Someone over on G Scale Central just posted this. I found it very enjoyable.
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Dan-
Thanx for the post. That guy is AMAZING. In this hobby, we really are the JV compared to the Brits!
Wow !
I remember seeing the "Trackless Trolleys" in downtown Cleveland Ohio when I was a child. 
The sparking of the overhead wires as the "Trolleys" would navigate through the intersections left quite an impression. 
Occasionally, one of the trolley poles would disconnect from the overhead power line and the "Trolley" would come to a complete stop. 
In this case the Driver/Operator would have to re-position the trolley pole back onto the overhead power line with long pole stored on the "Trolley" for just such an occasion. 
These "Trackless Trolleys" were owned and operated by the Cleveland Transit Authority (CTS) which was the predecessor to what we now call Regional Transit Authority (RTA) 
Chief Bob (Retired) 
They very briefly had trolley buses in Los Angeles. It was interesting watching when one crossed a street car's wires. The sparks flew. It was all gone in 1963.
San Francisco has an extensive system in use, I just got back from a one week excursion. $40 gets you an unlimited 1 week Muni pass for all cable cars, buses, trolleys, and streetcars.
Seattle,Dayton,Philadelphia and Boston(Somerville,Cambridge)still have trolleybuses.
Here in Detroit we had a few lines of these. One was the Cross Town route, it ran on E. Warren from St. Jean, the terminal all the way to Rouge Park. There was another that ran on Plymouth Rd. And another that ran on Grand River Ave. from downtown to around just before Telegraph Rd. I rode them to High School and remember them as being very quiet and a fast pick up speed...
Marty
Baltimore MD had them as well. It was the last gasp of traction before the buses took over. I've often thought that (properly planned) it could have been the most economical way to expand lines without the cost of laying track.
That said, that's a pretty cool operation he's got in his backyard (or "bottom of the garden" as the Brits say). Looking at the cars on the road and the clothes, early to mid '60's?
I thought Seattle had some. They could have a comeback as hybrid battery trackless units. Use overhead on main section, battery on the branch. Or just the section for the recharge.
That is really cool.
Newark had buses using gas engines in the suburbs and going to a track pan and using overhead in city limits.
If you think about it most cities that kept their street cars and or trolley buses still have a viable downtown. Why? Because businesses know lines won't change and they can look at the future. Bus lines can change overnight. Don
artyoung posted:Baltimore MD had them as well. It was the last gasp of traction before the buses took over. I've often thought that (properly planned) it could have been the most economical way to expand lines without the cost of laying track.
That said, that's a pretty cool operation he's got in his backyard (or "bottom of the garden" as the Brits say). Looking at the cars on the road and the clothes, early to mid '60's?
Art-
Actually, Baltimore's traction farewell sequence was the reverse of other American cities. Last Baltimore trolley bus ran in 1959, but the last trolley car ran in 1963.
CTSRAPID: You're right, I'm wrong. Let me stick my neck out again: #8 Towson line was the last streetcar? In 1963 I'd have been eleven.
artyoung posted:CTSRAPID: You're right, I'm wrong. Let me stick my neck out again: #8 Towson line was the last streetcar? In 1963 I'd have been eleven.
You are correct, Art. On November 2, 1963 Routes 8 and 15 ended streetcar service in Baltimore. However, the very last cars at the end of the evening ran on Route 8 exclusively. I actually rode that line in 1961- not exactly rapid transit, but it was fun.
Merry Christmas!
Thought you might like these, Dan:
I did see in the early 1970's an AHM catalog with a HO trolley bus system in it. Were these ever made.
I remember the Trackless Trolleys in Johnstown, PA.
I grew up on Graham Avenue in Greenpoint Brooklyn and the trackless trolley had a stop in front of my apartment building. They were quiet and clean. The NYC Transit decided it wasn't worth the money to replace the old cars and replaced them with diesel buses. They were noisy and we had to wash our windows every week to see out due to the fumes. Great move, benefited GM and not the residents.
AHM did produce the trackless trolley, I had one. Unfortunately it did not survive. The poles were plastic and the double trolley wire was seriously over sized. It did work, fairly well as I recall. The real problem was the fragile poles and no replacement parts.
