A trolley would be an intercity transportation system, and thus the only place it would have reason to have a switch would be at the depot yard, which would also have other workers there at all working hours. Some would even be 24/7.
Furthermore, a trolley wouldn’t have the same problem a train would, in that it CAN stop on a dime. See my whole thing when this was a train, and I’m standing at the switch, was that I know there would be a posted emergancy number that reaches dispatch directly. THIS is the number you need to call in the event of an emergancy. Not the cops. Not the train company. You need the emergancy number posted at every switch and railroad crossing. They are in communication with the train 24/7, and can stop a train faster. Not instantly, but as fast to instantly as possible within the limitations of momentum.
Whereas a trolley would not have these issues. They travel at city speeds at a drastic fraction of the weight. They can stop closer to the reaction time a bus would. And they’d still have brakes, although the mandating body on this would vary from state to state, with Ohio being the Ohio Highway Department of Transportation.
So at the depot yard they wouldn’t even be traveling at city speeds. They’d be going more like 5mph like you would in a parting lot, vs a road.
But the premise of the trolley problem already has some element of sabotage considering there’s people tied up on the track. I’d imagine if they would do that, they’d also break the trolley brakes. And that the villain likely would have done this at a depot yard because of what you said.
I mean, you’re pretty knowledgeable about this; if you, for whatever reason, and others, decided to tie people down at the depot and incapacitate the workers, surely you with your knowledge and expertise could find a way to disable the brakes and have the trolley go as fast as possible, right?
But it’s a trolley, not a train
A trolley would be an intercity transportation system, and thus the only place it would have reason to have a switch would be at the depot yard, which would also have other workers there at all working hours. Some would even be 24/7.
Furthermore, a trolley wouldn’t have the same problem a train would, in that it CAN stop on a dime. See my whole thing when this was a train, and I’m standing at the switch, was that I know there would be a posted emergancy number that reaches dispatch directly. THIS is the number you need to call in the event of an emergancy. Not the cops. Not the train company. You need the emergancy number posted at every switch and railroad crossing. They are in communication with the train 24/7, and can stop a train faster. Not instantly, but as fast to instantly as possible within the limitations of momentum.
Whereas a trolley would not have these issues. They travel at city speeds at a drastic fraction of the weight. They can stop closer to the reaction time a bus would. And they’d still have brakes, although the mandating body on this would vary from state to state, with Ohio being the Ohio Highway Department of Transportation.
So at the depot yard they wouldn’t even be traveling at city speeds. They’d be going more like 5mph like you would in a parting lot, vs a road.
But the premise of the trolley problem already has some element of sabotage considering there’s people tied up on the track. I’d imagine if they would do that, they’d also break the trolley brakes. And that the villain likely would have done this at a depot yard because of what you said.
I mean, you’re pretty knowledgeable about this; if you, for whatever reason, and others, decided to tie people down at the depot and incapacitate the workers, surely you with your knowledge and expertise could find a way to disable the brakes and have the trolley go as fast as possible, right?