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Memphis suspends historic trolley service
These Trolley cars could be converted to hybrid cars…
It’s good to have preserved or restored cars in regular service, but only if they provide first-rate service–otherwise they just perpetuate the notion that things running on rails are just quaint and nostalgic and not a viable modern transportation resource.
This is the same city which use one (literally) traffic signal to control a six lane intersection. No surprise here.
The article seems not to mention the purchase of some new trolley cars for the line. Wonder why there is no consideration for that potential answer to their problems? [Save the older cars for special occasions and charter services]…Sounds as if they are considering rubber-tired buses as the tracked cars replacements…The Line from the Calhoun and Wagner/Front ( RR Station) area is on the former ICRR line down the Bluff paralleling Riverside Dr. Would this not require paving of the Trolley ROW?
I live just outside Memphis and while the trolleys are fun to ride every now and then, they run mostly empty all the time. There’s no reason to spend millions of dollars buying new trolley cars for a nostalgic curiosity.
I, for one, an sorry to see them go. Yes, they are empty at times but they sure are popular when tourists or conventioneers. I have taken grandchildren and out of town guests for rides. I think they should be restored or replaced.
Well Sam, if you read the article carefully, you will see no mention of replacing the cars with buses. It also says that the routes will be reconfigured, which means that the same general areas will be served by the buses. It does not say that the buses will literally follow the same exact routes, as that would be cost prohibitive to pave over the tracks. I am not sure how you deduced that idea.
It seems that maybe Memphis needs to check with San Francisco to see how SF maintains their trolley fleet that is made up of trolleys from around the World.
If the management knows that the cars need refurbishing, why have they not put that in the budget years ago? You can not run equipment year after year with out working on it. Surely it is cheaper to rewire the existing cars than to buy new ones.
I hope that this is just a temporary suspension as this is the most fun way to get round Memphis
I heard the problem is that the motormen weren’t properly train to operate a streetcar. Old streetcars use a K type controller which uses the full 600 volts. The controller is nothing more than a huge switch. Later cars use HL type controllers which only a portion of the current goes through the controller. Relays are used to direct the current to the motor resistance grids which current is graduated to the motors. When operating cars with K controllers. The operator slams the handle back to the zero notch. Backing down one point at a time only invites trouble. The fires occurred in the controllers themselves due to improper operation. ASs a member of OERM in Perris we were ,explicitly instructed the proper techniques in running streetcars.