Tramcar (Wildwood, New Jersey)

Sightseers Tram Car
The Tramcar at night, featuring an advertisement for Dasani
FoundedJune 11, 1949
Headquarters5308 Boardwalk
Wildwood, NJ 08260
Service areaThe Wildwoods
Service typeTrackless train
RoutesWildwood Boardwalk[1]
Fuel typeRechargeable battery
Websitehttps://www.dooww.com/tramcar

The Sightseers Tram Car (commonly referred to as the Tramcar) is a trackless train service running on the Boardwalk in the Cape May County, New Jersey communities of Wildwood and North Wildwood.[2] The service, which began on June 11, 1949,[3] takes passengers along the two-mile-long (3.2 km) Wildwood Boardwalk. Service is available at all points along the boardwalk, from the beginning at Cresse Avenue to the end at 16th Avenue in North Wildwood.

Description

The Tramcar is colored yellow and blue, though sometimes contains other colors due to advertisements.[2] It is well known for the phrase "Watch the tramcar, please," a pre-recorded alert voiced by local Floss Stingel in 1971 to clear the tramcar's path.[4] The tramcar fare was $4.00 in 2022, but was increased 25% for the 2023 season to $5.00.[5]

Operating hours are 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. The Tramcar started running five years after the boardwalk was constructed.[6] The original fare was 10 cents one way. A round-trip tram-car ride takes approximately one hour. Each tram car runs on a 36-volt DC battery that weighs more than 2,000 pounds (910 kg). The batteries are charged each night and can run for about seven or eight hours at a time. Several of the tramcars running on the Boardwalk are the same ones that were built for the 1939 New York World's Fair in New York City. The tramcars carry about half a million people up and down the Boardwalk each year. From 1998 to 2000, Wildwood hosted the annual Great Tramcar Race between entertainers Al Alberts and Cozy Morley.[7]

In 2015, the tramcar’s famous "Watch the Tramcar please" phrase was used on trams on the Atlantic City Boardwalk until a lawsuit was filed. This resulted in the trams receiving the new phrase, "Step aside or enjoy a ride".[8]

On August 9, 2019, the Runaway Tram steel roller coaster opened at Morey's Piers' Surfside Pier on the Wildwood Boardwalk and is modeled after the yellow-and-blue tramcar. On the caboose of the train is a figure in honor of long-tenured tramcar driver, John "Gig" Gigliotti who had been driving the tramcars on the boardwalk for 25 years.[9]

Floss Stingel, who recorded the message warning riders to "Watch the tram car, please" in 1971 to help out a boyfriend, filed suit in October 2024 against the city and its historical museum, claiming that she was never compensated for the widespread use of her recorded voice, which is played thousands of times a day each summer in Wildwood.[10]

Citing expensive repair costs and limited parts for the old vehicles, the city commissioned a Ford Maverick hybrid pickup truck as one of the tramcars, phasing in a new generation of tram cars for the 2025 summer season. The truck will play the same iconic "Watch the Tramcar" message and is painted in the same blue and yellow color scheme. [11]

References

  1. ^ "2021 Boardwalk SID Rack Card" (PDF). dooww.com. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Boardwalk Tram Car – DOOWW". dowildwood.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Happy 60th Birthday, Tram Car!
  4. ^ Nark, Jason (May 19, 2011). "The voice behind 'Watch the tram car' belongs to Floss Stingel". Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "Local Transportation". Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
  6. ^ "The Sightseer Tram Car in New Jersey - NJ Attractions". sanddunemotel.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  7. ^ Hawk, Tim. "9 odd facts about the Wildwood tram cars' 70 years of existence", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 9, 2018; updated May 14, 2019. Accessed May 31, 2020. "Sitting comfortably behind the wheel of a tram, Gigliotti explained that for years Al Alberts, of the Four Aces, and Cozy Morley, owner of Club Avalon, used to race trams for charity. For $5 people would ride in the passenger cars as they raced from 16th street to 23rd street. Funny thing about the races, Al Alberts always won."
  8. ^ "Contest Launches For New Atlantic City Tram Car Safety Message".
  9. ^ "Wildwood's tram car inspired this coaster. Get a look behind the scenes". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. June 5, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  10. ^ Castillo, Juan Carlos. "'Watch the tram car, please': Voice of iconic Wildwood phrase sues over lack of payment", Asbury Park Press, October 24, 2024. Accessed November 24, 2025. "More than half a century since recording Wildwood's iconic boardwalk tram alert — "Watch the tram car, please" — Floss Stingel, the woman who voiced the message is suing the City of Wildwood, the Wildwood Historical Museum and others, claiming the audio clip has been used commercially without her consent or compensation. Stingel, from North Wildwood, who had previously voiced commercials for the South Jersey Gas Company, recorded the line in 1971. She did it as a favor to her boyfriend who worked for the tram cars' original owners, says the lawsuit filed this week in state Superior Court."
  11. ^ Vyskocil, Michael (May 8, 2025). "New Ford Maverick Hybrid to Replace Wildwood Tramcars". 93.3 WMMR. Retrieved May 9, 2025.


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