Bad Rumors From Philadelphia Regarding Rt. 15

Hi Folks:

  According to some writers from Subchat,  a source states that SEPTA is having trouble getting parts for their reconstructed PCC cars on Girard Avenue.  One source asked " How come San Francisco does not have trouble getting parts for their PCC streetcars?   Once service is temporarily suspended, it is possible that you could kiss service good bye, just like route 23- Germantown Avenue.  Since it is not clear yet if battery buses are successful,  I would say, salvage the overhead and convert it to trolleybus and buy in motion charging trolleybuses, if the streetcars have to go.  Remember what I said ages ago:  If Philadelphia did not have a trolley subway and private right of way running, Philadelphia would today be without streetcars for several decades already, just like New York.

SEPTA did not come out with an official statement yet about service on the number 15.

October 31, 1956 Again

 When streetcar service stopped on October 31, 1956, service on the McDonald Avenue branch ended as well.   In the picture above,   I am sorry, I lost the reference, a south bound PCC car is about to cross Cortelyou Road and McDonald Avenue.  In the foreground and above and perpendicular to the picture is the wooden support for the B-23 Cortelyou Road trolleybus which also ended on the same day.  The car shown, may make a short turn at the Kensington Loop on the next street or may go all the way to Coney Island.   PCC cars entered Church Avenue service around 1951  and notice above that the wooden ties are missing to three of the four tracks on the structure.  Through service to Coney Island started on October-November 1954 on the elevated structure above, so this picture can be dated from 1951 to 1954.

In the sixty years plus that Brooklyn lost it's trolleys, trolleys have made a comeback in various forms to even cities that were hostile to them, such as Los Angeles, Paris, London and other cities.   Of the world class cities, only New York and Chicago and some others cannot, will not, or simply cannot bring trolleys back, even for a demonstration line running a few hundred feet.

Many years ago, I posted a video of the Volgograd tram subway from the former Russia.   There, PCC type cares run on the street then descend into a tunnel with nice stations.   I would if I could would build such a line between Brooklyn and Staten Island.   Why not a subway?   I believe  that modern PCC cars can make up the grade on the roadway of the Verazano Bridge.  Thus you would not need to build a billion dollar tunnel.  The line can go underground in Bay Ridge and meet at platform level at one of the "R" stations on 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge for a cross platform transfer.  In Staten Island, the line can run underground like in Volgograd, or private right of way or in the middle of an important but wide street.

Just a suggestion.
Tramway Null

New Trolleybus Developments

https://youtu.be/uPejgdyiXZ4?t=12

Hi Folks:

 I came across a video produced by DlaLogika, a firm that is developing trolleypoles that are very flexible in reaching or dropping away from the electric overhead.   According to this video, special work at intersections would not be needed.  In a few seconds away from an intersection with another trolleybus line, the poles will lower and reattach to the overhead after the intersection is passed.   Also shown was a two way street with trolleybuses running in both directions but with one set of overhead.  One trolley radios the oncoming trolley and one of the two lowers the poles while the other trolley remain on line.  Once the trolley on the other side passes, the trolley poles are re-attached.   This technology probably uses GIS or photography.   This technology may enable some cities to consider a partial overhead system. 

   I also saw, but I do not have the reference of a trolleybus test using an above ground conduit for the electricity.   The trolleybus does not use wires but must be in contact with the metal conduit that appears to be .5 inches above the surface of the street.   I am not sure how ice, snow, salt and heavy traffic will effect this flat conduit system.  It is important to note that Manhattan streetcars received the power from slot between tracks with an underground conduit.  What happens when heavy cargo falls to the street and smashes the conduit container?

From Urban Transport Magazine:  From a few days ago written by their editorial staff:

First New Yutang Trolleybuses for Mexico City Officially Presented

...
""The Yutongs have been built in China and are branded ZK5120C. New for Mexico City, the trolleybus is carrying a new blue livery. The total contract value is reported to be 290 million MEX (ca. 13.4 million EUR or ca. 334,000 EUR per trolleybus). The new trolleybuses have a length of 12 m a passenger capacity of 84 – 90 of which 56 – 62 standing and 28 seating. Maximum speed is 70 km/h. Additionally, the new vehicles are equipped with Lithium-Phosphate batteries, allowing for a catenary-free battery range of 70 km. According to media reports, the newly elected mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, plans to purchase a total of 500 new trolleybuses. There are plans to reactivate old trolleybus lines and also build new lines..."


