Erie Lackawanna 2013 Calendar
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Miami’s New Transit Center
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Connecticut Company’s Streetcars
Relive the days of Connecticut Company's big yellow cars... Profusely illustrated, this book covers every division of the Connecticut Company, the trolley empire controlled by the New Haven Railroad. Profusely illustrated, this book features nearly every type of trolley car operated across the Nutmeg State until 1948.
CONNECTICUT
STREETCARS SOFTCOVER
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50 JUNE 2013 •
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Non-member price $995
ONE OF THE GREAT BOO-BOOS in mass tran- sit since the end of World War II was the fail- ure of the Illinois Terminal Railroad to note that their new streamlined trains, which were to run between Peoria and St. Louis, would not fit into the terminal building in Peoria. “Whoops!” was not a good enough re- sponse. To help solve the awkward problem, the IT built a new terminal in East Peoria that obliged patrons to ride a bus from Peo- ria across the Illinois River to East Peoria. Despite years of planning, the new trans- portation center under construction near Miami’s International Airport has a similar problem that could have been foreseen. The plan was to build a transportation center to the east of the airport which would serve the Miami rapid transit system, Tri-Rail com- muter trains, local buses, intercity buses, and Amtrak. It turns out that some Amtrak trains are so long that when stopped at the transportation center, the end of the train will block Northwest 25th Street, one of the few streets that afford easy access to the air- port, and the Amtrak platform is about 200 feet too short. There are no cheap solutions. Not all trains are too long, but it raises the concern of someone forgetting to touch all the bases. Thanks to Carl Edd and Charlie Mudd for the news.
A Tunneling We Will Go!
It has been a little while since there has been significant transit tunneling in North America. In early 2013, several tunnel bor- ing machines are to be installed in Toronto and San Francisco. The Toronto project is the Toronto-York-Spadina Subway exten- sion, which is a 5.34 mile extension of the Yonge-University-Spadina Subway from the present terminal point of Downsview to the Vaughn Metropolitan Center. There will be six new stations on the extension, including one at York University. The San Francisco boring job will be for new Central Subway that will link the Chinatown/Financial Dis- trict with the area around the Caltrain Sta- tion and the AT&T Park. The tunnel boring machines, when fully assembled, are about 300 feet in length, weigh a lot, cost a great deal, and chew away at the earth to the tune of two or three yards per day. Many thanks to Charlie Bogart for the news. As population, crowding and congestion grow in cities; expect to see more rapid tran- sit construction, including very expensive subways. Already under discussion in the Washington area are extensions to Centre- ville in Fairfax County and to Woodbridge and Potomac Mills in Prince William Coun- ty. Another subway line in the heart of Washington may be in the future.
That Feeling of Longing
Sometimes what appeared to be a good idea proves to be less so when there is time to re- consider. When the subway system for the Washington, D.C., area was being planned, Georgetown decided not to be served. Possi- bly it was worried that people without much
money would infest the pleasant, attractive, vintage place. As a result, there is no subway service to Georgetown, which was once a place that visitors (and Washington has a lot of them) flocked to. Now it is more difficult to reach, relative to other places in the region, and business in the Georgetown stores and restaurants is not as brisk as it might be. As plans are being made for additional rapid transit in the center of the nation’s capital, observers will likely note that Georgetown interests want to be included. None of this will happen in a hurry. When light rail service was being planned for Norfolk, Va., the city of Virginia Beach was fearful of the cost of the rail project and did not want to be part of The Tide, as the light rail system is called. Now, The Tide has proved to be a heavily used rail service that appears to be a really good deal. Because of Virginia Beach’s unwillingness to partici- pate, the Tide tracks end abruptly at the bor- der between the cities. With the good exam- ple of The Tide, it is probable that Virginia Beach will be interested in becoming part of the light rail system. One of the lessons that have been learned over the past four decades is that light rail or downtown streetcars are increasingly seen as signs of an up-and-coming or al- ready-arrived urban place. This notion is be- ginning to percolate in some communities that decided to eschew rail transit because it is costly. It is well to look at cost, but the ben- efits to be derived from a project should not be overlooked. Let’s not forget, in the history of electric traction, that at the turn of the 20th century many electric lines were built that were uneconomic mistakes and could never hope for success because the popula- tion was too small. In Indiana, the Lebanon & Thorntown was built to serve a population that totaled only about 3500. The line had little potential and was soon gone. Thanks to Davis Harris, Charlie Bogart and John A. Lee for the news and inspiration.
Streetcar Action in Washington, D.C.??? Getting anything done in Washington, D.C., is very difficult and the public has grown weary of the arrogance and lack of action on the part of Congress in meeting the nation’s problems. The streetcar rails piled along H Street and Benning Road for several years were thought to be further proof of nothing much happening as an example of malice in Blunderland. But wait, there’s more! Work on installing the track was set to begin in
PLEASE SEND light rail, tran- sit and commuter rail news items and correspondence di- rectly to Prof. George M. Smerk, Emeritus Suite, Kelley School of Business, 1309 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-1701.
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