Go to Pittsburgh July 7 - 9, 2006

Outstanding photos! Would that we could have these back running on city streets in Ohio again.  Worth working toward that day now.

Speaking of the New Orleans streetcar system (and tieing it in with a Hurricane Katrina story).  Tennessee Williams's play, Streetcar named Desire allueded to an actual streetcar route (see Rob's photo below)

The Desire streetcar was changed over to bus service in 1948. With a couple of changes to streamline the route it ran up till Hurricane Katrina.  When the New Orleans Transit Authority limped back to life this year.  The Desire busline was no more.  :cry:

With that background, here's the more poeitic version from New Orleans.

http://www.nola.com/rose/t-p/index.ssf?/rose/katrina/the_end_of_the_line.html

I have a feeling we'll be dusting off anything that rolls and pressing it into service as oil continues its ascent.

Thanks for the photos.

By the way, where is this museum?

By the way, where is this museum?

 

The museum is in Washington, PA, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh.

For all the info on the museum, click here

 

Magyar: There's a lot of romance and nostalgia connected with streetcars, for folks of a "certain age." New Orleans' preservation of the vintage cars always pleased me, and I'm gratified to know that they survived Katrina.

 

In 1991 I rode the St. Charles line from end to end and back during a weekday morning when people were going to work and school. I hesitate to call it rush hour, because folks didn't seem to be in much of a rush. The feeling was reinforced by the sedate pace and solid ride of the big trolleys as they traveled down the median of a tree-lined boulevard past stately homes. It's perhaps my fondest memory from that visit.

Very nice pictures. They have a terrific collection which I need to go see one of these days. And I'm just as impressed with their storage/display building! Pretty substantial. I wonder where they got the money for that? Ceveland's Trolleyville USA and Lake Shore Electric Railway are probably very jealous!

very cool tour rob.

i kept thinking bring these back to our cities, bring these back!

funny how completely modern retro can be.

 

so, our clevelander-designed peter witt cars were not good enough for them to have or display?  :laugh:

 

^ per wiki, a peter witt style car in milan

 

speaking of, rob and you other transit buffs what do you all think of the peter witt style tram? i think it a rather odd style in that you would walk on in front and pay when you exit in the rear. seems like you could just walk off without paying way too easily that way! is that so?

 

also, in these days of "the tehr" i doubt that style would work anymore. that's because i think the drivers appeciate the more typical slight delay caused by paying while you enter in front -- that way they get a chance to look you over a little as you get onboard.

 

maybe that beef is moot since we all will be using some type of smart card technology on public transit in the near future anyway.

 

wiki on peter witt cars:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Witt_streetcar

 

Hey KJP  and others...maybe we should take a little jaunt to the museum some weekend?

I just toured thir website. Good God!!! What an operation!!!  :-o Wish we had that in an urban area!!!

Cool Rob. 

Hey KJP  and others...maybe we should take a little jaunt to the museum some weekend?

 

Road trip!

Toga!  Toga!  Toga!  Toga!

^ Good job! We often quote movies here at the office, but not everybody catches on.

 

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

 

Germans?

 

Forget it -- he's rolling.

I just stumbled across this great site featuring manymany photos of Pittsburgh's trolleys and buses, both recent and historic. The site is owned by a PAT driver.

 

If you're a transit enthusiast, especially with an interest in Pittsburgh, be prepared to settle in for a while!