Streetcars in St. Paul and Minneapolis

[1400deadwood]

RESTORE AMERICA TO HER HISTORIC GREATNESS --- BRING THE TROLLEYS BACK!!!

[Jeffbear1]

Many of the Twin Cities 1948-49 PCC "streamliner" trolleys were sold to Public Service in Newark, New Jersey. They operated in Newark for fifty years. Many of them were resold to the MUNI in San Francisco. They were beautifully restored and run up and down San Francisco's Market Street. So you can "still" ride Minneapolis-St. Paul street cars in regular service.

[Teigen64]

Interesting. Thanks.

[rayofminneapolis]

GREAT video Curator! Great video!

[fluidicmethod]

needs some audio editing

[jobaecker]

One of the most visible examples of the lost streetcars is in Linden Hills -- the parking lots between Bibelot, the toy store, the hardware store and Great Harvest Bakery was once actually the track. Once you see that, you can follow the rail route between the buildings off in both directions. Sad when you think of what has been...

[BlueYlwLife]

Bring em' back!

[Intransitman]

Indeed, bring them back!

[italobambino43]

For years as I grew up in Philadelphia I began to notice the remains of certain trolley routes that were no longer around, certain signs remained, in certain neighborhhoods you could still see the cast iron poles lining the steet that supported the trolley wire, they still had the cleat with a portion of cable attached to it where it was cut to remove the wire, some of the poles had printing on them that read CAR STOP HERE. Some poles had a small phonebox with a phone still inside.

[Jeffbear1]

That item that you call a "cleat" is actually a wooden "strain" insulator. Philly's SEPTA restored a fleet of 1947-48 PCC "streamliner" trolleys and they operate on Girard Ave.

[italobambino43]

I did not even notice that I used the word "Cleat", lol. I meant to say insulator. Well, what really erked me is this, they went and spent all that money to ourchase those PCC cars for the Route 15 on Girard avenue. To my understanding they sold off the fleet of PCC'S that were housed at the now closed Luzerne depot in North Philly. Luzerne was one location, there was also a small fleet stored at a secluded loop just off Germantown ave. and Crescham valley road, which has since been closed.

[Jeffbear1]

They're actually called strain insulators. SEPTA in Philly got rid of all PCC cars except the 18 heavily rebuilt ones for Girard Ave. There are no cars left at the Germantown depot. The State completely rebuilt Germantown Ave. with new tracks and wires. But SEPTA flatly refuses to run trolleys on it. And there is nothing left to run on it anyway. SEPTA loves buses...hates trolleys. Many of the ex-Luzerne cars are now running in San Francisco. SEPTA said they were "too old to run anymore".

[jente06]

It's so sad that the street cars are gone. I say, bring them back!

[tcbluecollarguy]

I was surprised to find out that almost 90% of the old streetcar tracks here are still in place, they were just paved or cemented over.

[GuruMN]

Thanks for posting this. I've wondered what these looked like in operation. I don't see why buses would have replaced them as you would think a streetcar system would be cheaper to run and more efficient, I thought it was shut down by the people who bought the streetcar system because they wanted it gone.

[nmhood]

There were a couple reasons for street car failures. For starters, the streetcars were ran by private business, while roadways for cars were completely subsidized by the government (90% federal & 10% local). Therefore, it gave cars an unfair advantage. Secondly, cars were seen as the way of the future - and idealized. The private companies eventually could not compete with change in demand and sold local ownership to holding companies elsewhere, who then sold off cars and cut routes - then ended

[Intransitman]

Pretty much. Rail lines are lost on political grounds not economic. When there's a downturn in the economy, you're not going to rip out the road from in front of your house.

[Jeffbear1]

The story of why Minneapolis lost its street car system is a widely known scandal. It even had Mafia connections. It's far too long of a story to relate here. The Twin Cities Rapid Transit Co. was purchased by an unscrupulous business man who bled the company to death. There was no maintenance done to the cars or infrastructure. Practically new trolleys were sold at bargain prices and buses substituted. It was an actual travesty.

[captainmorgan757]

@Jeffbear1 very good, sir! Someone has done his homework. Now, take your comment and think...could it not be said of the same shameless politicians of today??? The Light Rail System is nothing but another travesty for the over-taxed tax payer, except in the mind of liberals.

[AppleSouffle]

Captainmorgan, that's typical, Republican, self-absorbed, anti-community minded hog swill.

The light rail encourages businesses along their rails because it's guaranteed to be there for many years to come. A bus line could move tomorrow. The trams run on electricity, which can be generated by solar, wind, water or, alas, coal. Buses send money to the Middle East for their fuel.

Trams add to the quality of life of a city. They're smooth, clean and efficient. Buses are loud and pollute.

[captainmorgan757]

@AppleSouffle if you are trying to insult me for being a "Rebuplican" try again (strike one)! I do not affiliate myself with any political group. "Encourages business along their rails"? Try telling that to those businesses that have closed due to the light rail (strike two)! "Trams can run on solar, wind, or water"? What physics class did you fail? (strike three)!!!

[eluko79]

neat!