My Comment:

     Mexico City's trolleybus system has not been in the news recently.  It was formerly one of the largest systems in North America but it's fleet size was dropping.   It is interesting that the mayor appears to be pro trolleybus.    I also know that Mexico City has air pollution problems.  It is not clear if these Chinese made trolleybuses have In Motion Charging.

Re Philadelphia:

    I Googled Map Philadelphia for "Snyder Avenue" and along that avenue,  at least for the sections that I looked at, the trolleybus wire overhead is gone, but the trolley sport poles (many of them seem in place.  Also for Tasker Avenue in South Philly, the wire is gone but some support poles remain.

Germany may be Planning to convert 631 Miles of the Autobahn for Trolley Truck Use

Hi Folks:

   I saw this today.  The ongoing experiment in Germany with trolleytrucks will last until 2022. If successful, and if money is available, many miles of road will be converted,     I believe it was mentioned in the article that the overhead may be used by other vehicles for charging (in motion charging).   This would imply that a smaller truck with batteries if equipped with overhead can use the overhead for a charge and then leave the highway and proceed a long way without wires.  How about interurban service using trolleybuses as well?   But I think the overhead will need to be redesigned for use by trolley buses and trolley trucks.
Tramway Null(0)


From International Business Times:  Wesley Dockey, 5/14/19

DW reported that Germany could be planning to convert 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of its 13,000 (8,077) Autobahn highway system into electric highways for hybrid trucks.

New Developments from St. Petersburgh, Russia

Hi Friends:
A Russian friend of mine gave me the link below to tramway developments in his home city of St. Petersburg.   He is an observer of the transit scene there for many years and he was worried that trams were being removed from his beloved city.  His link to, in Russian, show the construction of a completely new line, thus giving hope of new developments.   Also, there are great pictures of new tram cars in various settings.

  I told Igor that he is much to be proud of in St. Petersburg regarding trams.  Least they and trolleybus continue to exist.  In my home city of New York, the trolleybuses died in July 1960 and streetcars on October 31,1956 and in 1957.  This was a long time ago.  A large generation of New Yorkers who are not foreign born or who come from US cities that have streetcars, have no idea what a trolleybus or tram is.  Nice videos attached to the site as well.
A chizhik is a small bird.

https://vk.com/chizhiklrt

Yesterday was the 59th Anniversary of the End of Trolleybus Service in Brooklyn

  On July 27,  1960, trolley bus service ended on Brooklyn and Queens trolley bus lines.   One line, the St. John's Place line ended in 1959.   The trolleybus or trackless trolley, did not make a large impression on New York City transit history.  A line(s) started in Staten Island in the 1920's, but were gone a few years later.  In the early 1930's, experiments were conducted on the B-23 Cortelyou Road line and that line lasted until October 31, 1956, the last date also for streetcars in Brooklyn.   Several streetcar lines were converted to trolleybus in 1947 to 1958 but they just lasted until July, 1960.  I was told to me by a person who worked at the Transit Authority many years ago that there were double wire wood  supports under the Flushing Line structure at Woodside, but no line was ever built.  There were plans to covert more lines to trolleybus around 1950 but the deal fell through, including the Ocean Avenue Line, the Fifth Avenue Line in Brooklyn, the northern part of the Vanderbuilt Aveune Line and some lines in Queens.  Around 1992 the NYCTA wanted to convert the M-15 Second Avenue Bus Line in Manhattan but that also fell through as well.  The plan was for a Select Service Bus type of line with overhead.  This project was tied to a similar one in Los Angeles but since the LA project fell through, the M-15 line also did not come into being.  Looking at some early NYC Transit System Annual Reports in college around 1969, I came across an Annual Report for perhaps 1958 or 1959?  In it, it said that the trackless trolleys are "coming fast obsolete " and that they should be gone by 1962.  Besides Staten Island in the 1920's and Brooklyn and Queens from 1930 to 1960, no other boroughs had trolleybus systems  (Manhattan and Bronx).   With the perfection of on board batteries, it is not likely that any new trolleybus systems would open up in New York City or the United States.