You remind me of my childhood, Overmod.
I remember my father carrying home what looked like a wrapped up board but was really lutefisk. My grandmother soaked it in water and lye. Her whole house smelled of it. At Christmas not only did it taste horrible but it smelled so bad I didn’t want to eat anything else either.
John
Well, I hope you enjoy your fruit cake. I agree, each to his own taste.
John WR: Thank you, I did. By the way, last week when I was northbound (B&O eastbound) the dispatcher called and asked if we could stop before MP BAK 4.7. Seems that a trolley car had been reported as stuck on the diamond at Darby! Had no problem getting stopped, but all the trolleys we saw were moving just fine on Septa’s route 11. I believe this is the last location in the US where such a message would be relevant.
RFP,
You say you were riding on a B&O trolley car?
John
Does this tram proceed to an estuary?
No, he’s talking about the B&O line into Philadelphia; Darby is part of Philadelphia (anyone remember “The Road to Upper Darby?” The trolley line was crossing his track at grade, and maybe lost contact with the wire…
I guess it was kind of a CSX trolley. It did have electric traction motors! I think the former B&O Philly sub (not steak and cheese) has contact with more traction lines than any other US rail line. We cross over Septa’s Sharon Hill line at Collingdale, cross route 11 at grade in Darby, cross back under route 11 just before 58th street and then cross under the route 36(?) as we drop down the hill to Eastwick. If one counts Baltimore Terminal sub, we run beside, then under the light rail and cross over the trolley museum! Didn’t even count the 4 times we cross Amtrak’s wired wonder between DC and Philly.
I think you are right. Would have made a good Classic Trains Forum quiz question.
I lost my best-loved Manhattan streetcar line at age 14 going on 15 in 1946, and the rest were gone by the time I came back from summer camp in 1947. Glad to have a brand new one to enjoy in Jerusalem. When more routes are added, may be good for daily commute.
Now I understand. It’s good to know there are some places that learned from history and didd’t trash all of their trolley lines.
Hey now wait a minute! I’ve got to speak up for the much-maligned fruitcake. Boys, if you don’t like fruitcake it’s because you never had any GOOD fruitcake! If it’s done right, man, it’s Christmas on a plate! Don’t know where my father got the fruitcake we had at Christmastime, probably a place that doesn’t exist anymore, but wow, was it good!
Back to trolleys: Here in Richmond Va. the subject of trolley lines comes up from time to time, but quite honestly I don’t know where they’d put them. The old right of ways are gone or so heavily remodeled it just wouldn’t be practical. Ironic, since Richmond had the first electric trolleys here in the US.
If Washington DC can find a way to build some new trolley lines perhaps Richmond can too.
John, you would think Richmond could find a way to re-institute trolley lines, but trust me, the roads they used to run on are so re-vamped and re-built for rubber-tire traffic there’s just no way. No room at all. Richmond’s got it’s GRTC buses and that’s as far as they can go practically. It would be horrendously expensive as well. I like trolleys myself but I don’t see any way they could turn the clock back on this one.
The old car barns are still in existance, though. They’re the bus garages now.
Wayne
Herring- yes!
Lutefisk- NO!
Fruitcake- Also NO!
For a real Christmas experience, try a bottle or three of Anchor Brewing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year beer. It’s the gold standard of Christmas brews, its tweaked every year and is always excellent. Like drinking gingerbread with lots o’ nutmeg and cinnamon.
By the way, there’s a 'King of the Hill" episode involving Lutefisk. From what I learned from watching that cartoon, eating a lot of Lutefisk can lead to… Well, lit matches in a church bathroom leads to disaster. Sorry to get off topic. Anyway, do the Electroliners exist today? If so, where are they?
Wayne,
I have to accept your assessment of Richmond. I would have thought Richmond is one city that might appreciate its own heritage but I guess I’m mistaken.
John.
Yes.
One is at IRM, and it’s been lovingly restored to original colors and finish.
The other is at the Rock Hill trolley museum (in Liberty Liner trim), and I have the first option on it.
This former “Capital of the Confederacy” with a history most cities in the country would KILL to have doesn’t seem to know what to do with it or which way to go with it, for various reasons I won’t go into.
A pretty good area to live in or around, nothwithstanding.
Wayne
Wayne,
I hope you continue to enjoy Virginia. It seems somehow appropriate that Richmond’s Confederate Whitehouse is actually gray.
I wonder if Virginia had horsecars during the war.
John
As long as the subject is lutefisk: Have you heard the Norwegian joke Garrison Kielor told on “Prairie Home Companion” many years ago?
A lady asked a neighbor how she could get rid of a family of skunks that had moved in under her porch. He advised her to spread some lutefisk around the area. A few days later he asked her how it worked. She said, “Fine, the skunks are gone. But now, how do I get rid of the Norwegians?”
John, what color the Confederate White House is seems to depend on the time of day and how the light hits it. In the mornings it’s kind of yellowish gold, in bright sunlight it’s white. but most of the time now it’s in the shadows of the Medical College of Virginias mega-hospital so certainly at that time it’s grey.
Interesting fact here. MCV was founded by Stonewall Jackson’s surgeon Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire.
Did Richmond have horsecars during the war? That’s a good question. I don’t know.
Wayne,
In al of the pictures I’ve seen the Richmond Confederate Whitehouse is gray.
I asked Google if Richmond ever had horse cars. The answer is yes, a system was built in 1860 using strap rail. In 1863 it was torn up and the iron was was used for Confederate iron clads. A new system was built in 1866. Here is the link: http://www.richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/Last-Trolley.html
John