Pictures 47, 48, and 49.

The NORTA Melbourne cars 452, 454, and 455 (originally Melbourne numbers 626, 478, and 331, respectively) were sold to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) and restored by Gomaco Trolley Company before entering service in Memphis using their New Orleans numbers.  The two top pictures of this group show refurbished streetcars 454 and 455 in their Memphis livery about to be shipped from the Gomaco factory in November and December 2003.  They have not yet been equipped with pantographs, which the Memphis cars use in place of trolley poles.  Gomaco also constructed for Memphis a new streetcar, a replica of a double-truck Birney, which was given Memphis number 453!  This car is shown in the third picture in service in Memphis in February 2004, at the north end of the Main Street line, where the track branches off to the right to the Memphis Riverfront Loop line.  MATA cars are painted in various colors, but share a characteristic pattern of striping, as seen here.  (Car 452 was destroyed by fire while in service in Memphis, November 4, 2013.) — Gomaco Trolley Company, used with permission

Memphis_454-Gomaco-2003-11.jpg

Memphis_455-Gomaco-2003-12.jpg

Memphis_453-Gomaco-2004-02.jpg

Previous Picture | Next Picture