Four Trollys out during the day, but gone at night
where did they go? I'm Ranger Moriah and you can find out the answers to this question
and many others on this episode of Behind the Park!
Lowell's first electric streetcar began operation in 1889.
Over the next decade, additional electric cars
extended throughout the downtown area. Here at the Boott Mill trolly barn,
historically known as the coal pocket, you'll no longer find coal,
but you will find.... today's special guest!
Hello, welcome to
Lowell National Park, this is Tommy Tucker, the motorman. Hi Tommy,
what have you got to show us? Behind me is 966
a streetcar from New Orleans and it's here on loan from Seashore Trolley Museum
in Kennebunkport, ME.
So, we'll take a walk through the barn and show you what we have here.
Have you ever wondered what's under a trolly,
but didn't wanna risk life and limb to check? We got you covered. You're standing
under one of the
street cars this one is 1966 from
Seashore Trolley Museum
and has different chains up above here.
An air tank... this is a break cylinder down under here
All of these parts work. This car was made in 1924
and had the same parts on it, and most of the parts are the original parts.
So it was built in New Orleans in 1924,
ran down in New Orleans, different parts of these are resistor banks
they cut the amount of power that goes to each motor when they first start
increasing burning up the extra power
through the banks just like a big toaster.
By pushing down, they light up. Same idea.
Now we have the axel...this is a truck This has only one more motor in it
and two axels.
The motor is..., a part right back under here.
And
we service them on a daily basis when they are used so that you can
have
a working car all the time. What else is back here? Well, let's follow Tommy to find out!
This is trolly 4131... it's the
what we call the winter car. 4130 did run here in the city of Lowell, so the next car
produced off the same plans was 4131.
It's a combination car... windows will open and close on it and it's good for
all year round. It has heat inside to from
colder days, maybe not on a day when it's 90!
But, uh, we can walk back looking down through the trolley
and the trolleys have
these cars all have four motors to them. There's two-trucks,
two motors in each car. The car will
go about 6 to 7 miles an hour. The trollys are filled with engineering and
technological marvels, but what does all this equipment do?
Tell us Sant....I mean Tommy!
This is an emergency brake. Um, you turn it, and that will stop the car.
It has a dogdown underneath here that you push against it and it holds...
a lot. Takes you about 10 times around, which is with the break
In order to stop the car if you're moving right along.
The next cylinder here is a near break
And, uh, all the children love this button because that's the whistle
and we come over, and the gage here is not a speedometer.
The gauge tells me how much air is in the tank. There's a second needle it's
right behind it, a red needle and that tells you how much break you're putting on or
holding.
Sometimes you can hold the break a little tiny bit
that stops the wheels from spinning if you're on slippery track or anything.
Next,
a little section right here is what we call
that's the forward and reverser that goes in here, the key. And you can push it forward to go
forward and pullback to go backwards.
Trolleys can back up, the only trouble with the trolley
backing up is the back poll, when you go backwards
tends to go up into the air. And then bends in the middle and then maintenance
has to come and change the poll and they're not too happy the that.
The next lever here is a controller for speed
and it takes...um,
five notches. It'll
the first notch dissipates three... sections
of power into the, um, underneath the car
and gives only one section to all four motors and then you can go up into series and
parallel.
The car will go on about 15-20 miles an hour.
Our problem is not how fast we can go, our problem is where we can stop.
We don't have enough room to stop anywhere. So, give me one second,
I'll give you something else you guys haven't seen.
Inside here
are fingers, right here. And when you pull the lever
the fingers open and close, power circuits
connected to the wires, each one. This is to protect it from flashing at you.
When you disconnect 600 volts, there's an arc, and a big flash
And this protection you, this
absorbs the arc. That's why it's all black inside
too.
And this is all part of the controller system.
Interested in meeting Tommy and the rest of the trolly crew?
Are trollys run seasonally from March to November, so come on down for a
free ride today. For additional information on Lowell National Historical
Park
visit our website at www.NPS.gov/LOWE
or give us a call at 978-970-5000,
we'lll make sure you get on the right track. I'm Ranger Moriah
and please keep all hands, arms, tongues, legs, feet, and toes
inside the trolley at all times.