Random Photos of Trolley Cars

PSCT Public Service of New Jersey Sweeper

MNCW posted:

Thanks for the color trolley movie, very nice. Never had seen that before. Interesting to see how the cars interacted with the trolleys. At around 2:03 into it you can see the marquee for the Kimball Theatre sticking out on the right side of the street. 

Tom 

Hello Tom

Here is a better quality movie -- from 2015,  of the fully restored TARS Trolley # 678 at the National Capital Trolley Museum in Wheaton Maryland.  This is the type of TARS streetcar we rode on Yonkers Ave & Maclean Ave back in that 1949-51 period.  This video had all the sounds and feel of the actual car  - both exterior and filmed inside the car behind the operator worth a look to see what it was like to ride one.  I can close my eyes and I'm riding in Yonkers again !  Even with the chatter of the "other passengers..."   LINK BELOW

RIDING ON A T.A.R.S. TROLLEY CAR in 2015 - IN COLOR

BELOW also are two photos of my model of TARS CAR # 629  shown on the street in the shadows of my overhead Elevated Train Line -- Car # 629 which is the sister to # 678 seen operating in the Museum movie !!

Regards - Joe F

Joe (& all), I found a part II of the TARS YouTube video that is pretty cool. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAE4Qf8IA1I

I liked seeing the cobblestone streets of Yonkers in the 1940's and some cool looking cars and trucks including one woody wagon. Also, since this was before my time, I thought I noticed a tendency of drivers to want to pass the trolleys whenever possible. Was it any worse than being behind today's local buses? 

At 18:10, there is Yonkers Ave and Walnut St., which I knew very well as my wife and her family lived 2 blocks up and I used to buy her flowers at that very corner (the building diagonally across the street looks like it was then a luncheonette with a Coke sign on it, later it would be Cascade Florist, closed for maybe 10-20 years now). 

Tom 

Thank you every nice video   

York Rwys 402 in Snow near Dallastown PA

Eureka Municipal Rwy Line Car at Barn in 1939

P&N 5004

WB&A Freight Motors at the Washington Terminal

On the Savannah & Statesboro Rwy

Corry and Columbus 4 wheel car on the Brokenstraw Creek Bridge

Milwaukee, 1951. J.M. Canfield photo, James H. Yanke collection.  

I would like to know what is happening in this photo of trolley cars on Staten Island, NY. What colors were these car? There are few photos of Staten Island trolley cars posted on the internet. It would be nice to know more about Staten Island's trolley system.

mwb posted:

WB&A Freight Motors at the Washington Terminal

I used to jog along the right of way of the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis when I lived in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

International Rwys Snowplow

#MWB. I want One!! 

"International Rwys Snowplow"

thanks for sharing... salute

My ride on the Yakima Valley. Don

One more inside the barn. Don

FJ&G Plow

mwb posted:

A PRT Coal Motor

That's D-7, which is preserved (but not restored) at the ECTMA in Scranton.  

www.ectma.org

Here's a couple. First Northwestern Pacific along the bay in Marin County. Then a nice shot of the Key system on it'sown right of way in Berkeley Calif. (Before the riots) Don

Bobby Ogage posted:

Is there any hope that the Queensborough Bridge Car 601, the last trolley car to run in New York City, can be restored to operating condition?

601 was scrapped a number of years ago, with parts being split between the ECTMA and Branford.  A hill side at TMNY supposedly let go and crushed one side of what remained of 601 and that was the final nail in the coffin.  

On a bright note, many parts of 601 have been used for the resurrection of sister electromobile Scranton Transit #505, including window tee post sections and roof carlines.  Other items were too far deteriorated to be reused but have been helpful as patterns for replacement parts.  

For two cars that were preserved in operational condition after service, it's pretty sad that both were allowed to deteriorate so severely.  If it were not for the availability of builder's drawings we would be losing both to history.  

