LAST EDITED ON Feb-17-03 AT 05:42 PM (EDT)
Hi trolley people,as I had to do some desk top publishing work associated with an effort to raise money for the proper preservation of historic trolley cars in the City of Basel, Switzerland, I wanted to share the following four image files with the dedicated trolley "sub-community" gathering in this forum. Two trolley companies currently operate 12 trolley routes in this town (10 routes day-round, 2 rush-hour only) and to its suburbs, one even being an international interurban route serving one community in French territory also.
Interurban Motorcar 450: Build in 1914 as a one-of-a kind prototype, featuring a low floor center doorway (in 1914!). Put to work almost exclusively on suburban route 11. Affectionately nicknamed "Aunt Juliette". Retired in 1972, saved from scrapping by a dedicated group of enthusiasts, but remained in open storage until circa 1985, and suffered extensive damages by vandalism. Restored into a dining car for city tours & group charters. Current as of today.Trailer 702: Built as one-of-a-kind prototype, featuring a central doorway and a three-axled undercarriage. Retired around 1971 with the arrival of new articulated rolling stock for suburban lines. Restored in 1994/95. Current as one of two trailers with tables for use with either dining-motor 450 or two-axled bar-motor 163 (no pix on file at this time, sorry).
Motorcar 126: Built in 1923 (give or take a year, sorry, I'm not the rivet counter), featuring benches along the side of its passenger cab. Retired in 1968. External restoration by a dedicated group of enthusiasts as early as 1981, but not certified for lack of funding. Remained in storage yardside. Rebuilt extensively in 1994/95 for the 100year jubilee of the city of Basel's trolleys, this time including full certification for passenger operations (not easy to get back for old cars with manually operated doors, once it has been cancelled from the transport ministry's records). Current.Trailer 309: Built in 1897 as motorcar, part of the second batch of cars delivered to the city. Converted to trailer before 1920. Sold of to Lucerne in ca. 1941. Retired when the trolley system of that city closed down in the early 1950s. Sold to a privarte person who used the remnants of the car as shed in his garden. Rediscovered by a trolley affecionado & hiker in the early 1990's. Afer public fundrising by several organizations, the hulk was returned and painstakingly rebuilt. Re-entered service in 1997, on it's 100th birthday... Current.
Motorcar 205: Built in 1931, part of the final batch of two-axled cars delivered to the trolley company. In revenue service until retirement in 1978. 205 is one of 2 surviving cars of this era rebuilt to a single direction version (doors on l/h side permanently welded shut; the second one is no. 215). Used exclusively to pull an herbizide trailer on right-of-way track until ca. 1990. Reassigned to passenger runs during the 100 year celebrations in 1995. Since stored (needs confirmation). In total, out of circa 65 cars delivered in several batches with slight variations, almost a dozen of these two axled motorcars have survived with the city's transport authority until today, be it as service cars & shunters painted in bright orange (4), as part of the historic/private excursion fleet (3, no's 163, 205, 215) or as "strategic reserve" (3, no's 181, 190, 199). The latter are occasionally dispatched when there is a construction site on right-of-way track, where these three bi-directional cars may still be the only choice for the company to maintain service, but also reinforce the historic fleet when there is demand. Several matching trailers also exist. Trailers 1045&1046, a.k.a. "bathtubs". Rebuild from 191x California style open side trailers, in use for city tours, private excursions etc. since the 1940's (!). Current as of today, and very popular...
Sand car S 2100. Built in 1895, only survivor of the inaugural fleet. Used well into the 20th century to move sand around the yards (to ease the filling up of sander boxes on trolley cars). After that, literally forgotten in the most remote corner of the trolley barn, no wonder given its size: ca. 6ft / 2 meters long, ca. 4ft / 1.3 metres wide... Remembered or rediscovered by staff some months before the 100th birthday of the city's streetcars, and restored with little funds and voluntary help from apprentices - most probably the first major overhaul in the car's entire career I hope you enjoyed this little excursion. These pictures were just sitting too handily on my laptop to miss posting them here.Lukas a.k.a Swissie
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