posted
Does anyone know (Chris Guenzler perhaps) if
1) The 'All Day Pass' for the Memphis Trolleys is also good on the city buses?
and
2) If the 'end-of-wire' trolley station at Madison and Cleveland is also a transfer point to city buses?
I'm arriving in Memphis off the southbound City of New Orleans March 29 and have a flight out of the Memphis airport that afternoon. It looks like the #2 city bus will get to the airport in just 34 minutes from the Madison & Cleveland stop......which hopefully is the same place as the Madison & Cleveland trolley station.
Thoughts on Memphis anyone?
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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The first 7 years of my life I lived within a block of Madison and Cleveland. Since you are male fairly big guy, and you are talking middle of the day you should be all right. Otherwise, this is no longer a safe area any time of the day or night.
The area is called "Crosstown" or used to be. Originally it meant the area very close to the intersection of Madison and Cleveland, and later began to be used to reference the area along Cleveland for several blocks either way.
Used to be, and probably still, the destination signs on Memphis buses say the same thing in both directions.
You want to be on the south side of Madison, catching a bus going away from downtown.
You want to be sure that the bus is the 2A, NOT the 2C. Weekdays, the 2A is scheduled for 7 minutes past the hour and to arrive at the airport at 41 minutes past the hour from 6:07am to 5:07pm. After that, the next, and last, bus for the day is at 6:00pm. Saturdays they run every 90 minutes from 7:17am to 5:46pm. Sundays they do not run at all.
As to how close to schedule the buses run, that I do not know.
Some points of interest (railroad related):
A few blocks after turning south on Cooper: Just before the intersection with Central Ave. you go under a railroad overpass. This was the location of Lenox suburban stop on the L&N and NC&St.L. There were steps up to a platform. On mapquest this railroad line is mislabeled as Norfolk Southern. It is CSX.
About two block later, you go under a single track railroad overpass. There is no track on it. This was the MoPac owned Union Railroad. sometime about 1950 the track was moved to be the third track on the south side of the two NC&St.L tracks, so as to elimnate a diagonal overpass over Central and East Parkway.
The bus route makes another jog from Cooper over to East Parkway. When you turn onto the East Parkway, Libertyland is on the left side. This used to be called the Mid-South Fairgrounds, but I think you have to be +40 at least to know that. For a long time it was home to a Frisco 2-8-2. Almost immediately after getting on South Parkway, you go up a viaduct over a railroad. This is over the Southern, now NS, of course. Look to your left, and you will be looking at the west end of Forest Yard. Have no idea what is there now.
Shortly after coming down off this viaduct, the street name turns into Airways Boulevard, and you start up another viaduct which goes over the Illinois Central Belt Line. These tracks cross at about a 45 degree angle to the street, northeast to soutwest. They go under the NS tracks.
After you come down off this viaduct, the area to the east used to be, maybe still is known as Orange Mound, and is not a good part of town.
About a half-mile or so after crossing Lamar Avenue, you go up another viaduct which is over what used to be Frisco's Yale Yard. This yard was replaced in the late 1950's by the Tennessee Yard out along US 78 betweeb Perkins and Shelby Drive. It now has a number of commercial / industrial buildings to the south of the mains. this railroad is now BNSF, the main line to Birmingham. It is mislabeld on mapquest as Illinois Central.
As you come down off this viaduct, the former Memphis Army Supply Depot is to the west. Have no idea what is in there now.
After you cross I-240 you start seeing airport facilities on the right. FedEx has most of the stuff north of the east-west runway. There used to be any maybe still is an Air National Guard unit there also.
You are now going through a road maze that gets you to the airport terminal. The central section of the terminal building was built in the mid to late 50's along with the first long north south runway. The mayor of the city at the time called the whole thing a waste, as "there would never be jet planes flying out of Memphis." (He was not pro-rail, either. A real all-around nut-case.)
Posts: 2811 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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posted
Hi George, thanks for so much detail. I'm hardly the expert but I did live in the Memphis area (Brunswick, TN) for a year in 1983.....Oh my....that's officially 25 years ago now.... Even then there were areas of Memphis where one didn't venture alone for long......I'm talking about high noon on a Saturday though.
I recall the Mid-South Fairgrounds and attended a couple of sporting events in the Mid-South Coliseum. The old Central Station was such a rundown eyesore that, at that time, there was talk of abandoning the railroad down the river, razing the station, and moving the City of New Orleans to an Amtrailer located along the through freight line which passed well east of downtown. I am glad that this didn't come to pass.
I've spent some time now on the MATA website and your info about the airport bus running every 90 minutes on a Saturday pans out. Interestingly, the #2A bus I'm looking for passes Central Station at 11:16am, a bus transfer station on the north end of downtown at 11:28am, and then the corner of Madison and Cleveland at 11:46am. Clearly I'd rather spend that extra half hour riding the trolleys and changing to the bus nearer it's ultimate destination. My flight doesn't go until 3:05pm so I should have time to explore Memphis a little and make my flight easily.
Again, I appreciate the information you've provided.....that was quite a bit of typing. Some of what you offered I knew vaguely at one time or another, other things are totally new.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
One more little item: The trolley line on Madison is a deja vu of thing. Madison carried the streetcar tracks years ago. I do not recall where they ended, but is was east of Cleveland, maybe as far as Parkway. I was in this world when they were taken up or paved over, but so small I do not remember them. The original conversion was to electric trolley buses, but these also were converted to diesel in the late 50's, maaybe early 60's.
Posts: 2811 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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