The New Old Gardens Curve Is Now Open

Metropolis, BR March 13th 2014

A 56 Trolley enters Old Garden Stn at 20 MPH, double the speed of the old curve. 

After two crippling weekend closures of the Trees Avenue Elevated, the new Old Gardens Curve is finally open to trolleys. The 7, 16 & 56 have been impacted greatly by the amount of construction and reroutes trolley had to face the past few weekends but it's not over yet! More construction is set this weekend to add a solid support and remove the remains of the old curve. This construction will once again divert Route 56 over Central Avenue and the 7 trolley to Waves Loop but the kicker this time is Route 16 service will run to Waves - Bl of Bays instead of Parkside Loop. The past two weekends, conflicts has arisen abot the 16 & 5 sharing the underground loop. The station can only hold one trolley at a time due to how small the platform and signal block before it is.

The new curve as seen from the parking lot of Central Stn.

 The new curve is larger, nicer, easier to maintain and now letting trolley pass a double the speed then before. The old curve was built in a S formation due to Eastwick Avenue's dramatic change in width before Trees Avenue. This meant all trolley has to slow down to 10 MPH to clear the curve with almost no space for trolleys to swing without dangling dangerously over the intersection. The new curve is a much more opened J formation allowing a wider base to turn at faster speeds. Trolley can now swing around at 20 MPH and quickly jump to 27 MPH between the Old Gardens Curve and the Central Ave Curve & Interlocking. While time impact is only reduced 1 minute it still play a vital part in making the trolleys in Metropolis run better and faster.

Faster trolleys mean less of a wait. 

More Weekend Work To Come Following Last Weekend's Mess

Metropolis, BR. April 22 2014.

Instead of shuttle bussing, a trolley was used.

Last weekend, Metropolis Transit's Route 39 & 47 elevated lines were affected by overhead wire work in the area of Sunflower Park. When this happen twice in 2013, the 39 was completely suspended and shuttle bused.  However this time around, the 39 was kept running in a continuous clockwise loop around downtown with a shuttle trolley picking up passengers at Isle Glass Tower and taking them to Exhibition Hall via Rt 66 and Rt 21 tracks. The shuttles were never scheduled properly and missed connections ticked off riders and operators of the 39 line. Meanwhile, the 47 was rerouted to Exhibition Hall without a hitch. Passengers were upset that they had to board another bus and trolley to get to FOSAL Park but the connections seemed to be better timed then the fiasco on the 39.

Reliving 2011-2012 in elevated form, the 47 was rerouted to Exhibition Hall.

 Unlike the crazy experiment performed on the 39, the 47 going to Exhibition Hall isn't new. During the elevated railway construction that converted the 47 trolley to the elevated line, trolleys were rerouted to Exhibition Hall because FOSAL Park elevated station's construction destroyed the loop that was there for Rts 43 & 47 and a station house was built in the right-of-way at Waves Avenue.  Of course this time around it's an elevated running on Rt 39 tracks and stopping at it's stations.

A Rt 47 Train at the recently rebuilt Freed Springs station. A 39 Line station. 

More weekend work is expected later on as the warmer months come and the system recovers from a rather brutal winter. May 3-4th will see closures of the Woodland Subway's Express Service, and the Route 26 Line from Boga Bay to Boga Island prompting a Ferry shuttle. May 10-11th will spell week 1 of the Old Gardens curve reconstruction. Many trolley lines will be affected. May 17-18th will see the same trolley closures.  The construction of the curve is expected to completely suspend service for the Memorial Day weekend.