Buried Streetcar Lines Likely Useless
Over on Frontburner, Wick and Tim have taken up a discussion of my suggestion that we reintroduce a streetcar system in Dallas. The question on the table at Frontburner is whether or not the tracks that may or may not be buried under the ground can be used for a new streetcar system. That idea comes from the Oak Cliff Transit Authority. A few years ago Jason Roberts told me he was out on the Houston Street Viaduct with a metal detector and located steel buried under the street that they were hoping to recycle. Maybe those tracks could work as is with a historic trolley revival, but if I remember a conversation I had with someone at the McKinney Avenue Trolley, modernizing the historic rail lines would require changing the gauge, etc. So no go on actually using the buried lines as is. Some of the steel is there and could be used as raw material, but building an adequate new system would require some serious funding. I think it’s worth it, but perhaps we should look into the idea of a gravity powered system left by a commenter on the original piece (scroll down).
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