The photo of the CSL Brill reminded me of the Marmon-Herrington "trackless" trolleys at the Illinois Railway Museum. Ray Piesciuk took this picture of the two at the IRM, both of which I drove out of the North-Cicero barn in the summers I worked for the CTA to pay for college.
I hated driving these things the first year: the power pedal was so hard to push that my knees hurt; I had to remember where all the power junctions were at night so that I could glide through them rather than knock the poles off under power; replacing poles at night in the rain with drops falling into eyes blinded by the flash of electrical contact and the expectation of a shock down wet ropes; climbing up onto the roof to retrieve ropes cut by vandals; watching out for fallen power lines and blocking traffic to route people and cars around sparking wires. By the second year I loved them. Their torque was so great and smooth I could get the jump on a VW bug at a stoplight without disturbing any passengers--even with a full load of standing customers, and it was easy to keep to schedules because theses trolleys could easily make up time. I still miss them. And I can still remember every power junction and switch on Cicero, Pulaski, North Ave., Grand, Armitage, and Belmont all these years later.
