The Breezer Trolley Passes the Globe of the World

Tampa's World Trade Center building on Channelside Drive makes a good backdrop for the meeting of two of Tampa's TECO Streetcar System trolleys. I have posted shots of the Birney type car before which you can see coming into the frame from the right. The one I have not seen before is the one in the center, a Breezer. It is an open-air streetcar where passengers hop on board right at their seat and ride in the breeze, in the open-air. Although the cars do have blinds that the motorman can drop into place if it rains, that hasn't been much of a problem lately. With our 90-degree heat the breeze would be very welcome as your trolley makes it way from the station near the Tampa Convention Center to Ybor City. The Breezer streetcars began in the US with flatbed, horse-drawn wagons - open of course, which moved passengers around as early as the 1830s. Tampa’s original streetcar system included 50 Breezers. It can seat 78 passengers and 10 standing and requires both a motorman, as on all Birney cars, as well as a conductor. This car, sponsored by the Alessi family of Tampa, and its VIGO Importing Company, was built in 1984. It remains Tampa's only open-air trolley. If you look past the cars and into the windows of the World Trade Center building you can see the giant globe of the world. It is huge.