Thursday, January 12, 2012
Snow and St. Louis through the Centuries
At times like these, I always wonder how St. Louis dealt with snow such as what we're seeing today. Certainly, back in the Nineteenth Century, there were no automobile crashes backing up interstates. Also, I have a feeling that most people lived relatively close to work and could walk there, albeit carefully since the cobblestones were probably slippery with snow. Likewise, would the streetcars, which served every section of the city, just glide through a couple of inches of snow like we're seeing right now? I know commuter railroads would probably have had little trouble. Are we as a society perhaps going backwards as far as accessibility and safety during inclement weather?
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Streetcars GENERALLY had no problem, as the power unit-trucks were right above the tracks and quite heavy. That said, I never had occasion to ride them on hilly routes.
ReplyDeleteI think they had sandboxes for emergency traction - at least the old, wooden ones did - do not recall about the "streamlined versions" - some of which, incidentally, are serving San Francisco to the very day!
I heard that the Metro Link trains were only a few minutes behind schedule, if at all late.
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