urbanSTL

Presbyterian wrote:We keep saying to build it down Delmar, but I'm not sure a KFC / Taco Bell route would bring a lot of new riders into the system.

If the goal is to pick up riders who don't currently use transit, then I'd love to see it continue down the original line, through the densest neighborhoods in the city. That would take it east from DeBaliviere down Pershing to Union, then jog north a block to Waterman to the Central West End, where it could connect with the Lindell line to Downtown.

I'd be fine with that, too. My bottom line is that it has to at least connect to the CWE somehow for it to be useful for transit and not just a tourist gimmick.

The Zoo would probably work, too, and help alleviate some of the parking/traffic problems in Forest Park.

I just thought going down Delmar would help develop that whole stretch between the CWE and the Loop. If we could get a streetcar down that line, we could actually build real development there and tear down the galimaufry of fry-pits, empty lots, and surface parking that now constitute the intersection of Delmar and Kingshighway. In other words, turn that intersection from a source of heart disease to one of healthy, walkable living.

That intersection could have some of the greatest addresses in the whole city if it were connected by transit like that. Imagine having an apartment right where Taco Bell is now and both the heart of the CWE and the Loop are each just a short ride away!

Loop TDD releases RFP for construction management of Loop Trolley Project

Posted 12/10/2013 by Kim Cella

The Loop TOD inageThe Loop Transportation Development District (TDD) has released an RFP for construction management for The Loop Trolley Project. Proposals are due shortly.

RFP for Construction Management of Loop Trolley Project



http://cmt-stl.org/loop-tdd-releases-rf ... y-project/

Ran across this tidbit of info involving loop trolley

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... channel=61


Portland's TriMet Board of Directors has approved selling two GOMACO vintage trolleys to the St. Louis Loop Trolley Transportation Development District.

The St. Louis group will pay $80,000 for the two units over time, beginning when the proposed St. Louis streetcar project (one of two proposed in the city) becomes operational.

"We are not giving them away," TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch told local media. St. Louis would pay the full $80,000 plus "the balance of the local [Portland] share of the interest, so it relieves us of that cost. They would go from operating up to about eightdays a year to daily usage in St. Louis."

The sale, approved Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, also allows TriMet to repurpose the trolley bar in Portland's Rose Quarter into a MAX light rail transit maintenance station, improving system reliability and serviceability. "Current MOW crews are based in Gresham and Beaverton," Fetsch said, or the outlying portions of the LRT system.

St. Louis also will pay for all transport costs associated with the sale.

The acquisition of two vintage GOMACO units is a key step for St. Louis Trolley, which last month overcame delays to meet a Federal Transit Administration deadlineto submit required documentation for the project. The Loop Trolley route would include nine stations, connecting with two Metrolink light rail transit (LRT) stops at Forest Park and Delmar Loop stations. Federal funding of roughly $25 million already has been awarded to the line.

It's official:

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... channel=61

Also, Cincinnati got theirs rolling again today!

Gateway City wrote:It's official:

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... channel=61

Also, Cincinnati got theirs rolling again today!

Were these trolleys originally built in Saint Louis by chance? I haven't seen the origin of these mentioned in the articles. It would be kinda neat if the trolleys came back after being built here a long time ago.

These aren't actually historic, they're imitation and were built, I believe, in the 1970's. I think they're just based on Portland's old streetcars, not ours. I also remember a year or so ago Joe Edwards and company were looking to get some from Seattle. What happened with that? I mean, this is only two cars. How many is the whole fleet going to have? I don't mind if they aren't all the same. It would be kind of cool if there were different ones. Then it's a surprise which one is coming every time.

Delmar Loop Trolley Service has been given preliminary approval by the FTA

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... olley.html

Plans for heritage trolley service in St. Louis' Delmar Loop, dogged by lawsuits and delays throughout 2013, have been given preliminary approval by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

...FTA earlier this year had expressed concerns that backers of the proposed 2.2-mile line had failed to make enough progress on the project, placing $22.1 million out of roughly $25 million in federal funds at risk. The addition of Metro engineering staff dramatically improved project management...

Gateway City wrote:I mean, this is only two cars. How many is the whole fleet going to have?

I could be wrong but I seem to remember mention that the two trolleys on display in front of Commerce Bank and the History Museum were usable and would be put into service once the system was up and running.

Are we also getting those cars from Seattle, too? The ones Joe Edwards wanted to buy last year.

I may be out of the loop, for asking this question, but were there not streetcars in St. Louis, that could be rehabbed and used. I think that takes away from the coolness (just a bit) that they are using newer cars, instead of rehabbing old legit St. Louis cars. I would have liked to see that, versus using cars from Portland. I will say this, from reading articles from the Portland perspective, these cars are some of the nicer and more ornate cars they have. I'm sure they will be great, but I would have liked to see old St. Louis cars utilized.
I guess I'm being greedy. As long as this project gets up and running and is successful, I will be happy.

DogtownBnR wrote:I may be out of the loop, for asking this question, but were there not streetcars in St. Louis, that could be rehabbed and used. I think that takes away from the coolness (just a bit) that they are using newer cars, instead of rehabbing old legit St. Louis cars. I would have liked to see that, versus using cars from Portland. I will say this, from reading articles from the Portland perspective, these cars are some of the nicer and more ornate cars they have. I'm sure they will be great, but I would have liked to see old St. Louis cars utilized.
I guess I'm being greedy. As long as this project gets up and running and is successful, I will be happy.

The old cars were all sold to Bulgaria or something.

^Why does this not surprise me?

^^Thanks for the info.

So, are we to assume that no more St. Louis street cars exist? (At least cars that can actually function)

I have not been to the Museum of Transportation in ages. Do they have any real St. Louis street cars/trolleys in their collection?

http://www.trolleybrokers.com/379-1904% ... rolley.htm

Replica of 1904 World's Fair trolley.

http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/Portland-l ... 27531.html

Portland trolleys officially being shipped to STL very soon. Also, they spelled "loses" wrong. Stupid.

So they are being leased to St Louis for 10 years, not being sold.

Yeah, maybe. We'll see. If this and the Downtown streetcar are ever going to connect, they have to be the same gauge. I don't know what gauge these are and what gauge the other line will be so it's hard to say at this point if the two will ever form a single streetcar system.

It'd be insane if they both weren't standard gauge, 4' 8.5" Another important aspect is that they run off the same kind of electricity. Metrolink runs off of ~750V DC which is weird. This was an outcome of the scare campaign against HVAC in the late 80s early 90s. People were blaming it for causing cancer, which was BS. Kind of like the effort to blame vaccines for Autism.