Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[videtur quam contuor]

The term "trolley" came early in the electrical era to describe the traveling wheel which contacted an electric line and carried electricity to a motor. It looks like a pulley wheel but carries current and not weight.  The use of this device made early transport machines distinctive from conventional rail cars and the term for the conductive device was transferred to the conveyance itself. In technical speech it refers to the wheel and connected pole but the generalized term holds more common. This is the American meaning and may not hold in England and elsewhere. There may be a connection to "troll" in the sense of fishing with the line and pole though this connection appears to be insufficiently accepted.

Streetcar and tram dispense with the device name.

[lit]

Do we own the old Gold Line vehicles? Is there any chance they could be used on the other proposed line by the Stadium?

[kermit]

6 hours ago, lit said:

Do we own the old Gold Line vehicles? Is there any chance they could be used on the other proposed line by the Stadium?

Yup, they belong to CATS, I suspect it’s likely we will see them again. Probably somewhere in Mecklenburg  with a generator in tow (rather than cat wire). 

In in order of probability:

1) P&N north of stadium or 2) P&N from Belmont to Mt Holly or 3) Stonewall connector service

Its kinda a boondoggle that we have them at all, they were purchased from the original blue line budget because they were a 'special project' of Ron Tober's  at the time (Tober was the CEO of CATS when the original blue line was being constructed).

Edited June 2, 2019 by kermit

[ajfunder]

On 5/30/2019 at 9:38 PM, pathb said:

What do you mean by that? From what I've read they've been very unreliable and have lead to longer headways than planned for Phase 1. Now that the line is shutting down for the rebuild of all stations to match Siemens streetcar vehicle boarding heights, I'm really wishing we had bypassed the short-term replica trolleys altogether.

They were built for heritage, hourly weekend, separated right of way operations, not seven day a week 6am-11pm, start-stop, street running operations. Hence why they were unreliable. They weren't designed for the service they have operated in on the Gold Line. They were partially built with reused European (I believe Milan) running gear. Hence why parts are hard to find. Don't blame the tool, blame the people who thought these were adequate for modern streetcar ops.

 

Also, I heard Little Rock was possibly interested in the vehicles, they use the same type on their heritage streetcar line.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by ajfunder

[SpiritOf76]

Today by Hawthorne pizza

[SpiritOf76]

[lit]

I went Sunday and got one last ride in. I’m gonna miss these rickety old things...

 

[DCtransplant]

Couple of pictures from the westside by Mosaic Village

[15895]

4 hours ago, lit said:

I went Sunday and got one last ride in. I’m gonna miss these rickety old things...

 

Are they going out of service until the extension opens? 

 

 

[tozmervo]

2 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Are they going out of service until the extension opens? 

They will not be going back into service. At least not on the gold line.

[King of the Queen City]

Here’s a picture from last week. I don’t know how feasible it would be, but I would like to see it used in Dilworth from East/West Station to Freedom Park.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, King of the Queen City said:

Here’s a picture from last week. I don’t know how feasible it would be, but I would like to see it used in Dilworth from East/West Station to Freedom Park.

I'd pick a completely different route. Up Kenilworth and Down Scott and up Stonewall.

[King of the Queen City]

1 hour ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I'd pick a completely different route. Up Kenilworth and Down Scott and up Stonewall.

That would work too, though I would rather see a modern streetcar on Stonewall. The East Blvd route takes into consideration the historic nature of Dilworth and the shorter length. It would be an easy connection from the light rail and would draw people from the rail trail. From Freedom Park they could also walk the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, King of the Queen City said:

That would work too, though I would rather see a modern streetcar on Stonewall. The East Blvd route takes into consideration the historic nature of Dilworth and the shorter length. It would be an easy connection from the light rail and would draw people from the rail trail. From Freedom Park they could also walk the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

Imagine shutting down South Blvd for Streetcar construction though. Woof

[videtur quam contuor]

The original trolley travelled East, of course. In the process of street renovation ten years ago or so the original rails were discovered and the island on the east side of the Euclid intersection contains a section of those rails and a historic marker. 

[kermit]

51 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

The original trolley travelled East, of course. In the process of street renovation ten years ago or so the original rails were discovered and the island on the east side of the Euclid intersection contains a section of those rails and a historic marker. 

^ used to.

The historic-rebuilt rails on the island at East and Euclid got removed after someone drove into them  and bent them up. 

                - - “Describe The essence of Charlotte in a sentence.”

Edited June 5, 2019 by kermit

[kermit]

[written with a tone of genuine surprise...]

The new city budget (to be voted on Monday) includes funding for Streetcar Phase 3 design work (Beatties Ford and Eastland extensions) according to WSOC.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/funding-for-streetcar-extension-planning-included-in-new-budget/956334207

I am guessing the city would like CATS to fold phase 3 of the Gold Line into the Big Bang funding bucket (the city has handled all the financing of the Gold Line so far). Getting some cost estimates ($250 million of local funds???) and a sense of property tax increment revenue generation (could be substantial) might make the Gold Line a fiscal benefit to CATS, especially considering the referenda votes it would generate.

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by kermit

[ajfunder]

Any chance the Hawthorne Lane delay is due to a redesign of the bridge to accommodate Silver Line. Just speculation.

 

Interested to see what comes from the public meeting.

[15895]

I wonder if this has to do with the CTC bid at all or if it factors in?

beef up Rosa Parks transit center as part of the streetcar project. 

I would like to see the redevelopment of CTC ultimately home an Express bus transit center. The rest spread among light rail, Rosa parks, South Park, And Gateway. I feel like if Express riders are transferring, it’s to light rail. But I doubt many Express people transfer. Also, I think it’s desirable for an office development 

Edited June 10, 2019 by AirNostrumMAD

[archiham04]

Would it be possible/feasible for the city to run hybrid light rail trains on the silver line?  seems like maybe a cheaper solution to low bridge clearance for a too tall catenary.

[Seaboard Fellow]

On 6/8/2019 at 11:24 PM, kermit said:

[written with a tone of genuine surprise...]

The new city budget (to be voted on Monday) includes funding for Streetcar Phase 3 design work (Beatties Ford and Eastland extensions) according to WSOC.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/funding-for-streetcar-extension-planning-included-in-new-budget/956334207

 

I hope they’re able to incorporate segments of dedicated lanes to make the streetcar extension viable.  

[southslider]

4 hours ago, Seaboard Fellow said:

I hope they’re able to incorporate segments of dedicated lanes to make the streetcar extension viable.  

Central Avenue sort of needs those lanes to function.

[Seaboard Fellow]

2 hours ago, southslider said:

Central Avenue sort of needs those lanes to function.

It’s been a quite awhile since I’ve driven Central. You’re right, dedicated lanes aren’t an option.  Since that’s the case, a better option for Central would be to serve that route with articulated busses (NC would have to change the law that prohibits them) improved bus stops, and pedestrian improvements. CATS could use the streetcar extension money to help fund a spur off of the Silver Line to Eastland via Albemarle Rd to provide East Charlotte with rail access. 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by Seaboard Fellow

[DCtransplant]

More pictures from the west side today. Moving along nicely.

[NcSc74]

Wife and I did Kansas City MO last weekend and used the free streetcar(trolly) all weekend.  It was nice to park the car  for a couple days and roam around the city; mostly downtown districts..  This will be a great addition  to  an intergrated transit system.

Edited June 11, 2019 by NcSc74