I, too, remember the trolley buses in Brooklyn. My mother and aunt would drag my brother and I to A&S, sitting in their restaurant window we could watch the trolley buses go by. I also remember that they had a great chicken salad sandwich.
Hayy New Year!
yardlet6 posted:Seattle,Dayton,Philadelphia and Boston(Somerville,Cambridge)still have trolleybuses.
Vancouver, BC also has trolley busses. I saw many of them running on very short headways when I visited there this past summer.
Bill
Danr posted:AHM did produce the trackless trolley, I had one. Unfortunately it did not survive. The poles were plastic and the double trolley wire was seriously over sized. It did work, fairly well as I recall. The real problem was the fragile poles and no replacement parts.
I, too, remember the trolley buses in Brooklyn. My mother and aunt would drag my brother and I to A&S, sitting in their restaurant window we could watch the trolley buses go by. I also remember that they had a great chicken salad sandwich.
Hayy New Year!
I wonder if that's the same system a friend of mine had back in 1963 I believe. We had no permanent platform for it and it was challenging too get the poles to stand upright on the floor. If I recall, it was HO scale. The contact wires were strips of metal maybe 1/8" high and 1/32" thick.
Chicago's Transit Authority had Marmon Harrington trackless trolleys until early October, 1972 when they took the last wires down. Two weeks later the infamous oil embargo that caused nation-wide shortages of gasoline and diesel fuel made them regret their timing. I drove trolleys for the CTA for two summers as a way to pay for college.
I hated those trolleys at first: losing poles in a tangle of spider web of yard switches; trying to put a pole back up at night in the rain (the flash of light on contact would temporarily blind me while rain was also falling into my eyes at the same time I was getting a shock from current running down the soaked pole ropes--an old-timer showed me how to wrap a dry newspaper around the rope to avoid the shock); and trying to remember line switches invisible in the dark. After awhile I began to love them. They had such torque that a fully loaded bus with standing passengers could beat out a VW Beetle when the light turned green, and the increase in speed was so smooth that passengers didn't mind. It was easy to stay on schedule, unlike some diesels that bogged down when the A/C was turned on. I miss them--and I still remember the placement of every switch point on the five electrified streets I drove 45 years ago. They were powerful, clean, and quiet.
artyoung posted:CTSRAPID: You're right, I'm wrong. Let me stick my neck out again: #8 Towson line was the last streetcar? In 1963 I'd have been eleven.
I rode the #8 streetcar to high school (Mt. St. Joe) everyday for 4 years. The #8 ran from Catonsville to Towson. The fare was 10 cents.
yardlet6 posted:Seattle,Dayton,Philadelphia and Boston(Somerville,Cambridge)still have trolleybuses.
We spent some time in Dayton this year after the O scale meet in Indy in September. Dayton is getting most of their trolleys "back on line" shall we say after a few years of limited service.
Theirs is truly a modern system, with the lines stretching out into the fringes of the suburban residential parts of the city. Pretty neat to see trolley bus wires turn into a shopping center and make a loop behind the buildings.
Good to see that they have the money to keep theirs going, unlike Philly who is so poorly run and impoverished they are letting their trolley bus (and surface trolley) lines fall into extinction.
Dan Padova posted:Danr posted:AHM did produce the trackless trolley, I had one. Unfortunately it did not survive. The poles were plastic and the double trolley wire was seriously over sized. It did work, fairly well as I recall. The real problem was the fragile poles and no replacement parts.
I, too, remember the trolley buses in Brooklyn. My mother and aunt would drag my brother and I to A&S, sitting in their restaurant window we could watch the trolley buses go by. I also remember that they had a great chicken salad sandwich.
Hayy New Year!
I wonder if that's the same system a friend of mine had back in 1963 I believe. We had no permanent platform for it and it was challenging too get the poles to stand upright on the floor. If I recall, it was HO scale. The contact wires were strips of metal maybe 1/8" high and 1/32" thick.
Yes, it was HO, with metal strips as contact wire. I had a plywood table but anchoring the poles only allowed them to break faster.
