Railroad Forums 

  • PS mystery streetcars

  • Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.
Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

Moderators: lensovet, Kaback9, nick11a

 #1437545  by bonaire
 
Hope you guys can help with this mystery photo, taken I think in the late '40s. It shows two PS cars, a 29 Bloomfield and a 23 Central running as a "special." They're both facing the same direction, and the 23 is sitting on a track that seems to end at the intersection. The 29 motorman seems to be yelling sometyhing at the 23's motorman, who's at the "wrong" end of his car with a guy in a suit. Any thoughts about the location, situation? Thanks, streetcar guys!
 #1437655  by dieciduej
 
The answer is I'm not sure, but here is a guess!

The Route 23 Central and Route 29 Bloomfield were part of the Essex Division. The only places those two lines overlapped were on Market and Broad Sts, so it maybe on one of those streets. Notice in your detail photo, the track the 23 Central car is on ends in the pavement. Not much street traffic which suggests its a Sunday, which is the usual time for fan trips.

Now for the guess, it is at the end of the Route 29 Bloomfield, at the Caldwell Loop. My reasoning, the trackage matches the maps for that route, in Hamm's "The Public Service Lines in New Jersey," pg. 140. A quick Google Street View of that end of the line some of the buildings sort of match, in or about the late 200 block of Bloomfield Ave, nearest cross Roseland Ave.

That's my guess from a kid in Boston! I hope it helps and gets discussion going.

JoeD
 #1437657  by time
 
This photo appears to be taken at the intersection of Bloomfield Ave. and Central Ave. in Caldwell, looking west. You can match the architectural detail of the two buildings on the right side of the street, as JoeD pointed out. The white building on the left side of the street (behind 23 Central), also appears to be a match.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8419518 ... 312!8i6656" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1437720  by dieciduej
 
No problem, it was fun to tackle a different system/state photo. Luckily I had a reference in my pile of transit books.

JoeD