Superstitious passengers are boycotting a number 13 tram after official figures showed the route suffers the most death crashes in Zagreb, Croatia. The route - where a passenger died in a crash this week - is running empty as passengers switch to other trams and buses.
Many years ago, Los Angeles Ry had two "funeral cars" that would pickup casket and mourners at downtown funeral homes and take them to cemeteries at the outer ends of some of the streetcar lines. Larger burial grounds even had spur tracks for the special cars. As automotive hearses cut into the funeral trolley business, LARy converted one car into a regular passenger car, but left the stained-glass upper sash in place. Many of the more superstitious Angelenos would avoid this car, and the company finally rebuilt it so that only hard core trolley fans would know its origin. The other funeral car was placed in "dead storage" in one of the carbarns, and around 1940 was sold to a pioneer railfan group. They had it moved to Cajon Pass, north of San Bernardino, and used it as a clubhouse for weekend trainwatching sessions. During the week, the Santa Fe agent at Summit would keep an eye on the car. In 1967, Santa Fe announced the closing of Summit station, and the group decided that the car would be safer in a museum. It's now at Orange Empire Ry. Museum in Perris, CA, restored to its original appearance, complete with (an empty) coffin.
ReplyDeleteThat's very unlucky in Zagreb! This is like getting a death sentence! Seriously, I'm back from Montreal yesterday after three days. My hotel had WiFi, but unfortunately was not working. Other than this, the cinnamon rolls at the free continential breakfast with my stay were delicious.
ReplyDeleteI did go on the Metro for a lot on my trip. The "underground city" downtown is just great. Similarly, there's PATH in Toronto, and two subway stations connect to the Eaton Centre downtown (although the Eaton's department store is now out of business, and has been succeeded in some places by Sears).