Memphis Trolleys

[Simon Reed]

Help! Does anyone have a current roster for MATA, preferably including the origins of each car?

I've struggled for a long time on various search engines for this information and can't find anything, so any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[al-in-chgo]

Help! Does anyone have a current roster for MATA, preferably including the origins of each car?

I've struggled for a long time on various search engines for this information and can't find anything, so any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I just searched Google for "Memphis Area Transit Authority" like that, in quotes, and the first listing was: 

Memphis Area Transit Authority

This is your on-line resource for the Memphis Area Transit Authority. ... MATA will offer 25 cent rides on the bus, MATAplus and trolley whenever the ... www.matatransit.com/ - 49k -

It was probably the quotation marks that made the haystack into a handful of straw. 

Why don't you let us know if those twenty-five cent fares are still in effect?  - a.s.

 

 

[Anonymous]

Help! Does anyone have a current roster for MATA, preferably including the origins of each car?

I've struggled for a long time on various search engines for this information and can't find anything, so any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks.

According to a report that was presented to the American Public Transit Association meeting in 2000, the Memphis trolley fleet consisted of 19 restored trolleys. It included seven 19-seat wood-body vehicles and seven 52-seat metal-body vehicles. Two of the seven 19-seat vehicles were manufactured by the Brill Company in 1912. The other five were previously built and operated in Oporto, Portugal and date from the 1920s to 1940s. All seven of the 52-seat vehicles originated in Melbourne, Australia. These vehicles are believed to date from the 1920s to 1940s. 

This information is nearly eight years old, so undoubtedly there have been changes in the composition of the fleet.  But the website features one of the Brill cars and one of the Aussie cars, so they are probably still running.  

A sister Melbourne car runs on the McKinney Avenue Trolley Line in Dallas.  It is named aptly Matilda.  The McKinney Avenue line also operates a Brill car and one of the Oporto cars. 

I lived in Melbourne, Australia from 1999 to 2004.  It has the most extensive tram (streetcar) system in the Southern Hemisphere.  It is quick, comfortable, dependable, and economical.  I used it every day to get to and from work.   

[al-in-chgo]

I have heard nothing but praise from people who have lived in or visited Australia about the excellence of Melbourne's trams and commuter options. 

 

[Anonymous]

I have heard nothing but praise from people who have lived in or visited Australia about the excellence of Melbourne's trams and commuter options. 

Interestingly, Melbourne's tram, commuter rail, and bus services were privatized in the late 90s.  The contract operators still get state support to help cover the cost of the operations and earn a reasonable return, but the cost to the state of Victoria has declined noticeably.  Equally important, the private operators invested in new equipment and improved the quality of the services. 

Prior to privatization the inefficiencies and waste associated with public transport in Victoria were legendary.  The operators changed that by implementing sound management practices that drove out most of the waste. 

What works in another country is not necessarily a good solution for our country.  But we can take a clue or two from how others run their transit systems.  I would like to see a system or two in this country give the Australian model a go to determine if it could produce positive results.

I did not have a car while I lived in Australia.  The company offered me one, but I decided that I could live without it.  That's how good the public transit system is in Melbourne, as well as the other major cities throughout the country.  And the icing on the cake is that they are safe day or night.   

Without the financial burden of a car one has a lot more money to spend on really important things, like riding across the country on the Indian Pacific, which is one of the world's premier long distance trains.  It too, by the way, is run by a private operator.

 

[Simon Reed]

Thanks - all the above is very good but I'd love to know - specifically - the identities of the trolleys operating in Memphis and their origins.

Certainly many of the cars are ex-Melbourne, due to that cities exceptionally enlightened policy of storing their retired cars and selling them on to new operators.

The Dallas car is Melbourne 369, and I enjoyed a splendid ride on it in late April this year.

I've also ridden a couple of ex-Melbourne cars here in the UK, and the reason behind my question was to establish the identity and origin of cars I rode in Memphis when I visited in 1999 and 2002.  

[al-in-chgo]

Thanks - all the above is very good but I'd love to know - specifically - the identities of the trolleys operating in Memphis and their origins.

Certainly many of the cars are ex-Melbourne, due to that cities exceptionally enlightened policy of storing their retired cars and selling them on to new operators.

The Dallas car is Melbourne 369, and I enjoyed a splendid ride on it in late April this year.

I've also ridden a couple of ex-Melbourne cars here in the UK, and the reason behind my question was to establish the identity and origin of cars I rode in Memphis when I visited in 1999 and 2002.  

Duuude, some of the specific info you seek is available thru the website I gave you.  Just takes a little extra sorting and clicking. 

al-in-chgo

 

[Simon Reed]

Al,

Thanks - I got to that site on my initial search, before posting my impassioned plea.

Now I've gone to it again and I STILL can't find what I'm looking for!

I guess I'm maybe being a little simple but at least I'm not too proud to ask for help - could you tell me which bit of the site I need please?!

Thanks fella, 

[al-in-chgo]

Al,

Thanks - I got to that site on my initial search, before posting my impassioned plea.

Now I've gone to it again and I STILL can't find what I'm looking for!

I guess I'm maybe being a little simple but at least I'm not too proud to ask for help - could you tell me which bit of the site I need please?!

Thanks fella, 

Hi, Simon,

This might get you closer to what you're looking for:

http://www.matatransit.com/RidingMATA/TrolleyService/tabid/64/Default.aspx 

If not, there's a "Contact Us" post for the MATA; and if they don't know they nonetheless might be able to refer you to a local historical society or rail society.  - a.s.

 

 

[Craiger the trolley guy]

Why don't you call/write/Email them and see if they will give you the info.

Their mix is at least 5 Melbourne cars (initally used on New Orleans waterfront line), 5 Portugal 4 wheel Brill European Mfgrd. cars and several others that look like they have been re-manufactured by a company called Gromaco. They re-build old trolleys or make new units to look like old ones. Sometimes they use origional motors and controllers ( example-Tampa, Fl.) from cars scrapped from Milan, Italy Nearside cars some of which still run there. ( San Francisco has 11 operational Orange painted Milan Nearside cars on their historic "F" line that run everyday)

Craiger the trolley guy

[paulsafety]

Perhaps this may help place one more piece of the puzzle on the table....from http://world.nycsubway.org/us/memphis/

"MATA's Main Street Trolley is comprised principally of cars from Oporto, Portugal and Melbourne, Australia. The single-truck Oportos operate on Main Street exclusively, although they did operate on Riverfront initially. MATA numbers its cars according to the last number the trolley wore. In Oporto, the car numbers were 156, 164, 180, 187, 194 and 204, aged between 1909 and 1929. Each trolley carries a different paint scheme. 164 and 187, for example, are green and cream, but patterned differently. The Oportos had their vestibules lengthened to accomodate wheelchair users. Other Oporto cars, including two arch roof double-truck cars, were in the process of being rebuilt or awaiting renovation, but the project was halted in 1998.

The Melbourne cars, dating from 1925 to 1931, likewise carry their most recent numbers, which are 234, 1978 (ex-353), 417, 452 (ex-New Orleans 452, n�e 626), 454 (ex-N. O. 454, Melb 478), 455 (ex-N. O. 455, orig. Melb 331), 539, 540, 545, 553. Melbourne 503, which came from Green Bay, WI, is undergoing renovation by MATA. All of the W2s except 417 were overhauled by Gomaco.

Rounding out the fleet are former Gomaco single-truck demonstrator 1979, ex-Rio De Janeiro open car 1794, converted to a closed car by MATA, and brand-new Gomaco double-truck Birney replica 453, built at the same time that the 3 ex-New Orleans W2s were overhauled."

Paul F.