Yesterday they pulled a light rail car along the length of the Central Corridor line connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul. The idea was to test the route, to make sure the track is intact and all the clearances are right. The electric wires that provide power to light rail from overhead are not operating yet, so the train was towed by a big truck. As a result, rail fans got a chance to the Green Line in slow-motion action. And rail non-fans got a chance to say “is THAT how they plan to make it go?”

But there are all sorts of ways to get a person from point A to point B.

As it turns out, today is the is the anniversary of the initial running of another form of locomotion – the first electric-powered trolley NOT on rails lurched down a path with power from overhead wires on this day in 1882.

The Siemens Company set up the Elektromote in a suburb of Berlin and ran it from the end of April to Mid June, just to find out if they could do it, I guess. It was a time when seeing anything big move without help from a horse was amazing and unprecedented. I’m sure some of the folks who saw the Elektromote in 1882 assumed that would be the way people of the future would travel everywhere.

This was long before anyone dreamt of the REAL future of travel – the personal jetpack.

The idea of using electricity to power transit was attempted earlier with the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway, which provided power to the car, not from overhead wires, but through the rails. This proved to be shocking for anyone who stepped on the track.

Today’s ancestor of the Elektromote is the trolleybus, a contraption you’ll see all over Europe and in some North American cities like San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver. They roll like a normal bus, but get their power like an electric rail car. Rubber-tired busses that run on power from overhead wires have some distinct advantages when it comes to climbing hills. They’re also clean and quiet.

Too quiet, perhaps.

There is a sense of permanence about trolley-busses since they rely on expensive infrastructure. But apparently that also makes it very difficult to change a needless trolley bus route, and equally hard to expand one into new areas because neighbors don’t want a new nest of wires overhead. Not only are they unsightly, but having all that voltage overhead gives some people the creeps. Especially those who carry around ladders.

Sigh.

Guess I’ll have to make certain I’ve ridden to the end of the trolleybus line before I try out my new jetpack.

What is the future of travel?