Trip Report - At The Hop

Many thanks to Nick Espevik, our intrepid cub reporter, who has sent in a report about the new streetcar line that just opened in Milwaukee. Nick writes...

On Sunday, a group of us from the Electric Car Department decided to take a short trip north to visit Milwaukee, specifically its new streetcar system. Friday was the start of the opening weekend for "The Hop," as it's been named, and is a culmination of quite a bit of work up there to bring a streetcar system (back) to Milwaukee.

It took our group just under two hours to get there. We found parking right next to their shop, and soon made our way to the start of the line. We hopped on and started our tour. It's free to ride for the first year. As you will notice in the photos, they currently have a large sponsorship from the Potawatomi Casino.

And now a word from our sponsor

Logistically speaking, there is currently one line and five cars. The line that is running is called the "M-Line," and they do have plans for another one called the "L-Line." The M-Line basically runs between the Amtrak Intermodal Station and what's known as Burns Commons. It winds its way through some bustling areas like the Historic Third Ward and past City Hall. On a Sunday afternoon we made a round trip in about 20 minutes. At each end, the operators change ends and prepare for the return trip -- no turning loops used. The L-Line is largely built, but there is one section left to go. It will follow a similar route as the M up and down Milwaukee and Broadway Streets, except it will make an Eastward jaunt and back using Michigan and Clybourn Streets.

Advertising the competition?

The cars are newly built from the Brookville Equipment Corporation. There are five cars total, and they are three-section articulated units. They use pantographs and are powered off of 750 volts DC. Interestingly, they can also run off of battery power, and they do regularly! There are parts of the system that do not have wire over it. In some cases the lack of wire was a cost savings measure, and in other cases due to regulatory issues. In fact, their shop facility doesn't have wire over it. It is located underneath a highway bridge, and the state did not want wire being strung underneath it. Consequently, one can notice "Pan Up" and "Pan Down" signs on poles along the route. We were told that the cars can make a few entire round trips on one charge, if needed. The cars are adorned with all the features one might expect from these modern vehicles: LED lighting (with automatically adjusting brightness based on ambient light), security cameras, HVAC system, automated announcements, and even hooks to hold your bicycle while riding. We were amused by the announcement that kindly said "Please hold on."

"Pan Down"

Where the wire ends

The shop under the highway

After our full round trip, we decided to ride back towards the Historic Third Ward for lunch. We found the Public Market, which was quite busy but had lots of tasty options. We enjoyed watching the pans slide by the second story windows as we ate. The cars were making nice headways through the afternoon. They usually only have at most four of the five cars in service at a time, and we figured one would only have to wait maybe ten minutes or so at a stop before the next car showed up. We noticed that for a rainy Sunday afternoon, there were many interested riders. Of course, this was the first weekend of operation, so we will have to wait and see how the numbers are after the system has been in operation for a while.

Finally, a trip to Milwaukee for Electric Car fans wouldn't be complete without a visit to the parking garage located at 6th and Clybourn. Why here? Well because this used to be the location of the Milwaukee terminal of the North Shore Line. The area obviously looks quite different today, but you can still see one of the old hotels standing in the left background. The famous Schroeder hotel is still standing behind the garage, too, though today it's a Hilton.

Here there were interurbans

That pretty much concluded our day in Milwaukee. It was definitely neat seeing a new streetcar system and riding it in service! Anyone in the area should check it out.