Historic Savannah: A Destination, Not A Pass-Through

[Noone]

Does anyone know why the streetcar isn't being used?

[IrvAdams]

I didn't know about the streetcar. Where do they keep it? Does it operate on occasion?

[Noone]

I didn't know about the streetcar. Where do they keep it? Does it operate on occasion?

Great question. When we were there that day I hunted it out because I heard that they had a street car because of this forum. So I followed the track and it is sitting behind a chain link fence. The riverfront was packed. So what did Savannah miss with this?

[Overstreet]

Years ago the main business along Water Street was shipping. Basically all those buildings were warehouses, primarily cotton. The sailing ships would load ballast stones for the dead head trip to Savannah. Then off load the stones and load the cotton. The stones were used as pavers. All of Water Street and many of the drives off the street were paved with these round stones about the size of baseballs, grapefruit, etc. It was a bumpy ride. Kind of like all the fuss around the round-about they first put at the end of Laura street at the statue in Jax.

Last time I was there and stayed at the Mulberry I walked down Water street and was dismayed to see that they replaced all the stones with smooth concrete pavers. Easier on the feet, easier on the cars, but less nostalgic.

[fieldafm]

The Savannah streetcar runs on the weekends (Fri, Sat and Sun) and serves tourists. The actual cars are very old and have at times been out of service for extened repair periods.

Chatham Area Transit has been exploring an expanded streetcar network for the last couple of years and has been studying zoning policies that would encourage infill/redevelopment along those potential routes. Accompanying zoning and regulatory structures to encourage walkable, contextually sensitive transit oriented development are just as important as the actual rails in the ground.

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

Are these actual street cars?  Because an authetic street car needs tracks and overhead wires. p

Or are these buses made to look like street cars?

[ChriswUfGator]

I've seen it, it's a real streetcar, there's a track that runs down the middle of the street.

[Ocklawaha]

Yes and no, they are streetcars, they are no longer trolleys. The primary car is a bastardized version of a Australian streetcar that had the original electric motors gutted and a glorified bus engine installed. The track was originally a Southern (todays NS) Railway industrial line that the city purchased. We had one similar that ran from Maxwell House to Commodore Point alongside Bay Street that we ripped out when we razed the ship yards. The other end of ours was Gateway Plaza, and though the City got it, they removed it!

The popularity of the streetcar has caused Savannah to make a serious study of bringing back the REAL trolleys. So the overhead wires could return, and the roar of 'infernal combustion' may be replaced by the hum of electric motors.

[ChriswUfGator]

Well ock I'll defer to you on questions about historical authenticity any day of the week and twice on Sunday, your knowledge is impressive on that topic. I was just responding to the other guy who wondered whether it was a PCT bus like we have in riverside or whether it actually ran on tracks. I hope they do bring back streetcars in the rest of the city, that would make Savannah so much more enjoyable especially in the summer when it's 100 degrees.