Car #505 should be back on the rails sometime in 2019, and Queensboro Bridge fans should know that a little bit of 601 will be along for the ride, too.  Please check out the ECTMA website and 'like' our facebook page for progress updates.  Donations appreciated.

https://www.facebook.com/ScrantonTrolley505/

https://www.gofundme.com/new-d...scranton-trolley-505

http://www.ectma.org

I am enjoying the "randomness" of this post very much.  The following photos aren't random for me but they might be for you :-}  All are from a Pittsburgh, PA photo archive.

1890-1910 Pittsburgh RR Birney-Style Trolley

Sheridan/Ingram 31, Ingram Trolley Barn, Pittsburgh, PA

1940-50 Pittsburgh Trolley 1600

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Montclaire posted:

mwb posted:

A PRT Coal Motor

That's D-7, which is preserved (but not restored) at the ECTMA in Scranton.  

www.ectma.org

Outstanding information - I now have a valid excuse to visit Scranton!

Someone should be shot for allowing 601 to deteriorate. When Mr. Everette White passed on ownership and responsibility for the car became ambiguous. When alive he was a "one man" operation and refused to involve anyone else in decisions regarding the cars. In later years he became very irritable. I was a child volunteer along with others and he basically shooed us away. He was a "one man band". He wore out his welcome with the SIRT who stored the car at the St. George yard where I helped touch up the paint in 1959. The story that the cars had to be moved because the track was being pulled up is nonsense. For a while it was stored by the NYCTA and they would not permit access. I tried. The Staten Island cars (red mikes) were removed by truck and car float from the Arlington Proctor and Gamble plant. Some went to the Bronx. A switch and some trolley rails are still under the pavement on Stapleton across the street from the library.

My mother grew up in Western Pa., so I bought this book for her years ago. Service seems to have ended in 1963. I actually remember riding some when visiting relatives during summers. 

http://www.tubecityonline.com/almanac/entry_2347.php

Tom 

MWB - she's tucked inside the barn at the stadium.  Not part of the regular tour but if you ask nicely I'm sure they will let you take a peek at her.  Woodwork is shot but the good thing is there isn't that much to replace.  She is on the long list for cosmetic resto and static display.  

From the ECTMA website:

"Car #D-7 was built by PRT's own 8^th Street shops in 1908 as #2624, being renumbered in 1912. It was an unusual "coal trolley," resembling a railroad hopper car with end platforms and a pole added. The car dutifully hauled coal to power stations where PRT generated its own electricity. PRT gradually bought more and more power rather that generating its own, and it closed its power stations slowly between 1913 and 1925. Car #D-7 was then converted into a vacuum cleaner car for the streetcar Subway-Surface tunnel. It was sold off in 1971 and is the only coal trolley preserved today."

Photo credit Chris Guenzler

Bobby Ogage posted:

I would like to know what is happening in this photo of trolley cars on Staten Island, NY. What colors were these car? There are few photos of Staten Island trolley cars posted on the internet. It would be nice to know more about Staten Island's trolley system.

Bobby, I found this article in the Staten Island Leader from later in 1924. Not sure if they are related. Judging by your picture, it appears they are being removed as opposed to being delivered. The article talks about cessation of service due to water main repairs, so one probably does not have to do with the other, but it is still nice to find anything from that long ago.

Tom 

Bobby Ogage posted:

I would like to know what is happening in this photo of trolley cars on Staten Island, NY. What colors were these car? There are few photos of Staten Island trolley cars posted on the internet. It would be nice to know more about Staten Island's trolley system.

Bobby, Now this article may actually have something to do with your question. More close to when your picture was taken, also from the Staten Island Leader, this one is from August 8,1924. Seems like there was a system wide changeover as trolleys were being rebuild to operate as 1-man trolleys.  Maybe they were stored here and taken to the car barns when space permitted for the repairs to be done. Just a guess, though. 

Also, I noticed in your neat picture that there are a few young boys off to the left of the truck. I would imagine this would have been pretty entertaining to watch. 

