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Beyond the Rutland
Rails
Now operated under the Vermont Rail System banner, you’ll see the early operations of the Vermont Railway, Clarendon & Pittford, and the Green Mountain Railroad! From the marble quarry pits to piggyback trailers, from steam excursions to heavy freight!
STREETCARS RETURN TO ATLANTA: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed presided over the opening cer- emonies for the new Atlanta Streetcar on December 30, 2014. With a shower of confetti and a traditional ribbon-cutting, rail transit returned to the city streets for the first time since 1949. The Downtown Loop is the first phase of the Atlanta Streetcar project, serving 12 stops along its 2.7- mile-long route. The loop links attractions such as the King Historic Site and Centennial Olympic Park, and helps reconnect Atlanta neighborhoods that have long been severed by the I-75/85 Downtown Connector expressway. Connections to the MARTA rapid transit system are available at Peachtree Center. Service is provided by four Siemens 470s light rail vehicles, on a roughly 15-min- ute headway. According to transit officials, the new system had logged nearly 51,000 riders by the end of January. RALPH WATKINS PHOTO
From the Rutland’s last gasp to the Vermont Railways modest start, you’ll enjoy great black and white photography documenting this picturesque New England shortline from end to end. A detailed locomotive roster and diverse equipment photos round out this look back at Vermont Railway’s early years. Order your copy today!
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from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Re- development Capital Assistance Grant Pro- gram. Equipment renovation is ongoing, and the museum’s plan for the grant money is to make the facility more efficient and welcom- ing to volunteers and contractors. Lighting in the shop will be upgraded, a new concrete floor will be installed, tracks 21 and 22 will be rebuilt, and improvements are to be made to the roll-up doors of the shop building. The museum also received $3000 grant to
work on Red Arrow Line’s 1926 J. G. Brill center door car No. 66, a workhorse for the museum since 1979. It will have the exterior painted, the center-door steps repaired, and windows replaced. There will be a rebuilt trac- tion motor in one truck. No. 66 is a favorite of mine because I was a regular center-door-car user on my trips to and from Haverford Town- ship Junior and Senior High Schools for six years. Another car for the renovation shop is No. 832 from West Penn Railways. The PTM notes that car 832 is the only curved-side Cin- cinnati Car Company product to be preserved intact upon its retirement from revenue ser- vice. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is a real treat and should be a must to visit for readers of this magazine. Thanks to David Harris and Harry Ross for the information.
Flashes
When I was growing up in Red Arrow Lines rail territory in Philadelphia’s western sub- urbs, the practice was to collect fares when getting off outbound cars and to pay when boarding inbound cars. With the aim of cut- ting dwell times on outbound cars, the prac-
tice will now be to pay “Pay as You Enter” for the Media, Sharon Hill, and Norristown High Speed Line on SEPTA. I don’t have news about any changes in paying the fares on inbound cars.
Now that Rob Ford is no longer mayor of Toronto, Ontario, it will be interesting to see what happens to the TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION’s plans for streetcars in the city. Ford, as mayor, shot down plans for ex- pansion of streetcar service. The Kenosha, Wisconsin, city council voted
in the fall of 2014 to expand the KENOSHA STREETCAR. This would be accomplished by moving from the current east-west configura- tion to an additional north-south component. The east-west line is 1.7 miles in length. The north-south line is expected to be about the same length and to cost about $10.3 million. The construction is not a sure thing, because Wisconsin has a reputation for being anti-rail. There is interesting news from FORT
WORTH, Texas. The Fort Worth Transpor- tation Authority got approval from the Fed- eral Transit Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration to move ahead with construction of a light rail line from down- town Fort Worth to Terminal B of the Dal- las–Fort Worth International Airport. The new line is to have eight stations in its 27- mile length across Tarrent County and the city of Grapevine. Construction is expected to begin in 2016 with revenue service beginning in 2018. The projected patronage at the start is 10,000 daily riders, with patronage growing to 15,000 by 2035. Thanks to Frank Conrad, Randy Glucks- man, and John Cornelius.
PLEASE SEND light rail, transit, and commuter rail news items and correspondence directly to Prof. George M. Smerk, P.O. Box 486, Bloomington, IN 47402.
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