A Bit Off Topic Perhaps but the End of an Era Nevertheless . . .

I didn't know this was happening. From the MBTA Carmens's Union:

Since 1936, the men and women of the Boston Carmen’s Union, Local 589 have operated and maintained a network of trackless trolleys in and around Belmont, Boston, Cambridge, and Watertown. This Saturday, the last of the legacy trackless trolley lines will operate in regular passenger service on routes 71 and 73 out of Harvard Square.

As part of a celebration of these dependable, reliable, and zero-emission vehicles, the MBTA and Local 589 have teamed up to offer a last ride to employees and their families. The farewell trip will depart from North Cambridge Carhouse this Saturday, March 12 at 5:30pm and run along the trackless system before returning to North Cambridge.

A giant step backwards?

Yep. There is another thread about this stupidity on the part of MBTA management. It's under MBTA electrification.

Can't hurt to comment on the stupidity here, too: the wiring and substations and whatnot are all there, and the vehicles and their motors etc are proven to last a long, long time. And they never needed to stop and charge. Just nuts to get rid of them.

Original topic is under MBTA. https://railroad.net/mbta-bus-fleet-ele ... 73049.html Recent discussion starts at https://railroad.net/post1590371.html#p1590371

This is what happens when you elect Eco-Nazis to "govern," which to them means top-down, Soviet style "central planning" where they dictate everyone's choices in every aspect of life. Everything will be "battery powered." And at the same time, they will do everything possible to make the electric grid (a) less reliable and (b) much more expensive. What could go wrong?

Ever see videos of EV bus fires? They ignite and quickly explode, with their battery packs often "conveniently" placed, among other places, in their roofs. So all occupants are subject to being engulfed in flames and showered with molten metal in seconds. Does that sound like a vehicle you want to travel in? Put your children on to take them to school?

Electric vehicles will never be useful until they all do what these "trackless trolleys" do - draw power from the roads they travel on. Batteries are idiotic for transport, they impose not only too many limitations but too many dangers.

A bit off topic as well as a bit off rocker...

I wonder whether this is a budgetary thing. Perhaps there is no budget for maintenance of the present trackless system, but plenty of dollars available for new sexy things like battery busses. If that's the case, the next question is who made that budgetary decision? I suspect that "free" bucks from the Federal Government were involved. Dismembering the trackless system was a goal of Thomas J. McLernon General Manager of the MTA/MBTA during 1960-1964. The trackless system survived McLernon, and will hopefully survive the battery bus enthusiasts.

I would guess that actual committed environmentalists* would have kept the tracklesses, or at least given them a long, hard look. Tearing out the catenary and using batteries -- which actual committed environmentalists know involve scarce materials mined in damaging ways and wear out after a while leaving hazardous waste, and would learn don't last nearly as long as trackless trolleys can-- seems more like the kind of thing that a moderate politician who wants to look new and cool would do, as well as the kind of thing that a transit authority that wants fewer different kinds of vehicles would do. (To say nothing of people who think the wires are ugly.)

The idea that there is more will to buy new things than to maintain old ones, however, is probably about right. It's a common pattern, and not just in government either.

(*I assume "actual committed environmentalists" is what is meant by Eco-Nazis, above.)

As far as I can tell, this was triggered because the City of Cambridge was going to force the trolleybuses offline for an extensive road rebuilding on their route. It would seem that MBTA decided that while zero-emissions busses are still needed (or else they would just be sticking to diesel busses), the inflexibility of the trackless trolley routes was too problematic (a battery bus can take an unplanned detour while a trolleybus can't).

Modern trolleybuses (with in-motion charging and modest battery packs) are far less inflexible than what the T has used in the past. One of the trackless routes in Dayton, OH has a terminus 3 miles beyond the end of the wires.

Modern trolleybuses (with in-motion charging and modest battery packs) are far less inflexible than what the T has used in the past.

Wait, are you saying that it's possible for the same vehicle to be powered by both batteries AND wires? What sorcery is this?

Seriously, though. The T wanted to get rid of the trolleys, so they simply found reasons to do so. How long have those wires been there? Are we saying that none of the roads under those wires were rebuilt at any point since the wires were put up?

Huntington Avenue has been rebuilt under the "real trolley" wires many times. I remember seeing such work being done and wondered if the backhoes and other shovel equipment had some kind of height range limiter that prevents them from accidentally tearing out the wires.

MBTA3247 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:48 am Modern trolleybuses (with in-motion charging and modest battery packs) are far less inflexible than what the T has used in the past. One of the trackless routes in Dayton, OH has a terminus 3 miles beyond the end of the wires.

And even the trolleybuses with batteries will have a service life far longer than a conventional BEB.
Honestly , unless they sold the wires and poles for scrap already, if i was dayton or phillly (or another city looking at BRT), I'd buy it up, for adding service for trollybuses.

As of yet, they've done nothing which would irrevocably prevent the return of service, if there was a change of prevailing attitudes at the T. They've taken down just the overhead wire (contact wires and span wires) in locations where road construction is going on, but much of the rest of the OHW is still up. I think the one major exception is the wire is gone right in Watertown Square, but perhaps they've taken down most/all of the 71's wire due to the Mt Auburn project.

Conversely, ALL of the 73 within Belmont is still intact, as is much if not all of the wire in and around Harvard Square, and Mt Auburn east of Aberdeen Ave. I don't think they've taken out line poles or feeders to any great extent anywhere, though Mt Auburn's poles within Watertown will no doubt come out as the road reconstruction starts.

The last time I walked behind the North Cambridge carhouse, there didn't look to be any activity there on battery bus modifications.

I wonder if this will be another area that new Auditor or Governor will be looking at? One can hope this could bring the TT's back.