DCist can only imagine the looks on the faces of all the tourists on the Old Town Trolley today when its engine caught fire today in Georgetown. As the trolley cut across Georgetown on P Street, its propane-powered engine caught fire on P Street as it approached Wisconsin Avenue outside the Marvelous Market and the Thomas Sweet ice cream store. WTOP reports that merchants came out with fire extinguishers and fire fighters came soon after. Nobody was hurt in the conflagration.

Ironically, the tourist vehicle caught fire just blocks from where a stretch of authentic trolley tracks remain. Those tracks were preserved by a 1977 federal court ruling permanently preserving them “as a unique artifact of rail transportation history.” Recently, however, some residents and the city have discussed removing much of the remaining tracks to make way for new water pipes, as Post columnist Marc Fisher explains in a July 22 column:

“… Now the city says it has to remove the rails from P Street to make room for new water mains. The road work can be done while leaving the O Street tracks intact, but the city proposes to remove most of them — even though the price tag would be higher.

This being Georgetown, the two sides of the debate include diplomats and corporate chieftains, socialites and politicians. One resident went so far as to ring up the campaign offices of John F. Kerry, who lives on O Street, and John Edwards, who lives on P Street, to put the Democratic ticket on the record on the tracks issue. The resident was shocked to be told that the two senators had opposite positions on the question. … “

Much to our chagrin, Mr. Fisher coyly refrains from mentioning their precise positions.