Tom 

A little Petaluma & Santa Rosa action. Don

DEP Sweeper...........funky looking,  

mwb posted:

DEP Sweeper...........funky looking,  

Very! In addition to that boxed front, I'm intrigued by the rounded window on the front side.  Looking closely through the windows, it looks like there's another one used in a window that's further down on the other side.  Canibalized odds and ends?

TRRR

TomlinsonRunRR posted:

mwb posted:

DEP Sweeper...........funky looking,  

Very! In addition to that boxed front, I'm intrigued by the rounded window on the front side.  Looking closely through the windows, it looks like there's another one used in a window that's further down on the other side.  Canibalized odds and ends?

TRRR

I suspect that the ends were added and that the curved portion covers and houses the mechanism for raising & lowering and "steering" the angle of the sweepers.  The cab area above it was probably added as well then and just to give the motorman a better extended view.  But that's all conjecture,

On the Phila & Easton Electric Rwy

I find this photo of Conestoga Transportation Co. No. 183 interesting because of the curtains. I had no idea an open car would have curtains for inclement weather. It must have been an interesting ride with the curtains down. Getting off through the curtains must have been exciting.

This car is Suffolk Traction No. 2 on the Montauk Highway in Patchogue, Long Island, NY. No.2 is a battery powered car. There were plans to extend the railway across Long Island to Port Jefferson, but the line never left Patchogue.

Here's is a very special picture for me. The PE system in Los Angeles. What makes it special is the hot dog stand on the right. It was one of my Pops later to be renamed Don's Hot Dogs. A friend with a huge collection of train pictures had this in his collection. I found it and he made me a copy. I played at that signal gas station all the time. Don

Southern New York Railway Snowplow

For Brooklyn Dodger baseball fans, here is how the team got its name.

          Dodging trolley cars to get into Ebbets Field.

Car                                                No. 1000 is the first PCC car.

Bobby Ogage posted:

For Brooklyn Dodger baseball fans, here is how the team got its name.

          Dodging trolley cars to get into Ebbets Field.

Car                                                No. 1000 is the first PCC car.

Hi Bobby:

Nice shots of trolleys in front of Ebbets Field.  But are you sure about car #1000 being the first PCC car? 

Brooklyn & Queens Transit Corp. did place the first ORDER for PCC Cars.  But sources disagree on which PCC car was the first to be delivered to a customer.  One source (#1 below) indicates that Brooklyn car #1001 (not #1000) was rushed to completion by St. Louis Car Co. and was the first PCC Car delivered in May 1936 albeit with some hand-made components.  Source #2 says Pittsburgh Railways car #100 was also rushed to completion and the first to be delivered to a customer but that source does not give a delivery date.  I did see a delivery date elsewhere of June 1936 for Pittsburgh car #100 so I believe the honor of first DELIVERED PCC car goes to BQT #1001.  Car #1001 is referred to as the first “Production” PCC. 

Brooklyn car #1000 in your photo was a one-of-a-kind PCC built by Clark Equipment using an aluminum body supplied by Alcoa.  The table in the appendix of Source #1 says that it was delivered in 1937.  BTW the standee windows on car #1000 were a first for a PCC as standee windows did not become an option on PCC’s until after WWII.   

Now we Pittsburghers would rather define “first PCC car” as the first PCC to carry fare-paying passengers.  That honor does go to Pittsburgh Railways #100 which went into service no later than September 1936 (again sources disagree on the exact month) whereas the first Brooklyn PCC car did not go into service until October 1936. 

Among the sources I used were: 

1.    The 1986 book “The PCC Car – An American Original” by Seymour Kashin and Harre Demoro.  (FWIW - the relevant info on Wikipedia came from this book)

2.    The 1980 book “PCC – The Car That Fought Back” by Stephen Carlson and Fred Schneider. 

3.    The 1983 book “PCC From Coast to Coast” by the same two authors

Bill

This thread is fantastic!!!