Back in the sixty's there were quite a few street car or traction manufactures, such as Suydam (spelling). I know the brass models were really expensive and I couldn't afford them. Is the interest in traction (street cars) dead or has tooling costs forced the demise of that segment of the hobby. Traction afforded the modeler to have real tight radii in a very limited space with a lot of detail while not taking up much square footage, yet you could use 40ft cars with ease. I was thinking of doing something with a small traction layout but am unable to find many models. Thanks for reading, George
I believe what happened, is a lapse of time, since the old street cars were scrapped. And succeeding generations. Coupled to people not willing to string catenary. Remember the magazine articles done by Bob Hegge? Boxcab E50
And a lack of "excitement" factor associated with street cars. steam is gone as well but is still popular with modelers. Boston was probably one of the last cities to get rid of street cars - it still has a few but they are regarded as a nuisance. Cleveland Circle at rush hour with street cars running from 3 directions is chaos personified.
have you seen these bachmann peter witt street cars http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?function=detail&id=1975
Whoops, hold on a minute Steve, Not only is New Orleans still running its original 1923 cars on the St. Charles Avenue line, the oldest continuously operating street car line in the WORLD(!), but the Canal Street line was re-established in the summer of 2004 after 40 years of non-existance. Even though Hurricane Katrina put a damper on operations for a while, the lines are back in operation. New Orleanians take their street cars very seriously and use them for daily commutes to the CBD (Central Business District). Take a look at the Wikipedia write-up, also has some nice photos...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_New_Orleans
RIVER EAGLE, I kinda thought they were more toy like from years ago, but it seems from the detail on the car it's not so. Although I went to the link you provided it seems peter witt cars were the best of the line offered. I did notice they are DCC ready, not quite sure how that translates to setting up catenary. Boxcab, I do remember articles on how to set up working catenary, not sure of the author Bob Hegge. Milwaukee road had electric and it seems that would be a rather interesting subject to model. I can not afford this, at this price. http://www.railmodel.com/search/picturelink.asp?productid=8987
Although not many of us actually model traction, I doubt many of us have not considered it for the very same reasons you mention, those curves can be small and you can fit a lot of layout in a small space. A one foot wide shelf that is x amount of feet long can actually give you a lot of layout with traction. Lots of small traction lines also featured freight for some switching. I was tempted to google up some links for you, but the stuff is just sitting there waiting for you to find it. Just go to google and type in Trolley, street car, traction, etc. You will find lots of info. There are magazines as well. So get googling and keep us posted about your new rolling stock and layout.
I have only seem the pre production sample from the NTS in person, but bachmann has a couple dozen photos in their gallery http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/gallery/album45 this pic shows a dip switch to select track or pole power
I agree with the lack on many traction models. We had N scale traction on the Belmont Shore Club and I think all of it was scratchbuilt. We have a wonderful traction module at SAMRA and all of those H0 scale traction cars are brass. Here is a picture.
Months ago I had stumbled across this link. Since you like traction you should find some fun stuff in here: http://www.eastpenn.org/photos_99.html
I'm going to try it around my ballpark. I'll kitbash the trolleys and make my own catenary. Although I may do a third-rail subway line instead.
If you haven't seen it, check out a silent era film titled "Girl Shy" with Harold Lloyd. The film has a truly classic chase scene where he has to get to L.A. from a small town to save the girl from marrying the wrong man. In the course of the chase he steals an L.A. streetcar (pre-Peter Whitt) with a single-pole pickup. When he goes too fast around a curve the pickup comes off the line. He climbs up on top of the car to put it back, and forgot that he left the throttle full-on. He drives the streetcar from the roof, by pulling the rod down when he needs to slow, and putting it back on the line to speed up. You couldn't make this film today... they used a real L.A. streetcar and track. And Harold Lloyd did all his own stunts!
I've been thinking about this- The last time I can recall see a layout, with working trolley strung, was just over 20 years ago. Yikes. Sadly, that was lost, when they were forced to move. Boxcab E50
I picked up an undecorated Peter Witt a couple of months ago. It actually comes with a DCC decoder, but it's a limited-ability Bachmann model. I painted and decalled it for my own Moose Bay Transit Authority: The trolley is designed with a round speaker well and cover, which holds a 5/8 inch diameter speaker. I've added a Digitrax SFX0416 sound decoder, so now I have a trolley which runs down the line tooting its whistle, ringing its bell and generally sounding like...an SD-40? Well, the SFX0416 is programmable, but I haven't had time to download the trolley sounds to it yet. I've also got a Bowser trolley, a PCC car. In this shot, it's in the Penny Lane Station of my subway system. I don't run catenary. Maybe some day.
Oooops. Forgot I posted here. Um, er, yes. good to know. //Don't razz a New Orleanian about his street cars. Do they actually share space on the street with cars (or vice versa)? In Boston they do only in short segments and that only to get to the car barns or turned around. Cleveland Circle: Google Maps You can see the car barns south of Beacon Street and East of Chestnut Hill Ave. If you want excitement try crossing Beacon Street slightly drunk, at 1AM, with snow flying in your face, and with sun glasses on, (to simulate limited vision). Or at rush hour under similar conditions. It is called a "circle" because it used to be a "rotary' or "round about" until enough accidents occurred.
Thanks. I too am inspired by Boston's system. Being one of the oldest in the country, if not the world, it has a lot of history. That makes the stations and trackage interesting, as it "evolved" rather than "got planned." I also like the New York system, near where I grew up. You can see the R-17's (LifeLike) on the other track in the PCC picture.
