. The city of Kenosha, Wisconsin has a small fleet of PCC streetcars (the iconic, streamlined 1940s style) serving its waterfront. Toronto is also well served by streetcars, as are many cities in Europe.

Streetcars have several advantages in a community. Largest in my mind is that buses leave no permanent reminders, so there’s no sense of community connection to mass transit, streetcar tracks are always there and remind you that, like the opposite sex, if you miss a streetcar, there’ll be another along in a few minutes.

Grand Rapids, Michigan seems to be on the path of bringing back streetcar service, and I’m quite excited. I’d love to see the revival of streetcars in every city that once had them, or has grown to a size where it would have had them in the teens and twenties, and not just for nostalgia reasons (though for purely aesthetic reasons, I'd like to see the PCC design reproduced, and not have a trend toward European-style cars). Follow that with light passenger rail connecting urban areas, and suddenly we’ve got a practical transportation infrastructure again.

Cars won’t ever go away, but I’d like to see them resume the role held by the horse and buggy at the end of the 19th Century - purely local transportation and not an absolute necessity. If MADD wants to do something constructive, they should throw their massive lobbying power behind rail-based mass transit. There’d be far less repeat offending by drunk drivers if cars weren’t such a necessity, and driving would resume its legal position - a privilege.

-Dave

 

[Haversack]

dhermann wrote: "The catenary boom on top of the trolley became disengaged from the catenary wire above. When this happened, the conductor had to get out, grab a rope attached to the boom, and pull the boom down and over, and hook it back onto the wire."

This is a daily occurrence in San Francisco. There are dozens of bus lines here that use trolley-buses. These are regular rubber-tired buses that are powered by electricity provided by twin overhead wires. Booms often disengage at corners if the driver doesn't make the turn just right. It is also something of a prank by some kids to run out and pull on the boom rope to disengage the boom and make the bus stop dead.

Most of the newer trolley-buses now have back up batteries now so they can get out of traffic if it is too dangerous for the driver to dismount.

Haversack.

 

[Shangas]

Trolleys, trams, streetcars, etc, should be brought back around the world universally, I think. They look cool, they're quiet, clean and convenient form of public transport. I'm glad that Melbourne's tram-system (one of the largest in the world), is still operational after over 100 years of service. I use it almost every day.

 

[campy]

If trolleys come back to Brooklyn, they should also bring the Dodgers back to dodge the new trolleys!

 

[Shangas]

I think all the hardcore greenies out there would jump at the chance to ride on trolleys. Literally and figuratively.

 

[Widebrim]

If trolleys come back to Brooklyn, they should also bring the Dodgers back to dodge the new trolleys!

Case closed!:eusa_clap

 

[cookie]

Sydeny lost its trams but Melbourne kept its own though they are more like the German enclosed variety now. That is why Melbourne is so much easier to get around.

 

[Shangas]

Sydeny lost its trams but Melbourne kept its own though they are more like the German enclosed variety now. That is why Melbourne is so much easier to get around.

Yes, Sydney doesn't have a tram-network anymore. I think it's a pity that Melbourne does not have its old W-class trams in regular service anymore. They were so beautiful.

That's a W-class tram. They were prominent on Melbourne's tramlines from the 1920s until pretty recently (I was a child of the 1990s and I remember growing up with these old darlings!). I think they're still found on some select routes, and on the City Circle tram-service in the CBD, but apart from that, they've largely been withdrawn from regular public service. Most of the trams on Melbourne's lines these days are freakish modern contraptions that look more like bullet-trains, although, to their credit - the modern trams are a lot quieter. These old, jazz-age clankers are INCREDIBLY noisy. The rattling they make can be heard for blocks around, even over the drone of full rush-hour traffic.

You can still find these old-style, 1930s trams on routes 30, 78, 79 and the City Circle Route. The oldest W-class trams still operating regularly in Melbourne date from WWII.