Temporary Switch

I'm a fan of Veke on facebook but most of the time I have no idea what they are talking about because Hungarian to English translation leaves much to be desired. But I enjoy their work covering trams in Budapest and other Hungarian cities. So it was kind of cool to see how an emergency tram switch would be employed when a section of track was closed due to what I believe is some sort of flooding. While they fix it, this ramp allows trains to move forward without having to dig into the track surface. Check out the blog through google translate here. Also check out the youtube video below.

Combino Cracks

Looks like the Combino is having more problems. In 2004, there were issues with car bodies slightly cracking.

On March 12, 2004, Siemens admitted to problems concerning the stability of the car bodies and, as a precautionary measure, instructed all public transportation services to take all Combinos with a service distance of more than 120,000 kilometres (74,565 mi) out of service. Torsion forces generated in S-curves were much higher than anticipated, leading to cracks around the articulations between the car modules. Subsequently, hairline cracks were found in the joints of the aluminium bodies, which could cause the roof to collapse in the case of an accident.

The Caterpillars of Budapest had issues and were delayed due to door issues in 06. While not as bad as the issues the European versions had, Melbourne is going to make fixes due to the fractures that have occurred on their trainsets. I've heard that subsequent redesigns have fixed the problem on the current model.

Streetcar & LRV Poll

Seems as if the international streetcar article has garnered some interest. Let's see where folks stand on Tram and Light Rail design from around the world. At the right under the pantograph photo the there is a poll. I was going to put pictures up but it was hard to control sizes, so you'll have to click through. Here are your contestants with their country of origin:

Ansaldo Breda Italy: MUNI, MBTA, LACMTA, Sirio Series

Kinky Sharyo Japan: Seattle, Phoenix, Hudson Bergen

Siemens Germany: San Diego, Charlotte, Houston, Combino Series

CAF Spain: Pittsburgh, Sacramento

Bombardier Canada: Minneapolis, Flexity Series

Skoda Czech Republic: T14, T10, Portland, Seattle

Alstom France: Paris, Bordeaux, Citadis Series

Streetcar Scalability and Capacity

Over at M1ek's I posted a few photos of some Combino trams from different places around the world to show how you can scale the vehicles to fit within any environment. Depending on the capacity needs, there might only use for one streetcar. However, if there are higher passenger volumes, then there are two ways to accommodate this. Either by coupling cars or modular design. Coupling cars is possible, below is a photo of the Skoda T3 in Plzen Czech Republic, the same vehicle as the Portland Streetcar, with couplers.


Photos Courtesy of NYCSubway.org

The next option is the modular tram. Basically, you can build to specifications you want. According to the Siemens website, they c trams from 18 to 72 meters (60 feet to 236 feet) almost 4/5ths of a football field.

Sorry for the bad picture but I stole it from Tom Furmaniak's powerpoint on streetcar tech.

Real Examples below:

Combino - 3 Sections

Flickr Photo by: Johnzebedee

Combino Ultra - 5 Sections

Photo Courtesy of Gen Gibson

Combino Supra: 6 Sections

Flickr photo courtesy of Tschaut

This is the same for the other tram companies including Ansaldo Breda, Skoda, Kinky Sharyo, Bombardier, and Alstom's Citadis Tram.

Future Posting Gaps & Budapest

Today I'm leaving for Eastern Europe for a week and a half. Hopefully I'll be able to post but as a precursor I wanted to post a link to 'Dodo' and his review of the tram system over at the European Tribune. There are some great pictures as well.

This summer, Budapest put new trams in service on the world's busiest tram line, trams from the Siemens Combino family that are the world's longest trams for passengers:

For me as a railfan, trams and tramways were too ordinary and everyday sights, and never considered them 'proper' railway. So I was astonished to discover that trams have plenty of afficiados among Western railfans. What's more, it turned out my (former) home city Budapest was an eldorado for them: an extensive network even after four decades of closures, lots of different tram types, lots of older types in regular traffic.

So, I thought trams deserve Train Blogging coverage, and took the occasion of the arrival of the Combinos to remedy my long dismissal by reading up on tramways, and present their development via the trams of Budapest. But when the Combinos had big technical difficulties, I delayed posting. Now I do it with a lager picture selection.

Transit Trading Cards

I've been asked a lot and have been thinking a lot about what makes transit cool or not cool. A lot of it has to do with image but a lot of it I think is generational and can be changed over time. As I was walking home from BART today I noticed a the 48 Muni passing me up the hill. It was one of the new hybrid electrics like the one below.



Then I got to thinking, what are the statistics for that bus? What kind of grades can it operate on? How much power is produced by the motor? Then I immediately shot back to when I was a little kid trading Ken Griffey Jr. and Craig Biggio baseball cards. I knew everyone's stats and had them memorized. I also had micro machines and my friends and I liked collecting them. My favorite was the Star Wars A-Wing fighter. I can still tell you that it can go 120 MGLT, faster than any fighter ship in the Star Wars galaxy (At the time of my last guidebook, it might have changed).



But why can't we have transit vehicles portrayed in the same way with stats and figures? Why can't we take a wikipedia entry and make micromachines out of the Siemens Combino or the S70 vehicles (which do not have a wikipedia entry)? There could be old time streetcars as well with Birney Safety Cars in a set with PCCs. Add in some historic buses. The point is that you can give younger folks, and even folks my age a reason to get excited when they see transit. Kids would know all of the streetcar types and would get excited when they saw them in cities. It would also make the city seem more interesting to kids who might never have been exposed to it living in the burbs.

The only reason I know about rapid transit is because my dad and I used to ride BART to the auto show at the Moscone Center during Christmas holiday on our visits to my grandparents house. Pop culture feeds kids cars in the form of hotwheels, power wheels and micro machines, if we want to change views of transit, we have to look at how they get into our sub conscience so early. Perhaps trading cards, perhaps hasbro?

Siemens Combino in Budapest

In honor of booking my fall trip to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, I'll post some youtube clips from some of these cities in the coming days. Anyone have any suggestions on places I should visit? I know I'm going to try and find a Combino Supra like the one in the movie below. Longest Tram in the World. Notice there are no couplers. The locals call it 'the Caterpillar'. Also, Budapest' subway is the oldest in mainland Western Europe (London's Underground is the first).



But I'll make sure I pay the fare, instead of perhaps doing it the more dangerous way as seen below.