An insider look at the INCREDIBLE Rockhill Trolley Museum! | Part 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2024
- Huge thanks to channel member @brillbusbootcamp2320 for showing us around the amazing Rockhill Trolley Museum!
rockhilltrolley.org/
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Wow Hyce, great job on the editing! Your introduction is incredibly kind, thank you! I’m so happy with how many of the cool historical details you left in, and still somehow condensed this to just an hour. I can’t think of any way to make this better, I hope this video does well for you!
For everyone watching, what you see here is exactly how the 4-hour tour felt. A big bunch of friends, a bit of goofy jokes and banter on the side, and just the best feedback loop of my love of history and everyone else showing the most appreciation for it that I’ve ever gotten. Hyce and his friends are just as cool, fun, and great to hang out with as you see here.
Actually Nick Ozorak did almost all of the editing - but I will pass the compliment on!
The feel of it is the important thing - that's what I wanted to keep. Some fun, some historical, some otherwise, etc. - glad you enjoyed! Thank you again for the incredible tour.
@@Hyce777 This guy is an amazing walking Trolley Wikipedia. Very interesting!
I’m overall very impressed with the tour. I’ll have to stop by someday to visit the museum.
Funny, I’m watching this from a trolley waiting shelter!
How did you manage that? Lol!
If there's any consolation I'm watching this from the cab of a Philly Brill centerdoor.
My best percentage ratio of railway history: 20% railway one-upsmanship, 30% major accidents, and 50-60% bull and malarkey(Hilarious antics, bizarre accidents, and very-very-very bizarre experiments)
Don't forget the 10% mergers
“And for those who love link and pin couplers in certain games…” I think he was talking to you Hyce.
Yes he was. Lol!
Well, this went from interesting history lesson to 3/4 Show real quick.
I remember when me and my mom went to Steamtown and the Electric City Trolley Museum, (Which share a parking lot btw) and we took a trolley ride down to the workshop where they fix all the old cars, and before we left, the trolley driver let me sit in the driver's seat, where I got to ding the bell and blow the horn. I obviously didn't drive the thing, but it was still awesome.
Sam, there is no trolley driver. He's called the motorman and he stands on some cars or sits in the operator's seat. And you clanged the trolley gong.
@@Jeff-uj8xi Well my apologies, I'm more familiar with locomotive than trolley terminology, and didn't know there was any difference.
20:00 Hey, it's 355! My great grandfather grew up with that car. I remember one year we took him to visit the EBT and trolley museum, and he was so excited that the museum was running 355 or 311 that day (don't remember which car it was, but he grew up with both).
As a tramway (streetcar if you're on 'that' side of the world) motorman and enthusiast myself, this video was a blast! Kudos to Nick once again for his editing and brillbus for his presentation. I can also totally relate to his passion for history on a personal level, as I sometimes take guided tours through our tram sheds at Ferrymead Heritage Park here in Christchurch, New Zealand and telling passengers about the history of the various cars in our collection. OK, time for fact dump because trams, why not?
4:11, we call this type of car a 'toastrack' for obvious reasons. Seriously. They're not particularly common down here, but there were two operators that had them and most got rebuilt as combination or enclosed cars. We have one and a half-or-so of the last two to run in New Zealand in our collection waiting to be restored; they were built by Brill in 1905 and didn't stop working until January 1951!
14:42, brillbus suggesting that the sweeper brushes on Scranton 107 reminded me instantly of the snow sweeper cars in Sapporo, Japan - a city I've never been to, but the Sapporo cars have cropped up a few times on the Japanese N-scale Forum's tram and light rail thread in the past. They've got bamboo bristles - roughly 400 bundles worth! - which are all prepared by hand before the start of each winter season.
22:26 kAN would like to know your location... maybe! In all seriousness though, compact curves like that are pretty normal in the tramway/streetcar world. And if you like your track spicy tight, they can get tighter than that. Fun times with double and single truck cars alike! Personally I don't mind tight curves, although switches are a different story... don't ask me how I know.
22:43 in service, pole always trails, but when you're switching at low speed you can push the pole ahead of you. We do this on a regular basis coming out of one of our car barns where there's too much junk and equipment in the way to swing the pole around inside. brill's little spiel about the name was awesome though!
