Subway, Elevated, Trolley & Traction Lines photos

[Tom Dempsey]

Here's another shot, Tom, from the same study: It's crazy-looking thing, quite ramshackle in appearance. I recall occasionally seeing the line cars for the Baltimore streetcar line when I was a boy...I don't recall them looking quite like this. Healey

Thanks Healey, It's still in use in Yakima by the Hysterical Society. As always, Tom Dempsey

[E7]

Getting back to Washington DC street layout...I find DC is laid out
with some logic once you factor in those diagonal "state" Avenues.
Where I get lost in is Baltimore---seems every street heads for the
nearest hill with little regard for any street grid !

Coulda fooled me......I thought they all headed for the Harbor Tunnel!

[healey36]

Not exactly sure of the location or what's going on in this photo:



Harris & Ewing photograph from c. 1921-23, Library of Congress.

Healey

[Tom Dempsey]

Herding truants?

[healey36]

It could be...it's an amazingly clear photo given the action and the tech of the time.

Here's a nice photo by the Detroit Publishing Company (c. 1900-1910) of the Union Traction Company Terminal in Indianapolis, Indiana:



The shed featured nine tracks, and in 1906 nearly 4.5 million passengers passed through the depot. By the 1930s interurban traffic was in decline and buses were brought into service. The last interurban left the terminal on January 18, 1941.

My understanding is the terminal building was torn down in 1972.

(From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Healey

[healey36]

View from ferry departing the CNJRR slip to cross the Hudson, July, 1939:



From the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, photographer Dorothea Lange.

Healey

[healey36]

Paving with wood-block - Cumberland, 1914:



Courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, photographer unknown.

Healey

[J. S. Bach]

100_8704.JPG (1.03 MiB) Viewed 9684 times

[Mitch]

Paving with wood-block - Cumberland, 1914:



Courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, photographer unknown.

Healey

Healey, I one time hauled two dump trailer loads of cut off 4" x 4" oak blocks from a sawmill to River Forest Golf Course in Allegheny Twp, when it was first goin' up. It was winter and the load was mixed with snow and dirt, so I asked them what they were gonna do with them. They said they were putting a floor in the clubhouse so golfers didn't need to remove their spikes in the bar/lunchroom or the locker rooms. I guess they set them in tight, then sanded them down evenly to make a perfect floor. I'm not a golfer and have never been in the lower section of the clubhouse, but the wife and I have had dinner upstairs in the lodge. Nice place!

[healey36]

Mitch - A buddy of mine is the head groundskeeper at a local course. He once told me they replace the oak thresholds in their pro-shop every 3-4 months (about three times per season), they get so chewed up by golf-cleats.

Nice JSB...reminiscent of the last trolleys that ran the streets of Baltimore. Have to say, the catenary that folks model is just amazing.

Healey

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Paving with wood-block - Cumberland, 1914:

I've seen that used with end grain up in shops and in at least one engine house. Once it got oil soaked into it, it swelled and was like stone

Ed Reutling actually modeled such a floor once

[healey36]

Once it got oil soaked into it, it swelled and was like stone

Especially southern yellow pine...that stuff gets so hard one can barely drive a nail into it.

[E7]

Mitch - A buddy of mine is the head groundskeeper at a local course. He once told me they replace the oak thresholds in their pro-shop every 3-4 months (about three times per season), they get so chewed up by golf-cleats. Healey

That is really odd because back around the turn of the century, there was a big push toward soft spikes. Many courses would not allow the old tungsten/steel spikes. This was not so much because of things like you mention, but people dragging their feet on the greens. I've been to courses that made you replace metal spikes (they screw into sockets in the sole of the shoe) with soft spikes before they would allow you to play. I found the traction to be equally good with either type, and the soft spike was probably lighter. As memory serves there were 9 or so on each shoe. All this, good fodder for the so what file!

Rich

[healey36]

Mitch - A buddy of mine is the head groundskeeper at a local course. He once told me they replace the oak thresholds in their pro-shop every 3-4 months (about three times per season), they get so chewed up by golf-cleats. Healey

That is really odd because back around the turn of the century, there was a big push toward soft spikes. Many courses would not allow the old tungsten/steel spikes. This was not so much because of things like you mention, but people dragging their feet on the greens. I've been to courses that made you replace metal spikes (they screw into sockets in the sole of the shoe) with soft spikes before they would allow you to play. I found the traction to be equally good with either type, and the soft spike was probably lighter. As memory serves there were 9 or so on each shoe. All this, good fodder for the so what file!

Rich

I think metal cleats have been banned by most courses, Rich, but I guess hard-plastic cleats can still do some serious damage over the confines of a narrow passageway. Also, some clubs may have relaxed the rules a bit in an effort to get folks back on the course. We had nine clubs within ten miles of me fifteen years ago...now we have four.

Dredging the LOC for photos, saw this one of a trolley on a transfer table:



Unknown date, unknown photographer, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Healey

[E7]

Healey,

Pretty neat stuff. I think the scrapping of many trolley systems because of the advent of the automobile was short sighted. "They" never seem to be able to think ahead. Had the made the PA Turnpike 4 lanes when it was originally built it would have cost a pile, but it would have been chump change compared to the cost now.

Rich