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DC Streetcar opens Saturday with fare-free rides
Is this a nowhere-to-nowhere line or is it going to connect points of interest? I remember DC and Balto in the PCC years when I was stationed there in the Army.
Sadly the lines in Baltimore were ripped up in the favor of promoting automobile traffic. I think the last cross-city lines were stopped circa 1963.
Mr. Thoms and fellow subscribers, per http://www.dcstreetcar.com/riding/transit-map/ , the streetcar will run from a point on the H St. NE bridge over the Union Station yard, east on H St. to the multi-points intersection with Florida Av., Maryland Av., and Bladensburg and Benning Roads et al., then east on Benning Road to its eastern terminus where the Orange, Blue, and Silver lines fly over Benning Road, next to the Langston Park golf course. Doesn’t look like it touches any major attractions unless you count Union Station.
As for Baltimore’s old streetcars, Mr. Kraske and folks, I highly recommend reading “Baltimore and Its Streetcars” by Herbert Harwood. Has great pics of post WWII Baltimore trolleys. Unfortunately I gave my copy to my local library’s used book sale but I believe the last of the streetcars did run until early Nov. 1963.
Less said about this boondoggle the better. SIX cars were purchased in 2009. The line was supposed to be designed, built, and opened by 2013. The line is a whopping 2.2 miles long with a $50,000,000 (triple the estimate) car barn built in the middle. One car has been “left out in the rain” and is inoperable. What the mayor covered up by saying the rides are free as a “thank you” for being three years late, is the fact that no one designed or built a fare collection system THATS RIGHT…no way to collect a fare.
It’s somewhat astounding sometimes how long it takes to get a project planned, built, and operating in this modern age. Around the turn of the last century vast traction system empires were built in less time than this single two mile line.
Fort Meade, MD, Bill?
I’d love to see a cross-town trolley on 42d St. in NYC. Maybe one on 125th St., too, to be PC. Hint to manufacturers: a great demo project for the new battery-operated streetcars. No third-rail plow and no overhead wires! Recharge the batteries from catenary at the terminals. Make it a free service. Great for tourist$. Just don’t start until de Blasio moves on.
Glen Echo on Potomac on youtube.
82 Streetcar Line on youtube
H Street & Benning Road.Streetcar on youtube.
Private right-of-ways survive as walking paths.
Rail-to-Trails Conservancy supports the Old Glen Echo Trolley Line into a mixed-use bicycle and pedestrian trail which Hyattsville - College Park Trolley Line has become.
Palisades Neighborhood Trail is on youtube. Shows portions of Old Glen Echo Trolley Line.
The line originates at Washington Union Station and goes down H Street, Northeast, a rapidly reviving area of stores and trendy restaurants with one performing arts center (the Atlas). The original businesses along the street were largely burned down in the 1960s riots. The line does not connect any tourist attractions, and most visitors will not be aware of its existence.
Will there be any fare integration with Metrobus or Metrorail?