36:25 LIMES! And for Nick's edification, because I spent a night in Dusseldorf in December 2013, I can confirm that the streets do have names.
39:02 very true. It's even worse with wooden-bodied cars which most of ours are... and some have spent more than 50 years outside with little more maintenance than an extra peaked roof dropped over the top of the original roof. They get tired as hell after a while! If you want, I can provide photos to prove (and horrify) with... Moral of the story, covered storage is your friend.
Apologies for the long-winded comment, that's enough insights from me. So, when's Part Two coming? We need more you and Jersey getting into shenanigans and doing the thing!
Thanks for the extra commentary my friend!
I interviewed for a job at the Philadelphia streetcar system in the 80s. I saw a standard plan for a curve to go around a corner from one street to another at 90* with varying radii changing every 5 to 10 feet down to about a 25 or 30-foot radius. The smallest radius curve on the CTA in Chicago is on the Loop EL to the big curve East of the crossings and is 90 feet.
Streetcar track switches or turnouts are usually single-point and are curved as are the frogs. Railroad turnouts or switches have straight points and straight frogs with curved closure rails.
Loved seeing your reactions to the trolleyisms the world of electric traction has to offer! Hope to see more Trolley videos from other museums in the future!
Strongly agree!
Me and my mother went there when I was in elementary school! It’s one of the reasons I got my fixation on railway history.
Yay virtual field trip with Hyce.
Yep IRM restored one or two of their old wooden CA&E cars back to the blue and gray livery but seeing one brought back to it's original Pullman green is wonderful.
Remember seeing the Electroliner return to Illinois in it Libertyliner livery looking sad and rough but she's sweet to see in her turquoise and salmon once again and yes you can on special events get an Electroburger in the lounge. Apparently they were able to get the recipe for what exactly an Electroburger is.
Been a while since I looked up the CA&E disposition of stock after they went under but IIRC they also have the only surviving example of the last new cars CA&E got post war as it seemed everyone wanting cars for preservation wanted the older cars and only one got a set of of the 10ish year old cars at the time of bankruptcy.
It’s so cool how education goes both ways. Hyce learning the way it was, and teaches how modern transit works.
Also 41:18 electricity is a heck of a drug. Best line ever!
That museum is so cool! It would be so fun to do the restoration on some of those old streetcars and stuff, get them looking like they did when they were new. Thanks for showing us this!
Thanks for bring back a dream I had as a kid. I always wanted to do a model railroad that or at least Trainz route that included the trolleys that operated in Southern Idaho. There are some little town that popped up due to being trolley stops. Legend has it one of those stops was the largest indoor swimming pool in the US in the 1920s. Life in roaring 20s would have been incredible before automobiles took over and redesigned the country.
"Raw power can just get you something." This is the same thought process in the competition between the Queen Mary and the Normandie. Normandie had a hull shape that reduced drag to increase speed. Queen Mary had (has?) big, powerful engines.
And then you had the SS United States which had both! 20 knots in reverse, if I remember correctly!
As Roz from WTYP pod once said "Trains are the biggest middle finger to aerodynamics" lol
that freight trolley is pretty sweet
A friend and I spent a day out at EBT and the trolley museum about 15 years ago. We had an absolute blast at the trolley museum and hanging out with their crew. Ended up there for hours after they had closed, riding a couple cars and touring the buildings. The crew even invited us to have dinner with them. Great bunch of people and awesome to visit.
36:05 Wow, those doors… When Duewag was mentioned, I got pretty sure; Oslo’s now retiring SL79 (built 1979-82?) articulated trams were a co-op between Strømmens Verksted (very defunct) and Duewag - I think before ABB and Siemens took over.
The handrails, windows, the optical gear for ‘tripping’ the door, the rubber seals - It all seems too familiar to be a fluke. If these are also electrically operated (not pneumatically) they must be the same door assemblies as the 🇳🇴 / 🇩🇪 ones…
Edit: 37:00 Yep, same control electronics. So this is an early chopper-type thyristor controller, “singing” in a set tone (before ‘81), or in “two octaves” (later ones)…?
Really enjoyed this one it gives you a much more appreciation for trolleys, and the modern light rail can't wait for part two. Thank you, Hyce
The trolley/light rail/ electric train museum near me just got 2 San Diego U2s as well, I got to ride on one a couple weeks ago!
Cool to see they got spread around!
If your ever in wisconsin and want to see more traction! Head over to East Troy! The museum runs on the original trackage from 1908.
Ever since seeing videos of both the East Broad Top and Rockhill Trolley Museum, as a train/trolley aficionado, this shows a whole bunch of incredible cars that are definitely primed for restoration. History that’s sprawled out in a couple of inches from one another!
Love the CA&E, can't wait to see this car restored to as built!
Awesome stuff! Cant wait for part 2 in a year lol
I am from Frankfurt germany and didn't expect to see something so familiar in this video! We still have these cars running from time to time due to shortage of new rolling stock and they seem to be working great still!
37:00 I've also seen call buttons used for activating grade crossing signals when you're servicing a stop right up against the crossing and you don't want the gates to go down and block traffic until you're actually ready to go.
Wow, what an amazing collection of unique railway history! Thank you @brillbusbootcamp2320 and Rockhill Trolley Museum for the opportunity for us to see it. Can't wait for part 2, and I'd love any other museum tours you'd get the chance to film for us.
I think the battery electric trolleys have a lot of potential. Especially if the trolleys can also run off of overhead wires or third rail power. It would let you only have trackside electrification for short stretches in and near stations to provide the power to get up to speed, and then the battery could carry the train along most of the route without needing to pay for most of the line to be electrified. And you could use the station stops to top up the battery a bit. Because you wouldn’t need to handle all of the full-power accelerations, the battery could be a lot smaller, lighter, and cheaper. All you would need is enough to handle the typical load of pulling a train along at speed, and enough spare capacity for two or three slower accelerations to leave a margin for if the train ends up stopping somewhere it isn’t supposed to. And since it can travel through a town without needing catenary wires nor emitting diesel fumes and noise, it’s as close as you can get to being NIMBY-proof.
Hi Mark, that was an ultra-cool tour given by Brill! What a fabulous collection of street cars. I have to say I’m partial to the wooden variety myself. So loved the 1909 Elgin-Chicago 315, with the beautiful leaded stained glass arched transoms, gorgeous arched ceiling and OMG woodwork. The historic paint color WOW! The Johnstown 355 had so much detail that just made me scream like the rattan upholstery (which reminded me of the same at the NY Transit Museum-another fab place BTW). Brill also gave a great explanation of the electrics and all that. I could go on and on but suffice to say what a first rate museum. It was an honor to have expert Brill give us this beautiful tour, I’m in awe! Many thanks Professor for this absolutely wonderful video and also thanks to Brill for sharing his expert knowledge with us! Cheers to you both and looking forward to part two!
The U2 cars. As someone from Frankfurt, I do remember them well. They survived on the lines U1 and U6 the longest. But overall where weren’t used on the U6 long, the stock was move there from the U7 shortly before retirement.
Yes we named the Cars with a U prefix and also name the lines with a U prefix. It’s very confusing.
I love electric traction history in the US. It's all of the bull and malarkey of the big steam railroads, but even more cheap because they never had any money to begin with. Oh and slight correction, the electroniners in CNS&M service topped out at 110 mph, not 100.
Gotta come visit the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum next! Also, so cool Rockhill has the old San Diego MTS trains. I used to ride those everyday to work, which were so much more comfortable than the modern Siemens LRVs.
I like to believe that that isn't a uniform brillbusbootcamp is wearing, and those are just his day clothes. The octagonal cap is on point.
Growing up in San Diego you can only imagine the double-take I did seeing an oldschool MTS trolley in a video at an east coast museum hahaha
Hyped to see the PCC video. I operate a fleet of PCCs at the nearby Pennsylvania Trolley museum in Washington PA (definitely come pay us a visit our collection may or may not be larger) and I will no doubt enjoy how "poorly" the experience goes.
Man watching this is a total treat. You and have a smile on your face the whole time and it's nothing but pure joy to see everything the guide has to say and the sheer enthusiasm from the group. I have done work as a tour guide and I wish I could have an audience as wonderful as you, Hyce.
I went to the EBT RR and the trolly museum on friday with a program called Tracks to the future, We was shown how to operate 355 and also got to ride on 1019
I drove one of the trolleys at the Ft. Smith Trolley Museum in Arkansas. The FSTM also has a FRISCO Pacific type
Hello Hyce,
The guy is just amazing. It was very interesting to hear the stories about the vehicles.
So they have a DueWag vehicle from San Diego in their collection? Great, and yes I can confirm that the Series U also ran in Frankfurt/Main.
Did you know that the PCC trolley is the template for the DueWagand the Czech CKD Tatra large capacity cars (in this case the Tatra cars T1 and T2). By the way, a modern representative of the Tatra car drove as a prototype in New Orleans. This was the type T6C5, which later got to Straussberg near Berlin and can still be found there today.
Oh and thes link and pin couplers... We call this in Germany "Albert-Kupplung" or "Trompeten-Kupplung" (trumpet coupler)
This type on the Duewag U2 is called "Scharfenberg Kupplung" und nowadays standart here for Trams, and multiple units.
There are efforts to use a further developed Scharfenberg coupling as a so-called "digital automatic coupling for all vehicles throughout Europe in order to simplify the shunting effort and make it more cost-effective. I thing you use the janney coupler as an automatic coupler.
Greetings from Germany
Morpheus
For the D-39 car discussed around the 43:00 mark, the gentleman who worked on that car in the 80's was Ed Blossom. He built the shop building in Topton where the Allentown & Auburn is today. He wanted to run a trolley museum/tourist line on that ROW and electrify the line, but that never happened.
That New Jersey Transit uniform is super cool. I've got a NJT conductor's bag that I found in a local thrift store.
Here in Minnesota we have the Como and Harriet Streetcar Museum that is a preserved part of a once extensive Trolley system that ran through the Twin Cities. One of the stops it used to make was in front of the Great Northern Depot that sat right next to the Mississippi River. Sadly so much of that is gone now and so it's nice to see so much Interurban equipment preserved under one roof like that and I'm grateful you shared that with us. I'm definitely looking forward to Part 2 of your visit there.
Such a wonderful history lesson and so amazing that so much has been preserved. Thanks to everyone who made it possible!
A big thanks to Brill for such a thorough and entertaining tour. The EBT seems to get all the attention, and I had no idea there was that much equipment at the Trolley museum!
Will be sure to check that out on my next trip there.
I can’t believe they’re already putting U2 cars in museums! One of the few pieces of transit equipment I have any real experience with, they’re still runing here in Canada! They have a very distinctive “old grease” smell, and you can hear the contactors clicking under the floor as it accelerates. They’re tired, but still soldiering on 40+ years later! The bit about the transit signalling system was interesting, I’ve always wondered what all the buttons were for. I’d love to see a video elaborating on that sometime!
I love looking at old padded seats on these trains because because my Amish friend is a carriage upholsterer for buggies and classic cars and he has shown me how the work is done
I love trams, trolleys, and streetcars. This was an amazing video, and what a cool museum!
About the U2 car: You mentioned it has a Dellner coupler, now that sounded unfamiliar to me as I have always known it under the generic name Scharfenberg coupler, after the inventor who invented it in 1903. Certainly Dellner seems to be a big supplier of these type of couplers which went through some improvements, adding additional electric connectors, until the recent plan to put a "digital" version on all European freight cars replacing the screw couplers. And there have been reports from Frankfurt of people climbing over these couplers and even riding on them, so the warning is very justified! What a great tour!
we need to get you up to minnesota one of these days. We have the Saint Paul Roundhouse, we have the Trolley Museum out in Minneapolis, and of course, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth
My grandfather worked for D.C. transit co. He told me when they switched to gas powered busses. That some of the fellas didn't make the switch because they didn't have a drivers license.
Thanks for the great video! Love seeing all the rolling stock and hearing the fun stories. I lived in Philadelphia for years and knew modern SEPTA rather better than I would like - it's such a SEPTA move to ask for the snow machine back _after_ they're stuck. I've been plotting an EBT visit for a while, as I live only one state over, which will now have to include suitable time for the trolley museum :) Thanks again!
I remember seeing the Popup Metro car the last time I was there. Sadly, I barely missed a chance to see it in operation the first time I went to the EBT. And now VivaRail, the company that makes those cars, is bankrupt...*cries*
Definitely a lot of cool stuff there! Riding the Electronliner was quite fun!
