Challenge: Street Cars from Around The World!!

[Doug Kerr]

Doug has a detailed and image-rich thread, Street Cars in New Orleans. This new thread here, is for Street Cars from all over the world! So go through your collections, digital and film for your snaps too! ADK


Electric streetcar service in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA has a long and proud history.......

Douglas A. Kerr: St. Charles streetcar, New Orleans

Doug

[fahim mohammed]

Doug, Your narration adds so much more to the enjoyment.

One of my fav places to visit in the US.

Thanks for sharing.

[Asher Kelman]

This is a great topic, Doug. San Francisco for sure, I'll dig them up! Maybe some from Europe too.

Asher

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

Originally Posted by Asher Kelman

This is a great topic, Doug. San Francisco for sure, I'll dig them up! Maybe some from Europe too.

We have some from San Francisco. I'll dig them up when we get back home.

Best regards,

Doug

[fahim mohammed]

It is difficult to get bigger ones in here!!

[fahim mohammed]

If you really want the big ones...

[fahim mohammed]

A little smaller..

[fahim mohammed]

Early morning till the very late at night..on time.

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by Doug Kerr

Disclaimer:

Note that this thread was originally captioned "Streetcars of New Orleans" and was in another forum section, to which the stricture "brief comments only" did not apply.

It has subsequently (without leave from me, and without any real explanation) been relocated to this section and apparently repurposed as a thread inviting pictures of streetcars from wherever.

I cannot be responsible for any seeming improprieties in my posts to it resulting from this provenance.

Best regards,

Doug

You're quite safe, Doug! "Dog" the Bounty hunter said, "Doug?" Nah, let him be!"

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by fahim mohammed

If you really want the big ones...

I was wondering whether or not these grand ladies of the road still ran! I was going to search for exactly this. Good shot!

Asher

[Michael Nagel]

Street Cars are not my usual subject for photos - I ride them more often than I take photos of.

I like the variety of what's already been shown, here is the only one I can provide (Berlin):

Tram

Best regards,
Michael

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by Michael Nagel

Street Cars are not my usual subject for photos - I ride them more often than I take photos of.

I like the variety of what's already been shown, here is the only one I can provide (Berlin):

Tram

Europe has really looked after its tram systems. I've never been to Berlin. I'd imagine most everything is new. I to see some people's faces too on the far right. Very interesting.

Asher

[fahim mohammed]

[fahim mohammed]

[fahim mohammed]

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, guys,

Just got off a ten-hour drive back from New Orleans (Carla actually doing more than half of the driving!).

Love the streetcar pix - all fabulous.

Best regards,

Doug

[Doug Kerr]

Douglas A. Kerr: Riverfront streetcar, New Orleans

Best regards,

Doug

[Doug Kerr]

The city of San Francisco, California, USA has one of the largest collection of operating trolley cars in the country. This happens under the auspices of a civic organization called Market Street Railway, which works closely with the San Francisco Municipal Railway ("Muni").

The cars run on Line "F", (Market Street).

Many of the cars are painted in the authentic livery o one of the city systems on which they ran (many had several owners during their life).

These shots were all taken in 2004 during a stopoff in San Francisco on our way to visit friends in Napa, California.

I'll start with a car I have not yet been able to identify.

Douglas A. Kerr: SFO Market Street streetcar [2004]

I suspect this was actually a San Francisco Muni car.

This car once ran on the system of Milan, Italy.

Douglas A. Kerr: SFO Market Street streetcar - Milan ancestry [2004]

I understand since this shot was taken it has been repainted in the two-tone green Milan livery.

The next two cars are of the PCC type (see the following post).

This one ran in Baltimore, Maryland.

Douglas A. Kerr: SFO Market Street streetcar - Baltimore ancestry [2004]

This one ran on the Boston, Massachusetts Elevated Railway.

Douglas A. Kerr: SFO Market Street streetcar - Boston Elevated ancestry [2004]

Information on the PCC car type is in my next post in this thread.

Best regards,

Doug

[Doug Kerr]

A brief comment about the PCC streetcar

In 1929, the presidents of a number of major street railway companies formed the Electric Railway Presidents’ Conference Committee (ERPCC), whose job was to develop a new generation of streetcar that would help maintain the competitivity of street railway lines in the face of competition from cars and buses.

The resulting cars became known as the "PCC" type, an initialism taken from some of the the initials of the design committee's name, but it is sometimes said to stand for "Presidents' Conference Car", and is perhaps most commonly mistranslated as standing for "Presidents' Car Committee".

The new generation design was first actually used beginning in 1936, although serious introduction of the cars began in 1938.

In the US, the cars were primarily built by St. Louis Car Company and Pullman-Standard.

The cars incorporated several novel design features. Braking was primarily done on a dynamic basis (the car's traction motors acting as generators, the output from which was dissipated in large resistor grids on the car roof - or in winter to car heating grids), effective down to perhaps 1 mi/hr. For the later cars (perhaps post-1945), bringing the car to a final stop (and holding it in place) is done with drum brakes on the wheel shafts. They are spring applied and released with electromagnets while running, thus proving a fail-safe mode. These are augmented when needed with magnetic friction brakes operating on the track itself. Batteries in the car provide for the operation of these in the case of loss of power from the trolley wire.

In most cars, power control and braking are operated by foot pedals (unlike almost any other rail system), trying to give familiarity to retreaded bus drivers.

In the newer cars, the doors were also operated electrically. Thus, this design involved no use of compressed air (earning the cars the moniker "airless cars".) In the case of an emergency stop ("flooring" the brake pedal), they are put into the "free" state so that they can be opened manually if needed. (Earlier cars did have a compressed air system, used for the "second" brake, with shoes operating on the wheels, and to operate the doors.)

There was extensive use of rubber isolating elements to reduce operating noise.

Few cities converted all or even most of their streetcar fleets to the PCC type. In Cincinnati (at least during the time I spent summers there visiting my grandparents), only one line - Madisonville - used the PCC cars (which my mother called "streamliners"). I think PCC cars were later added to other lines.

A few lines of the municipal transit system in Cleveland used PCC cars. An independent rapid transit system, running from downtown Cleveland to the suburb of Shaker Heights, initially used PCC cars exclusively.

Here we see a former Cincinnati PCC car, now in service on the San Francisco Market Street Railway, with part of the crew who refurbished it. It has been repainted in the authentic Cincinnati Transit COmpany livery.

SFO Market Street PCC streetcar 1047 (Cincinnati heritage)
Photo from Market Street Railway

It is at this moment (2011.08.22 1046 CDT) on the Castro Street turnaround loop at the south end of the Market Street line (most of the cars have GPS and can be tracked on a live map!).

Best regards,

Doug