Capital Transit in Washington, DC

[daveklepper]

On 3/19/20, Jack May <[e-mail]> wrote:
> Nice work.  Thanks.
>
> We were in Georgetown on M Street on February 29, visiting our older
> grandson, who's a freshman at the university.  We drove around the
> neighborhood and remembered exactly where the route 20 cars went on O
> and P Streets.  The fact that the tracks are still there helped!  The
> old DC Transit headquarters (ex Capital Traction) is still extant, and
> it is now a Georgetown University building, called the Georgetown Car
> Barn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown_Car_Barn
>
> By the way, the campus is now closed because of COVID-19 and this past
> weekend Alex packed up and returned home to Manhattan by Amtrak.
>
> Jack
>
> Here are views from Google Maps showing the tracks today.  They do add
> some ambience to the area, but then, I'm prejudiced.

The p;hoto I am posring now is not directly fron Google Maps but could be at a different time with different weaher conditiohs at the same location as one of their photos.  Oudtside of Londoh, is there any other place in the World where condouit streetcar track can sstill be seen?

 

[daveklepper]

Hello Mr. Klepper,

The National Capital Trolley Museum acquired an original PCC streetcar recently and arranged for me to take photos of its beautifully preserved conduit plow carrier still attached to the rear truck. It even has the insulating material intact! I hung a conduit plow from their collection in the carrier and photographed it in position. I wanted to plug in the leads, but they wouldn’t go in the sockets of the plow. The leads do not appear corroded, so I suspect the collet-like parts of the sockets are too stiff from disuse. For those who may not know, the plow weighs over fifty pounds, and needs to be lifted to shoulder height when one stands in the plow pit. I tried to imagine doing that every few minutes, all day long. This is not to mention of course, being constantly exposed to inclement weather and high voltage.

The photos were mostly taken from the maintenance pit, which is deeper than the plow pits, so I actually had to heft the thing above my head to get it in position. I understand now why the plow pits were so shallow–you have to be able to reach the leads easily, in case the plugs are balky!

Please post these images on the blog, they are my work and I release them for non-commercial re-use.

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

Gratefully,

 

Paul Pallansch

Dot-Connector, Dioramist,
Up-Close Realism

cell: 240-277-8887
facsimile: 301-649-7525

 

 

 

 

 

[daveklepper]

recently scanned:

 

 

 

 

[daveklepper]

And one more:

[daveklepper]

And more:

[pennytrains]

So many of those could be "Anytown U.S.A." and if we had our way they still would be! 

[daveklepper]

And another:

[rcdrye]

The last photo illustrates one reason why many cities with excellent streetcar systems were still pro-bus.  The person waiting to board 1344 is only a foot or so away from the Ford in the left lane.  Pedestrian accidents were common, and safety islands only helped a little - in cities that still have them they frequently get struck by vehicles.

[daveklepper]

Mure:

 

 

 

 

[daveklepper]

And more:

[daveklepper]

 

[daveklepper]

 

 

[daveklepper]

One more scanned and reopaired:

[BaltACD]

daveklepper

One more scanned and reopaired:

Gone - Error 410

[daveklepper]

[daveklepper]

For Thasnksgiving Day, the first at the mouth of the tunnel under the Capitol:

 

 

 

[WILLIAM O CRAIG]

I first encountered Washington streetcars in 1949 when I was visiting my sister there as a high school graduation present.  That summer they were building the underground passages at Dupont Circle, two for streetcars and another for motor traffic, and had built temporary tracks above ground around the edge of the circle. Last I knew they still had not found a use for those old streetcar tunnels.  Later I was working in Washington for Traffic World magazine when I rode the last of the cars.  I have been asked what happened when snowfalls covered the tracks with underground conduits and they couldn't spread salt on the streets.  They substituted bus service, and not very well.  I remember catching a bus on F Street one snowy day when they had been substituted for the Mount Pleasant streetcar line.  The bus was slipping and sliding all over, trying to drive on the tracks down the middle of  the street to stop at the safety islands.  Plus the fact that they didn't have enough extra buses available for full service.

   By the way, it was CapitAl Transit, with an "A"--the capitOl is  the building. Sorry, I am a retired editor.

[daveklepper]

Thanks! I'd  foegotten the difference.

And so it the tunnel is under the Capitol Grounds, not the Capitol  Building itself.  Or should it be Capital Grounds when referring to the campus and not the building itself?

I've also done some editing.  And make-up.

And while I'm asking questions:

Does the underground monorail used by Senators or Congressmen (forget whch) still exist? 

[WILLIAM O CRAIG]

Should be the Capitol Grounds, because you're referring to the grounds around the building, not the grounds of the whole capital city.

[daveklepper]

I get the  distinction and thank you.

Still wondering about that antique electric much-used monorail.

[rcdrye]

One of my sisters worked for a senator in the late 1990s.  The monorail was still in use then.

[daveklepper]

And now?

And just curiouis, which senator?

[rcdrye]

Can't remember his name offhand but he was from Connecticut.

[Enzoamps]

For anyone interested, here is an overview:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol_subway_system

[daveklepper]

Joe Liebermasn?  The one Democratic senator who voted for Bill Clinton's impeachment over lieing before Congress under Oath/

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Mayy have been Christopher Dodd.

[rcdrye]

Joe Lieberman.  I checked.

[daveklepper]

Hurrah for your sister!

[daveklepper]

Two 1947 photos at Union Station:

[daveklepper]

An earlier post showed the inside of the Georgetown plow-pit of the "20" Cabin John Line.  Here is an inbound PCC transitioning from overhead wire to conduit aat tht plow-pit: