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By 1920, the network of interurbans in the US was so dense that a determined commuter could theoretically
hop interlinked services from Waterville, Maine, to Sheboygan, Wisconsin—a journey of 1,000 miles—exclusively by electric trolley.
(The video above shows a vintage 1932 trolley from Scranton, the "Electric City" of Pennsylvania.)
Some years back, I sought out still-running cable cars and trolleys across the US, from Kennebunkport to San Diego.
I loved the PCC, the streamlined Cadillac of electric streetcars...
@straphanger@urbanists.socialThey still run in #Philadelphia, San Francisco, and on the Mattapan, the old "High Speed" Line outside #Boston.
The cable cars of SF may be the most steampunk form of transit to have survived into the 21st century.
"Kout for the coive!"
You can read more in this week's HIGH SPEED newsletter. (Blast from the past, in more ways than one)
And in this one, I dig deeper into the lost history of the interurbans that took people deep into the countryside, and sometimes between cities...
@straphanger @sf_cablecar yo they're talking about you