MATA Trolley

This article is about Memphis Area Transit Authority heritage streetcar. For McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, see McKinney Avenue Transit Authority.

MATA Trolley
Info
Locale	Memphis, Tennessee
Transit type	Heritage Streetcar
Number of lines	3
Number of stations	24
Daily ridership	~2500[1]
Operation
Began operation	April 29, 1993
Operator(s)	Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	Overhead lines

The MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar system operating in Memphis in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It has operated since April 29, 1993.^[2]

As of 2008, the system consists of three lines: the Main Street Trolley, the Madison Avenue Loop and the Riverfront Loop.^[3] These lines are operated by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA), and were put into operation over fifty years after Memphis’ original streetcar network was dismantled in the 1940s.^[2]

History

Ex-Melbourne trolley at Jefferson St (2006)

Originally proposed as a 4.9-mile (7.9 km) line stretching along the Mississippi River, in January 1990 the Memphis City Council voted 9-4 to build the 2.5 miles (4 km), $33 million Main Street route.^[2] After multiple delays, construction of the line would commence in February 1991 and be complete by December 1992.^[4] However, due to the restoration of the cars taking longer than anticipated, the opening of the line would be pushed back to Spring 1993.^[5] After further delay, testing of the first of the restored cars began on March 10, 1993,^[6] and the system opened to the public on April 29.

On October 1st, 1997, a new line along the Riverfront opened.^[7] The system's third line, running east from Main Street along Madison Avenue for about 2 miles (3.2 km), opened on March 15, 2004. It was completed at a cost of about $56 million, which was about 25 percent below the original budget forecast for the project.^[8]

Rolling stock

Ex-Porto car 194 on Main Street

The trolleys used are almost all rehabilitated, vintage streetcars.^[2] The original three cars in operation on opening day were all formerly used in Porto, Portugal, and are Car 187, circa 1927; Car 194, circa 1935; and Car 204, circa 1940.^[2] These cars are each 30 feet 6 inches (9.3 m) long, 7 feet 10 inches (2.39 m) wide and weigh 25,820 pounds (11.71 t) without passengers. The cars were restored by Kerns-Wilcheck Associates of Memphis.^[2] Three additional ex-Porto cars (156, 164 and 180) joined them within weeks, and the fleet had six cars (all ex-Porto single-truckers) by May 1993.^[9]

Between the mid-1990s and 2003, the Gomaco Trolley Company supplied an additional ten cars: nine reconditioned Melbourne, Australia type W2 cars and one single-truck car (No. 1979) that was built new by Gomaco in 1993, originally as a demonstrator. There is also car 1794, which was originally an open-sided car from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but was heavily rebuilt and enclosed before entering service in Memphis. The most recent addition, in early 2004, is a replica Birney Safety Car, manufactured by Gomaco, the same cars used on the TECO Line Streetcar System in Tampa, Florida.

The fleet and overhead wires were converted from trolley pole to pantograph current collection in early 2003, during a three-month suspension of service which started on January 5, 2003.^[10]

Stations

The MATA Trolley network consists of 24 stations along its three lines.

Main Street Line Butler Avenue Huling Avenue Linden Avenue Beale Street Peabody Place Union Avenue Madison Avenue Court Avenue Jefferson Avenue Civic Center Plaza Convention Center Overton Avenue

Madison Avenue Line Third Street Danny Thomas Boulevard Orleans Street Dunlap Street Pauline Street Cleveland Street

Riverfront Loop Pyramid (Auction Avenue) Jefferson Avenue Union Avenue Beale Street Landing Huling Avenue Central Station

See also

• Memphis Area Transit Authority
• Memphis Suspension Railway
• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• Streetcars in North America

References

1. ^ "Bring back the streetcars!". APTA. July 2002. http://www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/Documents/weyrich4.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-03. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Huston, Jerry (April 22, 1993). "Trolley rumbles to life in city – Line readied for comeback downtown". The Commercial Appeal. 
3. ^ "MATA Trolley Service". Memphis Area Transit Authority. http://www.matatransit.com/trolleyService.aspx. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
4. ^ Huston, Jerry (October 15, 1992). "Trolley, mall work nearing an end". The Commercial Appeal. 
5. ^ Huston, Jerry (November 26, 1992). "Delays in trolley car restoration move starting date for rail line". The Commercial Appeal. 
6. ^ Patterson, Patti (March 11, 1993). "Trolley's test launch thrills cheering, wine-sipping fans". The Commercial Appeal. 
7. ^ "MATA offers free trolley rides starting Wednesday". Memphis Business Journal. April 4, 2009. http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2009/04/13/daily12.html. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
8. ^ "Madison rail line to open March 15". Memphis Business Journal. March 11, 2004. http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2004/03/08/daily27.html. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
9. ^ Wilkins, Van (Spring 1996). "Heritage Trolleys in Memphis and Galveston". The New Electric Railway Journal (Free Congress Foundation). ISSN 1048-3845. http://www.heritagetrolley.org/TNERJMemphGalv.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-27. 
10. ^ Tramways & Urban Transit magazine, April 2004, p. 146. Light Rail Transit Association (UK). ISSN 1460-8324.

External links

• MATA: Trolley Lines
• A Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan for the Memphis Area - MATA
• Heritagetrolley.org page on Memphis (APTA)
• Railwaypreservation.com page on Memphis (with many photos)
• Memphis Main Street Trolley (page by Jon Bell)
• Map