Railroad Forums 

  • The destruction of MBTA Trolley Buses by the MBTA is a huge mistake!

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1608426  by sextant
 
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/02/17 ... crap-heap/

The Trolleybuses are no more thru Cambridge not sure what is going to happen to the Underground tunnel at Harvard. What seems illegal is that the Silver Line tunnel was built new with FTA money with electric buses so they should have to pay that back. Also the trolleybuses themselves replaced trolley rail systems that were viable. Dayton, Seattle and Vancouver BC have built new or replaced trolley bus systems in the last 10 years.
 #1608506  by octr202
 
Someday...maybe.

A recent (okay, about 4 weeks ago) walk behind North Cambridge carhouse/garage (to be converted into the first battery bus depot) showed little to no activity. Even all of the overhead wire was still up around the site, though the garage itself is now cut off from the rest of the system as the northern portion of the wire on Mass Ave has been removed. As of last week the southern end, as well as everything around Harvard Sq was still up.

Elsewhere, the Mt Auburn St/Belmont St intersection, as well as Belmont St up to the town line has been removed. Based on posts on Twitter, Aberdeen Ave and possibly some of Huron Ave have had their wire removed. Otherwise the system is remarkably still intact.
 #1608524  by BandA
 
If they have scrapped the wire... I suppose new copper wire could be re-hung but it's probably only a matter of time before the scrappers are called. With all the MBTA safety issues and functional insolvency, the next governor will have lots they need to do. Unfortunately, neither candidate offer much hope of improvement.
 #1608622  by sextant
 
Well in Philly SEPTA has Trolleybuses in the north end of the city but not in the south end. I suppose that in addition to drivers and Trolleybus maintenance men who are specialized in the unique craft of maintaining such a oddball pieces of rollingstock you also have to have linemen to go up and maintain miles of wire. SEPTA route 29/79/80 has been OOS since 2003 and is being replaced with battery buses-Current

Trolley buses currently still operate on only the following three SEPTA routes:[2]
Route 59 Arrott Transportation Center Station – Oxford Avenue – Castor Avenue – Bells Corner, Rhawnhurst
Route 66 Frankford Transportation Center – Frankford Avenue – Torresdale/Holmesburg
Route 75 Arrott Terminal Station – Wyoming Avenue – Nicetown
Former
Route 29 33rd & Dickenson – Water Street via Tasker Street (eastbound) and Morris Street (westbound)
Route 61 Container Loop to 8th & Walnut via Ridge Avenue, Manayunk
Route 79 Delaware Avenue – 29th Street via Snyder Avenue
Route 80 Front & Oregon to 22nd & Passyunk via Oregon Avenue
 #1610183  by jbvb
 
In the early 80s, I spent a couple of nights in a hotel on Market St. San Francisco. The diesel buses were noisy from 8-10 floors up. You could hear the streetcars, but with resilient wheels they weren't disruptive. I only knew trolleybuses were passing by looking out the window. I hadn't actually used Muni trolleybuses till last year, when I became acquainted with hybrid battery/overhead trolleybuses: Boarding a #30 Stockton TT with its poles down in the parking lot of a big box store way out in the Presidio, a fast quiet trip via the tunnel to Powell & Market; I didn't even notice which stop they put the poles up. Every time I go there I return wondering what Boston did to deserve the MBTA.
 #1610207  by ExCon90
 
west point wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 9:23 pm Do not forget all the battery buses that SEPTA has sidelined for over a year due to frame cracks.
This just in -- one of them burst into flames with a battery fire a day or so ago and did notable damage to Southern Depot; the manufacturer is sending some people to investigate. Also, there is speculation that the frame cracks may be due to the weight of the batteries.
 #1610390  by west point
 
The weight and balance of the batteries may cause the frame cracks. too much weight at battery location(s) Bus builders might have believed present bus frames did not need any beefing up ?
Last edited by CRail on Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Unnecessary nesting quotes removed. Do not use the 'quote' button as the 'reply' button!