Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar

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Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by heypaul on Wed Aug 12 08:33:39 2020 Counterbalance
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Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Olog-hai* on Wed Aug 12 09:42:21 2020, in response to Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by heypaul on Wed Aug 12 08:33:39 2020.* The old counterbalance streetcars passed into history not with a whimper, but with what was described as "a cross between an earthquake and a cyclone". On August 11, 1940, a "mob of 70 Queen Anne youths" chose to celebrate the final run of the old streetcar at 1:30 a.m. by storming the trolley, "smashing windows and seats and pelting passengers and operators with fruit and vegetables." They had greased the tracks and stacked garbage cans to force it to stop. Then they jumped on, broke every window and tossed seats into the street. They "routed" the other 40 passengers and threw corn cobs and tomatoes at them. Inspector Wiley, riding on the last run, said they "swarmed over the top of the car," rocked the car and cut the trolley rope. Wiley struggled with the mob for 15 minutes before he could get the car rolling again. It was an empty hulk when it finally limped back to the car barns. The Seattle Times ran a front-page editorial headlined "Mob Violence!" which said, "There is no excuse, no extenuation for such riotous demonstrations. The fact that the car had served its usefulness and was to be retired had nothing to do with the mob’s responsibility for its act" ("Mob Violence!"). Police later rounded up 20 youths, almost all from Queen Anne Hill, on vandalism charges. The head of the Seattle Transportation Commission said he was aware that youths had been planning some revelry around the farewell rides, "but we didn't think anybody would touch our poor old Queen Anne trolleys"… Looks like they had problems with Antifa back then too.
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Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by zac* on Wed Aug 12 09:45:30 2020, in response to Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by heypaul on Wed Aug 12 08:33:39 2020.* There was a pizza joint at the top, Olympia Pizza, that I went to when I first moved to Seattle back in 1979. I wonder if it is still there. Just checked on streetview and it is indeed still there. The counterbalance: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6257646,-122.3566987,3a,75y,350.53h,94.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNs-qkkipCsSB4wYL25Wd_w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
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Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by zac* on Wed Aug 12 12:35:52 2020, in response to Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 12 09:42:21 2020.* That looks a lot steeper than in the street view I posted. I remember it being steep but not that steep. It must be the lens. On a bike you wouldn't even try to ride up. There was the back way up that was a lot more gradual, but Queen Anne was a neighborhood I never had much reason to visit. It had a reputation of being dull. Capital Hill and Fremont were the fun areas outside of downtown.
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Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Peter Rosa* on Wed Aug 12 13:55:34 2020, in response to Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by zac on Wed Aug 12 12:35:52 2020.* On my first visit to Seattle several years ago I drove up Queen Anne hill and even that was a bit scary.
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Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Olog-hai* on Wed Aug 12 16:10:48 2020, in response to Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by zac on Wed Aug 12 12:35:52 2020.* You can see why trackless became popular on grades like that anyhow.
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Re: Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Olog-hai* on Wed Aug 12 16:13:05 2020, in response to Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by zac on Wed Aug 12 09:45:30 2020.* Google Maps shows three locations with that name in Seattle, one in the Queen Anne district. No dine-in allowed right now at the Queen Anne location.
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Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Elkeeper* on Wed Aug 12 16:19:15 2020, in response to Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by heypaul on Wed Aug 12 08:33:39 2020.* So sad to see Seattle go downhill (no pun intended), due to the riots and castration of a good police department!
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Re: Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by zac* on Wed Aug 12 16:56:31 2020, in response to Re: Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 12 16:13:05 2020.* The Queen Anne was the original, and you couldn't miss it because it was squarely at the top of the hill. I could see in street view that it has been remodeled, I remember it looking like a stereotypical coffee cup from a Greek diner in NYC.
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Re: Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Olog-hai* on Wed Aug 12 17:59:20 2020, in response to Re: Seattle's Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by Elkeeper on Wed Aug 12 16:19:15 2020.* Appears to be nothing new for that city.
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Re: Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar
Posted by Elkeeper* on Thu Aug 13 15:08:07 2020, in response to Re: Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Streetcar, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 12 17:59:20 2020.* Portland, too!
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