On Mar 1, 2010, at 6:45 PM, frank theriault wrote: > 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 >
I remember the Toronto streetcars from the summer I spent working there off and on. Heck, I should remember them, I almost smacked one the first day i was driving around town. But they really add a nice ambience to the city. Energy concerns aside, they're a plus. Given the need to reduce fossil fuel use, they're a huge asset.. Paul > -- > "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. -- 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.
