On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 11:04 AM, P N Stenquist <[email protected]> wrote:
> When I was a wee one, there was a street car line down the median strip of > the South Side's Stony Island Avenue . The cars were electric and were > charged by overhead wires. They had open doors at either end, and you could > hop on the moving car if you were a bit late. We used to ride a street car > up to Jackson Park for picnics. The last street car line I remember on the > South Side was on Cottage Grove. By 1960 or so, they had all been replaced > with buses. I think they lasted a bit longer on the North Side of town. > Paul I have a ~very~ vague memory of riding on Montreal's trams (as they called them there) when I was a kid. A quick google indicates they were removed in 1959 when I was three years old, which explains the shadowy memory. Toronto was one of the few cities who didn't rip up their street level light rail tracks (here we call them streetcars) in the 50s and 60s. I remember Toronto being derided somewhat for keeping these "anachronisms" while other major cities converted to a "modern" all-diesel bus surface transit system. Torontonians have always loved their streetcars, however, affectionately dubbing them "Red Rockets". Rights of way have been upgraded over the years, so in some areas they share the streets with other traffic, and in others (like Spadina Avenue that you see in this PESO) they have a dedicated right of way. With our fossil fuel woes, Toronto looks pretty good in that it's already got a fleet of electric vehicles and infrastructure in place. Our current rolling stock is old (1970s vintage) and getting difficult to repair; in 2011 or 2012 we'll start taking delivery of brand new Bombardier 'cars. I know they'll be fast, comfortable and roomy (with a very low floor for better accessibility), but I'll miss the ones we have now just a bit. They've never been sold to any other city (that I know of) so they're unique to Toronto - and pretty handsome in my eyes! Thanks for all the nice comments. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
