Streetcars/Trolleys...Six To Go!

As anyone can tell who reads my blog, I'm very interested in rail travel, trains, depots, etc. So, over the years, we've photographed lots of trains and yes, trolleys!


This trolley was photographed in operation along the wharf area of Seattle Washington back in 1984. Trolley #512 was built by the Melbourne Shops in Australia between 1925 and 1930.



This PCC Streetcar operates on a 2 mile route along the Lake Michigan waterfront in Kenosha Wisconsin. PCC is an abbreviation for the design formulated by the Electric Railway President's Conference Committee back in the mid-1930's. 5,000 of these streetcars were built between 1936 and 1952. Kenosha bought 5 units from Toronto Canada in 2000. They are painted in the colors for Toronto, Johnston City PA, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Cincinnati. This photo is from 2008.


This is single-ended cable car # 28, photographed back in 1983, on the Powell -Hyde Street route in San Francisco California. This cable car was built by Mahoney Brothers back in 1887. It has since been replaced with a new #28. The original cable car was retired in 2004. We rode this cable car and others...lots of fun!






Photographed in motion through our windshield back in 1994, this streetcar was rolling down the street in Memphis Tennessee. Streetcar # 187, a Brill designed unit, was built in Oporto, Portugal back in 1927.


Memphis also has 2 U.S. Brill designed units that were built in 1912, a total of 5 Oporto Portuguese 'Brill' streetcars, plus 7 antique streetcars from Australia and 5 replica units.

Streetcar #194 is also one of the Oporto Brill units. It was built in 1935. This photo was also taken in 1994. At peak hours, 11 streetcars are in operation in Memphis...covering 3 different routes. Stops are typically available every or every other block. The current fare is $.60 cents.

In 1908, there were 13 streetcar routes in Memphis and there were over 300 streetcars in operation. At the peak, a total of 236 streetcars passed through the intersection of Main & Madison between 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM... That's one almost every 15 seconds!!









Last but not least, this is a photo of streetcar # 11 as it rolled down a street in Christchurch, New Zealand back in 2000. I believe that this specific streetcar is an import from the U.S.A., although a local manufacturer also built units based on the Brill design. This streetcar was built by J. G. Brill in Philadelphia back in 1903.


In New Zealand, streetcars are called 'trams'. Tram service in Christchurch originally ceased operations back in 1954. Operations resumed in 1995 along a 2.5km route in the city center. The fare is $15.00NZ but the pass is good for 2-days and unlimited rides. Roughly 85% of all passengers are visitors to the city. We haven't seen it, but Christchurch also has a significant collection of restored streetcars and trolleys from around the world.