tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post4669714609579220445..comments2024-01-12T00:32:20.149-08:00Comments on The Overhead Wire: The First Electric Railway?Pantograph Trolleypolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-27315268158754562042009-08-11T07:03:18.868-07:002009-08-11T07:03:18.868-07:00Baltimore had an operational third rail electric r...Baltimore had an operational third rail electric railway in 1885.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16867343921738462450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-6315183358434788812009-08-06T22:09:05.542-07:002009-08-06T22:09:05.542-07:00My favorite story about the Richmond electric rail...My favorite story about the Richmond electric railway was about the night one of Mr. Sprague's pioneer cars developed motor trouble, and he instructed an assistant to go to the barn an bring the "special instruments", which weren't technical apparatus at all, but were a team of four sturdy mules! (one of my father's uncles was one of the last of the old time muleskinners, so hybrid equines have a special place in our family history). Here is Southern California, the first electric railway ran on Pico Blvd, from downtown to the Electric Railway Homestead Tract (one of the earliest of many real-estate oriented trolley lines). The man who got me started in electric railway preservation lived in this neighborhood, and thought it was "really cool" when he found the name in some old documents pertaining to his home.<br />And I've made the pilgrimage to Brighton to ride Volk's Electric Railway, and to the Isle of Man to ride their 1893 interurban (and even run a tram that was new when Queen Victoria reigned over the Empire.)Bob Davisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-91284005063689786942009-08-06T21:00:25.626-07:002009-08-06T21:00:25.626-07:00Yup. The key system is credited with inventing th...Yup. The key system is credited with inventing the diamond pantograph. <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph_%28rail%29Pantograph Trolleypolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-83746870528198389472009-08-06T20:54:32.587-07:002009-08-06T20:54:32.587-07:00didnt the key system invent the pantograph? (many ...didnt the key system invent the pantograph? (many years after the trolley pole)Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01946240918282472258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-70568395831073763722009-08-06T12:52:38.385-07:002009-08-06T12:52:38.385-07:00There are many other possible candidates for the h...There are many other possible candidates for the honour of "the first electric railway". Werner von Siemens built <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Stra%C3%9Fenbahn#Early_history" rel="nofollow">his first electric tram line</a> in the south of Berlin in 1881, but it closed when Hitler was in power.<br /><br />Reportedly, the oldest continuously operating electric railway currently is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volk's_Electric_Railway" rel="nofollow">Volk's Electric Railway</a> in Brighton, England. This opened in the 1880s, and it did before Richmond. These two I mentioned are both narrow gauge.Matt Fishernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-85539090276969537452009-08-06T11:20:39.214-07:002009-08-06T11:20:39.214-07:00"Canada's first electric railway, Stracha..."Canada's first electric railway, Strachan Ave to Dufferin St, Toronto, Ontario, 1884, fare 5 cents"<br /><br />http://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/ser71%5Cs0071_it3447.jpg<br /><br />http://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/ser71%5Cs0071_it10248.jpg<br /><br />Actually was a demonstration at the Canadian National Exhbition. First year used side power rail, followed in subsequent years by an overhead trolley.W. K. Lishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02259823076268184746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-50651625883875737522009-08-06T09:49:49.977-07:002009-08-06T09:49:49.977-07:00Man I keep messing up on places. Maybe I should st...Man I keep messing up on places. Maybe I should stop posting so late. Thanks for the catch Patrick.Pantograph Trolleypolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-43775164480269879682009-08-06T09:26:51.681-07:002009-08-06T09:26:51.681-07:00You mean Montgomery, Alabama. You had me all excit...You mean Montgomery, Alabama. You had me all excited that my hometown had a transit distinction... Birmingham never gets a break.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03269388343241893981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-68401328435361501002009-08-06T04:39:27.305-07:002009-08-06T04:39:27.305-07:00A demonstration electric streetcar line opened in ...A demonstration electric streetcar line opened in Windsor, Ontario in 1886, but closed the same year Frank Sprague opened his line in Richmond which receives the distinction. The following year (1887), another Ontario city, St. Catharines, opened its first streetcar line, the first in Canada.Matt Fishernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-68805255812511899512009-08-06T01:26:20.049-07:002009-08-06T01:26:20.049-07:00Thomas Davenport 1835
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...Thomas Davenport 1835<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Davenport_(inventor)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12818721984298857987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-76503104111675071132009-08-06T01:17:15.066-07:002009-08-06T01:17:15.066-07:00Ernst Werner von Siemens had developed an early tr...Ernst Werner von Siemens had developed an early trolley bus in 1882, though in 1879 he had an early electric locomotive.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12818721984298857987noreply@blogger.com