friedman@uiucdcs.UUCP (07/05/84)
#N:uiucdcs:20600016:000:8515 uiucdcs!friedman Jul 5 12:40:00 1984 My own railroading interest started with an interest in streetcars, and that is still my primary interest. Who else out there is interested in streetcars? There are still a number of streetcar systems in the US and Canada, and the number is growing. Only one system retains the real, old fashioned type of vehicle, and that is New Orleans, whose cars date back to 1924. A number of other systems have been using the streamlined PCC streetcars, designed in the 1930s and 40s (the last of them were built in the US in the late 1940s, although they were manufactured in Europe later than that). More recently, several new streetcar systems have been built, only now, people feel the need for a modern term; "streetcar" or "trolley" just sounds too old fashioned, I guess. So the modern term, LRT (for light rail transit), has come into use. And the new cars are often called LRVs: light rail vehicles. The "Mass Transit" issue for June 1984 has a compilation of all the LRT systems, new and old, in the world. Here is an extract of information on US and Canadian light rail systems, using information from this article and other sources. Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The Boston light rail system is 34.8 miles long, and carries about 100,000 passengers per weekday. There are 64 PCC cars and 139 Boeing LRVs in use. Parts of this system go back to 1897. Buffalo, New York: Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. This system is expected to open in April 1985. It will be 6.4 miles long and will have 12 stations. Most of the system will be underground. Projected ridership is 45,000 daily by 1985. 27 LRVs are being built by Japan's Tokyu Car Corp. of Yokohama. Calgary, Alberta: Calgary Transit. This system began operation in 1981, and has 7.7 miles in service with another 6.4 miles under construction. It carries 40,000 passengers per weekday. The 30 LRV cars were built by Siemens-Duewag. Cleveland, Ohio: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). This system began operation in 1920. The entire line was recently rebuilt from the railbed up, and the overhead system changed from trolley pole to support both trolley poles and pantographs. It operates 48 LRVs built by Breda (Italy) plus 20 PCCs on standby and 20 more in storage. At least some of the PCCs have been equipped with half-pantographs in place of trolley poles. The system in- cludes two lines, is 13.3 miles long, and averages 17,000 riders each weekday. Detroit, Michigan: Southeastern Metropolitan Transportation Authority (SEMTA). Detroit currently operates a short line with vintage trolleys over a 35 1/2 inch gauge track in the downtown area, more as a tourist attraction than a transit line; it opened in 1976. SEMTA is planning a new LRT system, to be about 15 miles long initially and open in 1990; it is projected to be about 52.5 miles long when completed. Edmonton, Alberta: Edmonton Transit. Edmonton's system is now 6.4 miles long, extended in 1981 and 1983 from an initial 4.5 miles that opened in 1978. There are 24 Diemens-Duewag LRTs serving 8 stations. Further extensions are planned. Ridership is about 20,000 per day. Ft. Worth, Texas: Tandy Corp. This privately-owned, 1.3 mile line connects a parking lot to a downtown shopping and office complex. It operates 8 rebuilt PCC cars. Newark, New Jersey: N. J. Transit. The Newark system, opened in 1935, runs 26 St. Louis Car Co. PCC cars over a 4.2 mile line carrying 10,000 passengers per weekday. The line begins in subway at the Pennsylvania Station basement in Newark, and leaves the subway for private right of way at grade level 1.6 miles from the Station. New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. This is a true streetcar line, running 35 cars built by Perley Thomas Car Co. of High Point, North Carolina (long since out of business) in 1924, over a line that opened as a suburban steam line in 1835 (making it the oldest operating street- car line in the world). In electrified form, the 6.5 mile line dates from 1893. It carries 21,000 riders per weekday. Gauge is 5 feet 2 1/2 inches. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). This system opened in 1892 in electrified form, and still includes 95.6 miles of streetcar lines (10 routes). Average weekday ridership is 90,000. SEPTA runs 144 new Kawasaki-built LRVs and 145 PCCs, with 164 more LRVs on order from Kawasaki. 112 PCCs are being extensively rebuilt. Gauge is 5 feet 2 1/2 inches. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT). This system is being rebuilt from a 22.5 mile remnant of the old streetcar system, opened in electric form in 1891. The first 2.8 miles of a 10.5 mile rebuilt line were opened April 15, 1984. The reconstruction includes a 1.1 mile down- town subway, expected to open next November. 45 of the present 90 PCC cars are being rebuilt (losing their trolley poles to half-pantographs, among other changes) to augment 55 new LRVs on order from Siemens-Duewag. Portland, Oregon: Tri-County Metropolitan Transit District (Tri-Met). This system is expected to open in mid 1986. It will be 15.1 miles long initially, and is projected to carry 42,000 passengers per weekday; a 15.5 mile extension is planned. 