Carrying Freight By Tram – To UBC?
Freight trams have been used almost since the first passenger carrying tram trundled down cobblestone streets. Today, except for a few cities, carrying freight by tram was a lost art, but no more.
The concept of carrying freight by tram is once again being explored Ai??in St. Entienne, France
to help reduce auto congestion and pollution in city centres.
In North America, the former interurban lines also carried express freight,
many with dedicated freight-motors.
Not quite a freight tram, but this Ukrainian example is a former
tram and trailer converted to carry long loads of rails or poles.
In Switzerland, a tram locomotive is hauling a specially built car for hauling rubbish.
Dresden saw the first successful use of a freight tram,
the CarGo Tram, carrying containers from one Volkswagen factory to another.
For advocates of the Broadway light rail, with UBC at the terminal end of the line, the CarGo or freight tram concept, reducing trucks on the roads by carrying freight by tram to the university complex may well be the tipping argument in favour of LRT, as the SkyTrain subway folks have no retort.
LRT is an extremely flexible mode and it is time to let our single minded politicians and bureaucrats know this.
The City of Cornwall Ontario, under the Cornwall Street Railway Light and Power Co. Ltd. used electric yard motors and tram equipment to carry freight until April 1, 1971, when CN took over. Electric operations ended, October 10, 1971 when CN replaced the electric equipment with yard diesels. The City itself ran with streetcars until 1949 and then Trolley Buses until May31,1970.