10 Best Compact Golf Trolley

Best Compact Golf Trolley in 2023

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Trolleys for Today

Street railways and urban trolley systems had largely disappeared from the scene by the 1950's. Today, with a new emphasis on downtown centers and green modes of transportation, street cars are making a comeback.

The earliest cars were drawn by animals, and later by moving cables running in a slot
beneath the street. Beginning about 1890, improvements in power generation and equipment made electricity the energy of choice for powering street cars. Although rechargeable storage batteries and early gasoline engines were used in some cases, the vast majority of trolleys drew their power from fixed overhead wires. Whatever the means of propulsion, street cars invariably benefited from the relatively friction-free motion of flanged steel wheels riding on a fixed guideway of steel rails, still considered the most energy-efficient means of moving heavy objects......or crowds of people.

By the end of WWII city street car systems were fading fast. Improvements to roads and advances in automotive technology conspired to work against them and the trend among cities was to expand outward while city cores and older neighborhoods where the street railways operated withered from a lack of investment. Most street railway systems were owned by private concerns operating under a franchise from city governments and limited by the terms of the franchise in their ability to raise fares. As their cost of maintenance, equipment and labor rose, the trolley operators were forced to keep their fares at levels set twenty years or more previously. Except in a handful of cities, street cars had virtually disappeared from the American scene by 1960.

Rethinking Urban Development; The Case for Street Cars
By the mid-1970's some adverse impacts of the focus on outward expansion were becoming obvious. Suburban tract developments and strip malls gobbled up land at an alarming rate. Automobile traffic snarled streets and arterials even as they were built, resulting in rush-hour gridlock; a curse to productivity. Municipal bus systems which had presumed to replace the outmoded street railways and provide an alternative to individual autos
inadvertently added to the problem. For all their considerable advantages, buses are simply not a good fit in most downtown grids. With noisy engines, noxious exhaust and outsized configuration city buses do not really fit well into the urban scene. Civic leaders and planners began to suspect that they'd been a bit hasty in de-emphasizing urban core development and the clean efficient transit systems that had supported it in earlier years. Forward -thinking people began to consider a new focus on traditional downtowns and old neighborhoods and even bringing back the street cars that had complimented them.

The city of Portland, Oregon, long a model of progressive urban planning was the first to take the plunge. A comprehensive multi-modal transit system was already under construction, and in 2001 a 4.8-mile (7.7 km) street car loop came on line connecting Portland St. University with the downtown area. This loop connects at other transit modes at key centers which accommodate buses, commuter rail and automobile parking. The Portland street cars proved very popular with students, commuters, and tourists alike; routes have been expanded to nearly twice the original length with more under construction or in planning. Other cities have taken note of Portland's success, and at this writing more than a dozen cities have developed trolley systems. At
least forty more have included street cars in their long-range plans.

Why Plan a Street Car System?
The benefits of urban street railways, both practical and aesthetic have become increasingly obvious. In addition to the well-known fuel efficiency of the mode, street cars serve to reduce automobile traffic and congestion, enhance safety, guide pedestrian traffic flow and lend a positive ambience to urban centers. Compared to an automobile or even a bus, the street car is a relatively heavy and massive vehicle. This heavy construction and great mass not only enhances the safety and security of passengers, it also means the car is nearly indestructible. Whereas the average city bus has a working life span of about twelve years, street cars often remain in service for thirty years or more. The mass of a trolley, travelling on a level surface of steel gives a firm and comfortable ride. Because the car rests on swiveling wheel sets at either end, it tracks precisely around tight curves without the excessive "off-tracking" that occurs with long buses and results in frequent sideswiping accidents.

Street car tracks represent a large commitment of resources and become a more-or-less permanent fixture of the city landscape. Operating from a one-stop parking lot or intermodal transit mall they can act as a focal point for a vibrant and interactive city center. Planners have concluded that each dollar spent on construction of a street car system can attract five dollars or more in adjacent development investment.

Coming Soon to a City Near You
The renewed interest in street cars has driven new developments in street railway technology. These are not your great-grandmother's trolleys. Portland's state-of-the-art cars, manufactured by Skoda-Inekon of the Czech Republic are articulated - that is, they bend in the middle which allows a long, high-capacity vehicle to operate in close quarters and around tight curves. Several other companies offer "heritage street cars" which have old styling coupled with current technology. While trolleys in Portland and most other cities draw their power from overhead wires, improvements in storage battery technology have made it possible for some systems to forgo the expense and unsightliness of the overhead wires or "catenary". Through a system known as regenerative braking, these battery-powered cars can use the vehicle's momentum on down grades and at station stops to achieve a partial recharge of the batteries. Further recharging is obtained via an electrical contact located
between the rails at station stops. Battery street cars, while promising, are still troubled by a limited range and reliability issue.

An outside-the-box propulsion system has been developed by Parry People Movers, Ltd. of England which powers their cars with a large on-board flywheel. At station stops, a moveable shaft is lowered between the rails to connect with an electric motor, which spins the flywheel at high speed, recharging its momentum for the next leg of the trip. Hydrogen fuel cells, pneumatic drives, solar power and other propulsion systems have been tried with varying degrees of success. All of these systems benefit from the reduced friction and low power-to-weight ratio enabled by the old reliable technology of steel wheel on steel rail. No doubt many of these new technologies will find an appropriate niche as street railways and people movers come into more common use. No doubt, all will make a lasting contribution to the cleaner, saner, and more liveable cities of the twenty-first
century.

Further Reading:

"The Electric Interurban Railways in America"
by George W. Hilton amp; John F. Due
copyright 1960
Stanford University Press

"The History of Street Cars - Cable Cars

"Parry People Movers"

"Bring Back the Streetcars!"
National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates