Don't fear the S word

Streetcar that is :-)

I was born and raised in Toronto and remember that at the time it had just two types of electric rail transit* for getting around: streetcars and the subway. The streetcars weren't called trams, trollies, or traction. My parents and neighbours called them streetcars, and sometimes just cars when giving directions: "... then take the insert-street-name-here car to ....". I don't recall streetcars being referred to as trams or trollies. And certainly not as traction.

I only came across traction as a descriptor in the model railroad magazines, and thought it was weird. Still do. I realize it refers to the type of electric motor that's used, and makes perfect technical sense. But, my teenage self kept thinking, any vehicle that runs around on wheels has to have traction or it wouldn't go anywhere. It's basically a self-propelled passenger car that snakes through the streets, hence streetcar. I was thinking along the lines of describing what I saw instead of what was under-the-hood. Loosely speaking, streetcar might not exclude anything not electrically powered, but traction doesn't seem to describe how people use the vehicle. I guess one just uses the term one thinks best. For me, that's streetcar. 

Traction not spoken here :-)
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*Ok, ok, there were trolley buses too, but they didn't ride on rails, and the trolley in trolley bus wrecks my rant :-) I didn't ride or like them that much, so obviously I'm biased.