NJ summer soundtrack endures despite ‘Watch the Tram Car’ legal challenge

☑️ The iconic Wildwoods boardwalk tram car will return for a 77th summer

☑️ The message 'watch the tram car, please' will run despite legal action

☑️ A new vehicle will pull the tram car this year

Tram cars will return to the Wildwoods boardwalk during Mother's Day weekend for a 77th season with a new look and a familiar but controversial message.

The Sightseer cars will carry beachgoers up and down the two miles and 38 blocks of the boardwalk starting Saturday at $5 a ride. The tramcar will operate Saturday and Sunday and then expand to 7 days a week the week after Memorial Day.

Also back is the voice of Floss Stingel and her message to "watch the tram car, please." Stingel, whose message has been heard an estimated 80 billion times since 1971,  says she has never been compensated for the use of her voice and filed a lawsuit in October to stop its use until she was paid.

"Defendants have used and monetized Ms. Stingel’s voice recording without her continual, explicit consent, and have gained significant commercial benefits from its usage without providing Ms. Stingel with just compensation," her attorney Emeka Igwe said at the time.

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Sticking with tradition

Wildwoods Boardwalk Special Improvement District executive director Patrick Rosenello told New Jersey 101.5 that they'll stick with Stinger's voice.

"The Tram Cars will continue to use the  ‘Watch The Tram Car’ recording until such time as there is a court-ordered change or a settlement to the pending lawsuit. Currently, neither has occurred."

Rosenello is also the mayor of North Wildwood.

New way to pull the tram car

New this year a Ford Maverick hybrid pickup truck to pull the tramcar, according to Wildwood Video Archive. The pickup is expected to take on towing duty this week and will be fully operational later in the spring.

The cost of operating the tramcar, which was first used during the 1939 World's Fair, is steep as parts are becoming harder to find and training to operate is becoming more difficult.

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