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Watch the tram car turn 75 - Icon of this Jersey Shore boardwalk marks milestone


29yrswithaGApass

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I have known for a long time that Great Adventure's original parking lot trams came from the 1964/65 NY World's Fair.  I never realized that Wildwood's famous trams (as in "watch the tram car") came from the 1939 NY World's Fair.  Here is a photo from the fair and an interesting article about the trams today.

 

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Watch the tram car turn 75. Icon of this Jersey Shore boardwalk marks milestone.

nj.com 

Link:  https://www.nj.com/cape-may-county/2023/05/watch-the-tram-car-turn-75-icon-of-this-jersey-shore-boardwalk-marks-milestone.html

Published: May. 20, 2023, 8:00 a.m.

 

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The Wildwoods Boardwalk Sightseer Tram Cars travel the boardwalk in Wildwood on May 6, 2023. The Wildwoods Boardwalk Sightseer Tram Cars are in service for the 75th consecutive summer in 2023.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media

 

By Vashti Harris | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

 

For less than one dollar, Wildwood boardwalk visitors can ride the notable Sightseer Tram Cars as part of its 75th anniversary celebration this June.

 

“It is really an amazing story of ingenuity, entrepreneurship and community support that the tram cars are still running after 75 years,” said Patrick Rosenello, executive director of the Wildwoods Boardwalk Special Improvement District Management Corp.

 

Originally built in 1939 for World’s Fair in Flushing, New York, the tram car engines and trains were purchased by Wildwood businessman Gilbert Ramagosa and put into service on the boardwalk on June 11, 1949. The fare was 10-cents each way, according to the district.

 

Since that time, the tram cars have transported over 20 million people.

 

Today, eight tram car engines, pulling 37 individual cars, carry over 600,000 passengers each summer on the boardwalk, and each engine can run for up to 12 hours on a single charge of its 2,000-pound electric battery, according to the district.

 

Bustling through the sea of visitors walking up and down the boardwalk, tram cars drivers make their presence by announcing over loudspeaker “watch the tram car please” for all to hear.

 

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John 'Gigi' Gigliotti drives the Wildwoods Boardwalk Sightseer Tram Cars in Wildwood.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media

 

Tram car driver John Gigliotti, of North Wildwood City, who is known by his nickname Gigi, said he has been driving the tram cars for 32 years.

 

“I enjoy it because when I go down the boardwalk in the golfcart people say ‘Gigi.’ They give me a hug and their glad to see me back again,” Gigliotti said. “At nighttime, seeing the lights on the boardwalk and the people walking around, it’s like you’re in another world.”

 

Gigliotti said he worked for Conrail as a conductor for 40 years, retiring in 1992. “I was home fiddling around in the yard and my wife said ‘Retirement (isn’t) for you.’ So, she said to me ‘How about those yellow cars that go up and down the boardwalk, that’s a miniature scale of what you did.’”

 

Usually sporting a bright yellow jacket matching the tram cars’ yellow and blue exterior, Gigliotti said he really loves interacting with the visitors who hop aboard his tram car.

 

“I enjoy all these people and I know a bunch of people,” Gigliotti said. “Every year, if they don’t see me, they say ‘Where’s Gigi?’ They look for me … and they always want to see me.”

 

Rosenello said on June 11 riders will only be charged 75-cents per tram car ride, honoring the day the tram cars were first brought to the boardwalk. “We will be commemorating the anniversary all summer,” Rosenello said.


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The Wildwoods Boardwalk Sightseer Tram Cars travel the boardwalk in Wildwood.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media

 

 

Frank Battito, of Mays Landing, who was traveling on the tram car with his wife, Pat Battito, said they like to ride the tram cars when they visit the boardwalk.

 

“It’s a force of habit. We have been doing it since the mid to late 90s,” he said.

 

“We usually ride all the way to the north end of the boardwalk and then start wondering back and if we get tired, we hop back on,” Pat Battito said.

“They’ve lasted this long and I’m glad there redoing the boardwalk because it makes for a smoother ride,” Frank Battito said. “No matter how smooth the ride, it’s still enjoyable (and) you’re looking at everything you want to see. It’s a wonderful service and all the years they’ve been doing it they have made a lot of people happy.”

 

A one-way tram car ticket is $5 and an unlimited ‘Hop On/Hop Off’ wristband is available for rides up to 5 p.m. for $13.

 

 

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  • 29yrswithaGApass changed the title to Watch the tram car turn 75 - Icon of this Jersey Shore boardwalk marks milestone

Very interesting, in that they both came from two major NY World Fairs.  I’ve always wondered what company actually manufactured the World Fair trams, their tugs and rolling stock.  Both sets of trams were pretty much designed for use on fairly level/even gradients, like airport tarmacs.  We know that Disney first ran into problems with its trams once they were faced with having to traverse a declining hill followed by an immediate incline of the same gradient.  All trams seem to require greater torque than horsepower, at least from standstill, much like trains.  The new WDW tram tugs look like they came straight from an airport.  People always found the Disney tugs strange looking, with their front door entry.  When Disneyland replaced their tugs after becoming a resort, they seem to have gone with a design similar to WDW’s tugs.  WDW’s new tugs at least appear to be something purchased off the shelf from an outside manufacturer.

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