Tram suggestion

[steve]

Use red flags for all northbound trams and yellow flags for the southbound trams. This will avoid confusion as the yellow tram line was eliminated this year but northbound and southbound trams were available for boarding at the station across from the control tower. I overheard several conversations between drivers and passengers along these lines:
"Sir, where can I board the southbound tram?"
"Right here. It's the one with the red flag."
"You mean, like yours?"
"No, we're going north. The other red flag goes south."

[Janet Davidson]

That reads like a Monty Python-type conversation .....

[FlyingRon]

It's really only confusing at the tram terminals (both the one by the control tower and the one by the Hangar cafe) where essentially the trams stop perpendicular to the direction of travel.
A big sign there that says "This side for Warbirds and north" and "This side for Vintage and south" or the like would cut the confusion.

[MEdwards]

Good job, tram people! Continuing the red line all the way to the N40 worked better than I thought it would. Good move, and thanks for listening! With that change, maybe there is no need for the "confusing" tram terminal near the tower. Just continue on north on the same street with a stop there for the FAA building and the new green line tram.

On that note, I didn't think much about the green line tram this year, but looking at the map it looks like another great idea. If I go to Oshkosh next year I plan to stay in the UWO dorms, and that green line would be the best way into the tram system (after the feet and knees give out).

So thanks to the tram planners, maintainers, and all the volunteers. Frankly it would be boring to me, but I guess some people just love to drive tractors!

[skeeter_ca]

I found the trams very easy to figure out. The direction it's going is the places it going to and then it turns around at the end and comes back. Really easy. The only times it seemed hard to get on a tram was on the busiest day, saturday.

skeeter

[lkorona]

Good job, tram people! Continuing the red line all the way to the N40 worked better than I thought it would. Good move, and thanks for listening! With that change, maybe there is no need for the "confusing" tram terminal near the tower. Just continue on north on the same street with a stop there for the FAA building and the new green line tram.

On that note, I didn't think much about the green line tram this year, but looking at the map it looks like another great idea. If I go to Oshkosh next year I plan to stay in the UWO dorms, and that green line would be the best way into the tram system (after the feet and knees give out).

So thanks to the tram planners, maintainers, and all the volunteers. Frankly it would be boring to me, but I guess some people just love to drive tractors!

+1 thanks to all the tram volunteers, planners and everyone else!

My family and I stayed at the UWO dorms and we used the green line every day. While it's a short line, not having my family (with 8 year old daughter) needing to walk it at the end of a full day was very nice!

As some other posters mention, having the colored flag onthe rear of the tram confused some, like my wife who was a frist time visiter to Oshkosh. She kept looking at the color of the awning, and not even noticing the little flag at the back of the tram. Why not put the flag on the front of the tram so you see it as the tram approaches the stop?

[citabria96s]

The tram folks were working hard and usually doing a good job, but using the same color flag for both North and South bound trams was confusing. One other observation, several times the trams were getting so bunched up they were like a trucker's convoy, i.e. as many as four trams going the same direction and all bunched together.

[Bill Greenwood]

Next lifetime, after reincarnation, when I am emperor, we are gonna do some things differently.
I get tired of smelling that diesel exhaust from the tractors so:
Next time there will be an express tram from the north 40 all the way to the ultralights, and it's tractor will be Merlin powered.
Ought to speed things up a bit as well as smell and sound better.
I haven't quite worked out all the details of pedestrian safety yet.

For a little added spice, I may ask Patty Wagstaff to drive the tow vehicle.

[CarlOrton]

Amen, Bill! Seems like the two most prevalent smells at AirVenture are diesel exhaust and port-a-potties.....

And, yes, there is nasal differentiation between diesel exhaust and Jet-A. ;-)

[steve]

You learn real quick not to sit in the front row on the trams - unless you don't mind smelling diesel fumes and/or getting splattered with mud from those big tires after a rain storm.
I noticed the porta potties didn't have that sickly sweet deodorizer smell this year. Kudos to the vendor.

[Larry Lyons]

Most times I did not wait as long as in past years for a ride. However I also noticed the trams would get bunched up everyday, then you could wait for a very long time. That is the only gripe I had. Took place everyday. Sorry I have no constructive hint on how to avoid that, but it was bothersome and I ended up walking more (quicker) because of it.

On another track was the lack of traffic control after the storm flipped the bipe on the Thunder Mustang. Every tram ended up there on one end or the other blocked because of a gaper's block and the Fire Rescue truck sitting in one lane. Again, I walked from the Replica Fighters to row 92 with out seeing a single tram as the south bunch were grouped up again down by the south 40. That little hike is right at 2 miles!
Larry

[donwmack]

My kudos to the new tram configuration. My only suggestion is that the signs for the tram stops be larger and have more information. I am familiar with the system, but many people would ask if this was this or that tram and while there was a sign, it was obvious enough that people could easily see it.

And a huge thanks to the tram conductors and engineers!

:thumbsup:

[CarlOrton]

Good suggestion, Don; I'd like to add the idea that you have a flagpole sign (relatively high) just saying "TRAM". I was volunteering near the N40 registration booth, and time after time folks would come up and ask "where was the tram stop." I'd just point over my shoulder and say, "See that blue and white striped tent?" and the tent was about 200' from where I was standing.

[BeagleOne]

IMHO the trams are one of the best improvements EAA has done (along with the portable toilet trailers with a/c, flush toilets, and sinks) but I'd like to see the trams run later on night airshow nights. We got tossed off the red tram at the vintage barn southbound, having been told that the tram needed to go to the staging area for the night. While walking to the Hangar Cafe and then waiting to catch the South 40 bus southbound, we saw no fewer than six other red trams that went all the way to the Hangar Cafe as they were supposed to. Then we had to wait an additional ten minutes while people went up to the South 40 school bus driver's window and chatted with him.

The walk from the vintage barn to the Hangar Cafe isn't THAT long, but on Saturday night, after a week of walking around, it would be nice if the tram ended up where it was supposed to.