File Under: Why didnt you think of this?..I dunno…it never occurred to me.
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=136160
Trolley cars belong on city streets, not light rail. Like Memphis
I can understand why they are worried about the older car running with the new light rail. I’ve been on a tour of the factory building the Charlotte light rail cars, and the older #85 wouldn’t really stand up well in a collision. It’s just too small and too light.
Against an atutomobile, the trolley would probably survive without major damage to the car, but versus another light rail vehicle, many times heavier, things wouldn’t end well. I would think, however, that it could possibly run with the other replica cars that served the line up until a year or so ago.
Mark. I like your webpage. Are you a volunteer up there?
The installation of light rail in Charlotte is somewhat of a comedy of errors. The most growth is occurring over the south county line which is where the line stops and the station is located where there is backed up traffic for hours morning and evening…It was stopped atthe county line by the Pineville mayor who said he wanted to maintain a pedestrian friendly ambience…?..Pineville makes Los Angeles sprawl look like a quaint midwestern farming community…The Transit management and its contractors have had major cost over runs mainly due to a lack of studying field conditions prior to commencement of the project…ie…bad soil…installing rail only to rip it up and reinstall…etc. The heritage trolley is just another footnote…sad but true. That having been said… ironically, it has already spurred a great deal of redevelopment, and everyone generally is positive about it, even with bad press…My best guess is that it will be a success on the basis of ridership within city limits…as for suburban commutes…its worthless…and unfortunately, guess where all the auto traffic comes from? Oh well…In a national ranking the Charlotte area is booming at the top of the list…unfortunately it is also a textbook example of development by developers ie: narrow country farm roads lacking shoulders that bear increasingly backed up traffic from endless subur
Which federal authority has jurisdiction over light rail ?
FTA
Thanks MC, my experience with old street cars leads me to believe that the older car would crush the newer plastic boxes. In fact, I was present during a grade crossing accident in a North Shore car , I think the only one since 1963 , the vehicle at the crossing was totaly destroyed !! Those old machines are TOUGH !!!
I’ve (thankfully) never been riding on a train that got into a vehicle collision, but i’ve seen some pretty scary photos. I’d easily believe that a North Shore car would simply go right through an automobile, but the particular case here isn’t really an interurban car, but a city streetcar, which is much smaller and doesn’t have as large a frame. Now if only there was someone willing to actually let some of those old North Shore cars run in real service again…