Sorry, but I have to make a correction on the Electroliner. We at IRM can't run it like we stole it. We can run it like we're scared to break it. It's had a ton of work done on it, and still needs a lot. While it does indeed run, as of a year or so ago (last time I heard an update) only half the motors were operational. It runs maybe once or twice a year, but without passengers.
It's also been backdated to the original orange and teal, which I must say looks WAY cooler than the Liberty Liner scheme!
I smell bias, but as a IRM visitor, I can confirm that the electro liner looks beautiful.
23:24 looks like the old school R1 subway cars in NY. That classic Vintage looking subway cars in nyc.
I can confirm that the IRM unit still has all of the jungle animals in the bar car! 58:07
1:20 - Fun fact for a start: Over here in Germany, legally speaking trams are kind of a weird car more than anything else. They drive according to the road traffic code and while they have some special rules building up on that, they basically are a regular road user xD This even includes light rail like the Berlin or Hamburg U-Bahns which don't share space with road traffic anywhere, they are legally trams and thus still closer to a car than to a train. But that's kind of a German specialty (though not exlusively, I think there are other countries with a similar approach). In Norway, the way I understand it, light rail including trams is legally treated as a special kind of railway.
3:09 - Doorbell voltage, as we say =P I don't know off the top of my head why trams seem to all have chosen DC (also since DC-driven corrosion of close to track structures would make an especially big problem in cities, which rumour has trams often tend to run in, so you need all kinds of shenanigans to prevent this from happening) but the range of 600 to 800 V DC is pretty much the standard over here as well. In Germany 750 V seem to be predominant.
10:00 - Ah yes, the downfall of huge, continuous tram systems =( Not in the extent as over on your side, but we did have quite a ton of such losses over here, too. But there are some surviving systems, too.
20:40 - Oh I've seen plenty of roll signs in action myself and we're roughly the same age. Where I grew up we had a fun system of backlit roll signs with what I'll very strongly presume to be digital control. A LED light was indicating the current/next stop and the signs all scrolled to the right page at the end of line or at line changes. Back when screens where still rather expensive, dim and with low resolution (and also not necessarily very robust), roll signs were quite a good choice as a display system for computer based systems, too.
22:50 - The fun thing is, from what little I've seen of imagery, it seems like in the US trams *still* use trolley poles instead of pantographs …?
34:30 - If you ever come here, you can see the original Frankfurt ones still in service with a bit of luck.
47:10 - And yet - in other parts of the world, public transport including trams, light rail etc. survived in way more extensive amounts than over there. And the great depression and such things went across the pond, too. And while we don't have the hurricanes, we had a big war swiping across the continent. So the conflicts of interest must have played quite a substantial role.
Great video, Mark!
It's surprising to me you guys lost tram systems over there too. The narrative always just seems like "the USA fucked it up and no one else did." That's interesting. Yes, almost every trolley I've seen over here uses a pole rather than a pantograph. Thanks!
You should add trolleys to Century of Steam! This would be fun for doing passengers and freaght in the towns and cities in the game.
You could use the steam trains to build a hydro power dam that would make the electricity for the trams and telegraph if you add that.
That gentleman is the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide I have even come across, be it on video or reality. I did wonder where that VivaRail demonstrator had gotten to. It's a shame that the builders had to call in the receivers here in the UK. They had more good ideas than funding.
So cool. I love TROLLEYS!
We had K-27 Kitchen. When are we getting an electro burger? Best served with BEANS! I want to see the original paint job on that bar car that sounds glorious.
Pretty surreal to see a place i volunteer at in a Hyce video, hope you enjoyed your trip
Man I was in Gettysburg this past summer and had I realized this place was near by I would have made the trip
I hope this video gets more likes, it’s one of my favorites.
I'm watching this on the South Shore line, so it's appropriate that you've made a video specifically on electic trolleys/interurbans. Thanks for the entertainment.
Hey Mark, Grand Junction, Colorado used to have a trolley line all the way to Fuita, Colorado in operation from 1890 to 1935
This is an awesome video. Reminded me of an old book i have. In it, there's a picture of downtown monterey, lighthouse street, on which there is a single-truck streetcar for the Monterey & Pacific Grove (M&PG) on its side, crashed into a cornerstore like full on Bluesbrothers style, after hitting an automobile.
