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Located just 30 minutes north of Boston, the Lowell National Historic Park (LNHP) uses three replica and one restored original trolley to circulate visitors within this large National Park site. The park electrified a portion of the existing rail trackage in this former mill complex, and now operates 1.2 miles of trackage in a "T" configuration connecting the key visitor areas in the park.
Development: By the 1970s, Lowell had lost much of its industrial economic base. The water-powered mills which had once made it America's number one textile producing town had been abandoned. Partnering with the National Park Service, a plan was created to use tourism as the base to generate new uses for 1.5 million square feet of vacant 19th-Century mill space. Beginning in 1978, NPS created an industrial heritage park which preserves and interprets the history of the American Industrial Revolution in Lowell. The largely intact historic district includes an array of restored buildings, including an operating textile mill, and 5.6 miles of power canals, now converted for use in transporting visitors. The trolley line began operation in 1984, and is used in conjunction with the canals to provide tours at the site. The park currently receives over 500,000 annual visitors.
Equipment: The three replica cars at Lowell represent Gomaco's entry into the replica trolley field. The first two cars are patterned after a classic New England open car, or "breezer", and were delivered in 1984. A third car was built in 1987 to another New England design, that of a Brill "Semi-convertible" car which is better suited to all-weather operation. All three of the cars utilize running gear and other mechanical components from Melbourne W-2 cars. In addition to the three Gomaco replicas, a New Orleans Perley Thomas car from the Seashore Trolley Museum also operates at the site.
Development: By the 1970s, Lowell had lost much of its industrial economic base. The water-powered mills which had once made it America's number one textile producing town had been abandoned. Partnering with the National Park Service, a plan was created to use tourism as the base to generate new uses for 1.5 million square feet of vacant 19th-Century mill space. Beginning in 1978, NPS created an industrial heritage park which preserves and interprets the history of the American Industrial Revolution in Lowell. The largely intact historic district includes an array of restored buildings, including an operating textile mill, and 5.6 miles of power canals, now converted for use in transporting visitors. The trolley line began operation in 1984, and is used in conjunction with the canals to provide tours at the site. The park currently receives over 500,000 annual visitors.
Equipment: The three replica cars at Lowell represent Gomaco's entry into the replica trolley field. The first two cars are patterned after a classic New England open car, or "breezer", and were delivered in 1984. A third car was built in 1987 to another New England design, that of a Brill "Semi-convertible" car which is better suited to all-weather operation. All three of the cars utilize running gear and other mechanical components from Melbourne W-2 cars. In addition to the three Gomaco replicas, a New Orleans Perley Thomas car from the Seashore Trolley Museum also operates at the site.
St. Augustine and South Beach Railway, and the St. Augustine and North Beach Railway, became THE ST. JOHNS ELECTRIC RAILWAY. It connected both beaches, downtown, west St. Augustine and the neighborhoods. As were most small town systems, it was a very early victim of the auto era. A most interesting sidebar to it's abandonment in the mid 1920's was a visionary resident who burst on the scene, and laid out a vision of a historic tourist mecca. The streetcars according to the plan would become famous, a calling card, known around the world. They laughed him out of town. NPS? What better spot?
OCKLAWAHA
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MOST MAJOR WORLD CITIES AGE LIKE A FINE WINE - JACKSONVILLE HAS AGED LIKE MILK
FOR INFORMATION ON MASS TRANSIT SEE:
ALL TRANSIT:
http://jacksonvilletransit.blogspot.com/
LRT TRANSIT:
http://www.freewebs.com/lightrailjacksonville/
FOR INFORMATION ON MASS TRANSIT SEE:
ALL TRANSIT:
http://jacksonvilletransit.blogspot.com/
LRT TRANSIT:
http://www.freewebs.com/lightrailjacksonville/
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