I know this former New York trolley company because of one reason:
In 1949, Vienna has got 42 trolley cars from over there.
History of the cars:
The trolley cars were built by Third Avenue Transit System (TATS) in 1939. They got the numbers 626 to 685 and they went in Manhattan, the Bronx and on the "Crosstown"-line.
The mayor of New York was against that trolley company, because it handicapped the traffic, so it was shut down.
In Vienna, there was a very different situation. Because of poor service and because of continuous operation, and especially because of the bomb attacks on Vienna, there was a lack of trolley cars.
Many cars were destroyed or damaged. And, the trolley lines were damaged, too. Many lines had to be shut down, or they had to take a indirect way to come to their terminal.
Up tp 1945 the case has become worse, because more and more cars could not run properly.
30 war tramway cars (in German: Kriegsstraßenbahnwagen) were sent to Vienna but they were weren´t usable because they got delivered without electrical parts, they couldn´t be used until 1949.
After the war, Vienna´s trolley cars were almost to 90% destroyed. Although the trolley system was re-built to 1946, there was still a huge lack of cars.
For helping Vienna, US Army sent 42 trolley cars from former TATS to Vienna, which bought them very cheap (because of "Marshall-Plan"). Transportation costs NY - Vienna were paid by US government.
The trolley cars were shipped to Rotterdam and came to Vienna on rail, via Cologne. The cars arrived in Vienna Feb. 1949 to Sep. 49.
"Wiener Stadtwerke" (Vienna Transportation Co.) numbered the cars as 4201 to 4242, they got the classification "Z".
They were very popular in Vienna because of their big room (46 seats and 47 standing place) and because of their cushioned seats.
The "Z" were accommodated to Vienna situation by "Gräf&Stift".
Their first day of operation was the 13th March 1950.
They were used in trolley lines 31, 231, 331, 32, 132, 17 and 217 because of there width, which was too big for Vienna conditions. Since 1964, they got used on line 11, too.
The last day of operation in Vienna was the 5th September 1969.
The cars were scrapped, a few cars went to museums all over the world (USA, GB, A). Trolley car 4208 (former TATS 679) is property of the Vienna Trolley Museum, which is one of the biggest worldwide.
Pics:
Technical drawing of Vienna type "Z" (sorry for the size, but so you can identify everything!)
Car 631 in NY
Arriving in Vienna.
Z 4202 on "Friedrich-Engels-Platz"
At "Pogrelzstraße", on the left side K 2530 + m3, on the right side Z 4236.
At "Eßlinggasse"
Z 4238
Z 4208 at Vienna Trolley Museum.
In 1949, Vienna has got 42 trolley cars from over there.
History of the cars:
The trolley cars were built by Third Avenue Transit System (TATS) in 1939. They got the numbers 626 to 685 and they went in Manhattan, the Bronx and on the "Crosstown"-line.
The mayor of New York was against that trolley company, because it handicapped the traffic, so it was shut down.
In Vienna, there was a very different situation. Because of poor service and because of continuous operation, and especially because of the bomb attacks on Vienna, there was a lack of trolley cars.
Many cars were destroyed or damaged. And, the trolley lines were damaged, too. Many lines had to be shut down, or they had to take a indirect way to come to their terminal.
Up tp 1945 the case has become worse, because more and more cars could not run properly.
30 war tramway cars (in German: Kriegsstraßenbahnwagen) were sent to Vienna but they were weren´t usable because they got delivered without electrical parts, they couldn´t be used until 1949.
After the war, Vienna´s trolley cars were almost to 90% destroyed. Although the trolley system was re-built to 1946, there was still a huge lack of cars.
For helping Vienna, US Army sent 42 trolley cars from former TATS to Vienna, which bought them very cheap (because of "Marshall-Plan"). Transportation costs NY - Vienna were paid by US government.
The trolley cars were shipped to Rotterdam and came to Vienna on rail, via Cologne. The cars arrived in Vienna Feb. 1949 to Sep. 49.
"Wiener Stadtwerke" (Vienna Transportation Co.) numbered the cars as 4201 to 4242, they got the classification "Z".
They were very popular in Vienna because of their big room (46 seats and 47 standing place) and because of their cushioned seats.
The "Z" were accommodated to Vienna situation by "Gräf&Stift".
Their first day of operation was the 13th March 1950.
They were used in trolley lines 31, 231, 331, 32, 132, 17 and 217 because of there width, which was too big for Vienna conditions. Since 1964, they got used on line 11, too.
The last day of operation in Vienna was the 5th September 1969.
The cars were scrapped, a few cars went to museums all over the world (USA, GB, A). Trolley car 4208 (former TATS 679) is property of the Vienna Trolley Museum, which is one of the biggest worldwide.
Pics:
Technical drawing of Vienna type "Z" (sorry for the size, but so you can identify everything!)
Car 631 in NY
Arriving in Vienna.
Z 4202 on "Friedrich-Engels-Platz"
At "Pogrelzstraße", on the left side K 2530 + m3, on the right side Z 4236.
At "Eßlinggasse"
Z 4238
Z 4208 at Vienna Trolley Museum.
