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Baltimore Streetcar Network 1954 |
Even on a freezing day it is elating to board a vintage 1900 streetcar with reversible wicker seats that was designed to run without glass windows in the summer (with pull down shades in case of driving rain) and with the glass up in winter. There are electric heating coils under the seats and the rest of the warmth comes from nostalgia:
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Streetcar Museum Baltimore
See the rest of the vehicles here |
The operator in his dapper old uniform, the nickel token, the paper transfer ticket and the wide gauge that is specifically Baltimore with 8" more than standard track gauge transport the rider back in time. The extra gauge? It is so that the steam freight trains couldn't use the track, a purposeful decision of city council to protect residents back in the days of horse-drawn streetcars . But also a decision that made the trains incompatible with about any other system and helped cars to remain in Baltimore.
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Streetcar Museum Baltimore |
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Streetcar Museum Baltimore
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