Orlando’s first and only electric trolley — dubbed Oscar for “Orlando Streetcar” — was a chapter of history plenty of folks at City Hall would like to forget.
Read more Miss Manners: My son’s new wife hyphenated his name with her ex’s. Why would she do that?
Its story started in 1990, when former mayor Bill Frederick talked the City Council into buying it from a Sarasota toy store with plans to build a bustling streetcar system in the City Beautiful.
There were a few problems: There were no rails for the streetcar to ride on; an open-air streetcar probably wasn’t the best choice for commuters in a state prone to oppressive heat and afternoon thunderstorms; and it was the 1990s, not the 1890s.
Read more Wear out your tires on the road to taste Michelin-recognized dining in Tampa
The city bought the trolley for $125,000, then spent $80,000 to restore it and $2.5 million on the plan for a streetcar system.
But when federal transportation dollars failed to materialize, Oscar turned out to be the little engine that couldn’t. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum paid Orlando $187,800 in 2006 to add Oscar to its collection of 46 other streetcars.
Read more Central Florida has mostly clear skies with a few sprinkles of rain possible on the coast