Metro Transit Co-Ops with Valley Fair for Thrill Car Try Out.
May 23, 2004

When amateur photographer Bill Barbour snapped what he thought was a routine training run for the LRT, he didn't even notice the people harnessesd to the sides of the car until he heard the screams of joy.

We had hoped that it might be part of the Hiawatha Line's upcoming Grand Opening Celebration scheduled for June 26, 2004 all along the line, but no station has taken ownership of the car.

More on the Grand Opening events can be found on Metro Transit's Website.

House Committee Quietly Proposes Working Model for Cheaper Light Rail Transit

April 1, 2004
Minneapolis, MN

Members of the State's Finance Appropriations Reduction Committee (MnFARC) have repeatedly denied targeting Minneapolis' new light rail line, but an exclusive photo taken March 23 shows an Alternate Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) running along the one mile test track near Cedar and Hiawatha (Photo at top, right.)

Sensing the familiar, we contacted William Hodges, lead researcher for State's Transportation Museum. Hodges identified the car as probably a restored class L-8 streetcar of the type built in St. Paul's Snelling Shops for the old Twin City Lines around 1915. "Many of those old cars were sold to Osaka Japan and Duluth in the 1920s," Hodges said. But still, he was surprised to see one photographed along the new LRT test tracks. "They were sweet little cars, and there is a beautifully restored model similar to this running at Lake Harriet," he mused. "There are few remaining anywhere except in museums or rotting away on someone's lake property. It's not like you can find them on eBay," he added.

Hungarian Rail Tryouts
April 1, 2004

Also spotted on April 1st was the one of the "Old Budapest Line" hybrid vehicles (Bottom, right)that several taxpayers groups have been proposing as a way to reduce system-wide capital investment. Several thousands of these vehicles were built as workhorse street buses in Hungary after WWII and sold throughout Eastern Europe. Originally equipped with gasoline-powered engines, most were modified for trolley use with the addition of auxiliary electric motors during the 1979 international fuel embargo. Most cars were either scrapped or mothballed in the late 1980's and approximately 375 remain warehoused in various states of repair. Cash-strapped, many European cities are offering to sell the old buses at a cost low enough to make shipping overseas viable.

Metro Transit engineers have declined comment, however, a Transportation Department employee, asking to remain anonymous, pointed out that only half of the new LRT cars have been delivered to-date. The employee stated that at least one of the Budapest vehicles is undergoing controls testing on the line, but was surprised to see it photographed in the daytime. "Usually, they are dressed in a Tyvek shrink wrap painted to look like the new Bombadier cars. This must have been a screw-up," he added.

The above story and the characters within are intentionally fictional. Any resemblance to actual people may be coincidental and could be disregarded, depending on your views. Ahhh, April 1st.

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