Visiting the Pensacola Museum of Industry last weekend, (part of "Historic Pensacola Village") I spotted a relic from the days when EVs ruled the road. It was the stalwart of public transportation. It was an electrical innovation. It was... of course... an Electric Trolley.
Sponsored and operated by the local electric utility, Gulf Power, (same Gulf Power as it is now), the trolley ran the streets of Pensacola using power from overhead electric lines. Would you believe that in its peak year (1920), the 30 trolley cars in service carried 4 million passengers a year?!
Perhaps this is something we will see make a comeback? I'd think a power line infrastructure over the streets wouldn't be very popular today, but with improving battery technology, it would become a "wireless" trolley -- the new EV that rules the urban road.
Until then, this is a piece of nostalgia that makes the museum visit so enjoyable -- it gives us engineers something to think about, and the kids some to play around on -- they love playing with the seatbacks that flip so you can sit facing the front or the rear!
