[JimmyDiablo]

Detroit auctioning off hundreds of surplus vehicles, including vintage trolleys
Financial Woes Force Selloff Of Surplus Property
AutoBlog

The financial difficulties facing Detroit, MI, are well known with examples including not having the funds to replace batteries in its parking meters and at least considering selling off its art collection. To make some extra money, the city is holding a public auction on November 5 where it's getting rid of what it is calling surplus vehicles. Usually, Autoblog wouldn't cover a municipal auction, but a few of the lots are so interestingly bizarre that they need to be seen.

Looking through the items, you find pretty much all of the machinery a city needs to function with a huge number of vans, pickups, medium-duty trucks, even a transit bus. But then lots 224, 225 (pictured above) and 226 jump out at you because they consist of three trolley cars that appear much older than everything else listed.

Remarkably, all three appear to be in impressive condition and vary in length from 22 to 32 feet. Lot 224 is in a shade of sea foam green and eggshell white that you just don't see anymore. All three are covered in dust, but the wooden interiors of 224 and 225 still seem to be in great shape. Lot 226 seems to be in the worst shape of the bunch from the photos, but it still isn't too bad. There's also a listing for lot 1050 that just says "3 trolley cars" with no further description or images, as of this writing.

**Full Article At Link**

 

[mgescuro]

Are these streetcars? Or are these cable cars?
They look like cable cars, but I can't really tell from the photos. Cable cars were all over the country at some point in time, but they all faded away, except in San Francisco. Streetcars, on the other hand, have evolved, but a few cities actually run the historic streetcars still.

Reason being, if these are streetcars, SF could potentially acquire them, renovate them, and then put them back into service with Detroit livery, adding to the collection of historic trolleys from around the world. If they were Cable Cars, I don't think SF could use them, as SF actually still hand-builds each car using master craftsmen.

 

[Envoy4Life]

Want to know what's sad? We had one of the best trolley systems back in the day.

Now, we have the people mover. :lmao:

At least M1 is coming along nicely:

 

[mgescuro]

Want to know what's sad? We had one of the best trolley systems back in the day.

Now, we have the people mover. :lmao:

At least M1 is coming along nicely:

Has Detroit decided on what manufacturer of streetcar they're going to use?
San Francisco just bought 175 new Siemens light rail cars for $1.2B. They replace the ridiculously oversized and overweight Breda light rail cars.

 

[JimmyDiablo]

Am I the only one who thinks it'd be epic to slap one of these on a bus frame for the Woodward Dream Cruise?!

 

[Envoy4Life]

Has Detroit decided on what manufacturer of streetcar they're going to use?
San Francisco just bought 175 new Siemens light rail cars for $1.2B. They replace the ridiculously oversized and overweight Breda light rail cars.

I'm preeeeeeety sure that they chose Siemens too. Last I heard it was the S70, but that could have changed.

 

[JimmyDiablo]

They appear to be street cars, via the listing, they have electric motors and run on a track 36" center to center...

 

[roy219]

I'm preeeeeeety sure that they chose Siemens too. Last I heard it was the S70, but that could have changed.

Did Detroit officials finalize their decision on which manufacturer will provide the M1 line streetcars? Earlier this year, this photo was posted of a Bombardier FLEXITY Freedom in a rendering that depicts downtown Detroit in the background:

 

[Envoy4Life]

Did Detroit officials finalize their decision on which manufacturer will provide the M1 line streetcars? Earlier this year, this photo was posted of a Bombardier FLEXITY Freedom in a rendering that depicts downtown Detroit in the background:

Wow, thanks! I've never seen this photo. I'd be happy with either to be honest.

What's interesting though is that the part of Downtown that the train in the picture is in isn't a stop on the scheduled service. An Easter Egg for what the future holds, hopefully?

 

[Envoy4Life]

Now, if the entire Metro Detroit area were to cooperate, we could possibly have something like this in the not so distant future:

Whoever made that map needs to be made leader of the project. That's about as good and efficient as it gets for Metro Detroit. All of the stops, lines, and stations are in the right places.

 

[mgescuro]

I'm preeeeeeety sure that they chose Siemens too. Last I heard it was the S70, but that could have changed.

Ah OK.
San Francisco has a variant of the S200, since SF needs a hybrid design -- high floor and low floor -- with moveable steps.

 

[Envoy4Life]

Ah OK.
San Francisco has a variant of the S200, since SF needs a hybrid design -- high floor and low floor -- with moveable steps.

http://m-1rail.com/faq/

Under "Have the streetcars been purchased" it says:

M-1 RAIL has requested the best and final offers from its preferred streetcar vendors. Once a decision is made, delivery is estimated for late 2015.

 

[mgescuro]

http://m-1rail.com/faq/

Under "Have the streetcars been purchased" it says:

Funny how that link references San Francisco for having a "modern streetcar" system.
I mean, SF does have a streetcar system, but it's really more of a hybrid, as there are sections of lines that are definitely streetcar-like. But there are sections of the line that are light-rail and sections that are subway/metro.

 

[Envoy4Life]

Funny how that link references San Francisco for having a "modern streetcar" system.
I mean, SF does have a streetcar system, but it's really more of a hybrid, as there are sections of lines that are definitely streetcar-like. But there are sections of the line that are light-rail and sections that are subway/metro.

I saw that, and I was actually going to post it to show you, but you already saw it.

I think they want to echo the San Francisco transit system eventually. Metro Detroit is waaaaaaaaaaay too big to only have tiny light rail trams. We're going to need something like this eventually:

If Detroit (or any city looking for mass transit) were smart, they'd look at how amazingly integrated Vienna is. It has hands down the best and most seamlessly integrated mass transit I've ever seen. It's incredible really.

 

[mgescuro]

If Detroit (or any city looking for mass transit) were smart, they'd look at how amazingly integrated Vienna is. It has hands down the best and most seamlessly integrated mass transit I've ever seen. It's incredible really.

I've never been to Vienna. Paris, however, is VERY integrated, with timed connections throughout the system from Métro to RER. It makes NYC Subway look incomplete.

 

[Envoy4Life]

I've never been to Vienna. Paris, however, is VERY integrated, with timed connections throughout the system from Métro to RER. It makes NYC Subway look incomplete.

I've been to Paris. Vienna makes Paris's mass transit look primitive. It's crazy how well integrated Vienna is. You should see it. You'd love it. It's a beautiful city.

 

[Mentat Bashar]

Those old cars are beautiful! I hope someone buys them and restores them.