Great video! Also very interesting on the origin of the word trolley
Wow, never knew this place existed very interesting!
The CA&E car actually doesn’t use link and pin couplers, it uses Van Dorn tight lock couplers.
Finally a Schaku in one of your videos!
I love this channel! I always learn somthing new when ever he makes a new video! Also never fails to entertain
If you ever tour the St. Louis Transportation Museum, please let me know! I’d love to join you. Heck, I’d love to get a job somewhere in railroad preservation more than anything, even if it was just scrubbing the rivets between runs at the museum.
Great video continue the great work.
Now we just gotta get Hyce to pilot a maglev.
Great video!
Awesome video Mark!
Thanks Rob!
it took me a hot minute looking at that big red arrow set in the background to realize "wait a moment that's the other electroliner" IRM did a fantastic restoration of theirs or so I've heard. up to and including working with a paint company to get an exact match of the original colors
Hey Hyce, When did you do this trip? Just wondering since your guide mentioned the battery powered street car being considered for potential used by on SEPTA lines here in PA. The thing is, that the parent company VIVARAIL filed for administration in the UK about a year ago; with the PIttsburgh based company RDC pulling its support for the project in 2022. The Great Western Railway has since announced that they'll continue the refits, but only for their usage in the UK.
great video, thanks!
If you ever come to north carolina we have a decent transportation museum with alot of train
This is certainly not my area of expertise, and being the kind of guy I am, I'm always looking to learn more about anything and everything, especially if it runs on rails.
This was truly fascinating. There used to be a streetcar in the town I live in about 30-40 minutes from Harrisburg. Unfortunately, I don't think anything survives but the station, which is right next to an old Reading station. It's now an insurance company, but the owner keeps the place in immaculate condition and lets people come in and check it out upon request, which is really awesome.
The whole video you can hears 16's whistle echo in the valley.
I’m waiting for the day you come check out the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.
Hey! You called out the CTM, cudos mate! Combine cars #16 & 10 (Springfield VT terminal railway), 16 is getting some matinence and a roof, 10 is on static display currently
I love trollies .I would love to emulate Brooklyn and Coney Island. my favorite favorite trolly city next to san fransico
"trolleys" "trolley" "San Francisco"
Damn that must have been heaven, a burger and a burbon on the way home from work for two dollars...
I road on a Chicago aurora and Elgin interurban at Illinois Railway Museum and yes they are very pretty
Ngl, it took me a while to figure out you're talking about trams.
I just got my Lionel Postwar 2037 Adriatic and 6026w whistle tender running!
Dude! Killer.
@@Hyce777 Thanks! Unfortunately, the whistle/direction controls on my ZW transformer don't work, so I'll need to look into that at some point.
Let's GO!
And suddenly i want a classic trolley simulator game lol
So I live near west Chester. Not too much railroad history still around. Used to be the trolly stuff going on a long time ago, not anymore though.
you should check out the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in Brooks! It's the biggest in the PNW and is amazing from what I remember (I went there when I was like 8 so it was a while ago)
YAAAS!!!
Bring back the trolley systems!
very cool
I LOVE TROLLEYS
Seems every small town had its own trolley system. Im in South central Pennsylvania near Hagerstown Maryland. I can name 3 trolley systems that ran in a 30 mile radius. Chambersburg, Greencastle, & Waynesboro Street Railway, Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, Chambersburg & Gettysburg Street Railway
The company that built the pop-up metro units went bust a while ago, so maintaining those units might be a lot more difficult than operators would like. Doesn’t seem very good for the long-term survival of those units there
Knowing you work with the Colorado railroad museum your my favorite train person. Also do you know why Knotts berry farm D&RG is closed
They don't tend to run it much in the winter. They'll be back up and going once peak season begins
Thanks Hyce:D
Okay so I know it's pretty late for a question, but does anyone know the name of the trolley museum that used to exist (maybe still does?) somewhere in Montgomery County, MD. It was kind of small, I think, but had what seemed to my 8 year old eyes the most amazing model railroad.
Thanks.