They're not supposed to.
Down to the glossy "Happy Blue" and "Sunburst Yellow," Sherwin-Williams paint colors, the canvas surrey roofs, and the wide, lumbering presence of the trams themselves, great pains have been taken to retain the original look of the little trains that move some 500,000 people a year from one end of the boardwalk to the other for $2 a ride.
"When we started this project it was very important to us that the tram cars continue to have the look that they have always had since the beginning," said Patrick Rosenello, executive director of the Wildwood Special Improvement District. The district has operated the fleet since 2004 after buying it from a private owner.
The cars weren't built for comfort or speed when they were assembled for the 1939 New York World's Fair. But commissioning the four new cars, which will cost $35,000 each, Rosenello said, brought an opportunity to modify them to provide a better ride.
Bob Brown, owner of Rampage Trailer Co., a South Carolina-based manufacturer contracted to build the new trams, began refining the comfort level of the bench seating-style cars from the ground up.
He modified the suspension, gears and tires on the trailers and added a solid steel roof instead of one made of metal pieces.
All are improvements not noticeable to the casual eye, but will be obvious once the trains hit the boardwalk, he said.
"Now when they move down the boardwalk, the ride will be smoother and the sound of hitting each bump won't resonate as loudly as it used to," Brown said. "It'll be like a Cadillac riding down the boardwalk instead of a hay wagon."
The seats also have been given an extra layer of cushioning - yellow seat pads - and the canvas surrey top has been replaced with a synthetic fabric called Sunbrella that is made to endure sunlight and withstand harsh salt-air conditions.