26 articulated cars are on order from Bombardier of Canada, which is supplying a Belgian design. Sacramento, California: Sacramento Regional Transit District. This 18.3 mile system is expected to open in spring of 1986. The 26 LRV cars are on order from Siemens-Allis (Atlanta, Georgia) for delivery between August 1985 and February 1986. They will be articulated, 80 feet long, seating 64 each, and will operate in trains of one to four cars at speeds up to 55 mph. Ridership is projected at 24,000 passengers per weekday. San Diego, California: Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB). The 15.9 mile San Ysidro line, popularly known as the Tijuana Trolley, opened in 1981, and serves 14,000 riders per weekday. Ground was broken June 1, 1984 on a 4.5 mile second line, expected to open in April 1986, and to be extended to 17.3 miles. The 24 LRV cars were built by Siemens-Duewag; 6 more are on order for November 1985 delivery. San Francisco, California: San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). Everyone knows about the three famous cable car lines, which reopened June 21, 1984 after extensize rebuilding; the cable system could be considered light rail transit, I guess. Muni also operates a 5-route electric light rail system of 21.3 miles with 130 Boeing-built LRVs and 50 PCCs. Ridership is 162,000 per weekday. The section from old Twin Peaks Tunnel to downtown was moved from surface trackage to subway (a level above the BART subway) in 1981; the surface tracks to downtown remain, and have been used in recent years for weekend service [I don't know if that is still going on] and for tourist service using vintage electric streetcars, some borrowed from nearby railroad museums. San Jose, California: Santa Clara County Transportation Agency. Construction of a 21-mile light rail system is scheduled to begin in early 1985, with an opening date in 1987. 50 LRVs have been ordered from Urban Transportation Development Corp. (UTDC) of Canada, with delivery of the first car scheduled for early 1986. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Metro. Seattle opened a waterfront streetcar line in 1982, using 4 cars purchased from Melbourne, Australia. The line is 1.6 miles long and carries about 2,000 riders per weekday. Toronto, Canada: Toronto Transit Commission. Toronto's electric streetcar system opened in 1892. Currently, the system includes 8 routes, 45.6 miles, gauge 4 feet 10 7/8 inches. Cars include 110 PCCs and 190 CLRVs (Canadian LRVs) from UTDC, manufactured by Hawker Siddeley. Six CLRV prototype cars were built by S. I. G. of Switzerland. These cars are equipped with trolley poles. There is a 4.3 mile standard gauge extension (the Scarborough Rapid Transit) due to open in March 1985. ALRT (advanced LRT) cars for the Scarborough line are from UTDC; I think these are half-pantograph equipped. Vancouver, British Columbia: British Columbia Transit (BCT). This new 13.3 mile system is scheduled to open in early 1986; about 1 mile is underground. Average weekday ridership is projected at 100,000 by 1990. UTDC is to supply 114 ALRT cars, with delivery to be completed by late 1986. George Friedman
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (07/25/84)
Glad to see info on streetcars; I rode the St. Louis cars until they foolishly replaced the last lines with busses. My school (Washington University) was called a "streetcar college" for a long time, as most of the students got to it on a line which ran on a private right-of-way behind the fancy houses & private streets just north of Forest Park, our large main city park. That right-of-way has since been turned into Forest Park Expressway. Anyway, on to my main point: In reading about the streetcars constructed by the old (long since defunct) St. Louis Car Company, which provided cars to many systems all over the world, I have run across discussion of "summer" and "winter" cars. The summer cars had no windows, and were open-air; the winter cars closed up. It seems many systems had a dual inventory of cars. Then, to avoid the costs of storing half the rolling stock half the year, "convertible" cars were developed. These had window assemblies which were either removable, and stored during the summer, or thick sidewalls into which the upper portion of the wall and windows lowered (a maintenance shop job, not just user-operable openable windows), so were made open-air for the summer. Anyhow, since it was obviously no legal or safety problem to have these open-air cars, and currently some systems, like San Francisco's cable cars, operate open-air coaches, why is this principle not applied to other forms of mass transit, like busses? Those which have operable air conditioning should, of course, remain as they are, but those units on which the air conditioning has broken and which are not trivially repairable could easily have their windows removed and stored during the summer months. Most of the vehicles I've seen have windows designed to hinge outward in emergencies, usually by flipping a catch and shoving at the bottom edge. These must hinge on pivot pins, which could simply be removed, and the windows detached and stored, marked with the car number and location for easy re-installation. Thus, instead of rolling greenhouses, at least there would be some moving air through the vehicles. The common objection to this is what to do in case of rain. That's why I led off with the discussion of open-air cars in the past. The answer is that you just put up with the rain. If people could do so for decades in open-air summer or convertible cars, why can't they do so now on open-air busses? (And there is the example of the open-air double-decker bus in a rainy country like Britain, also.) I think rain is an invalid objection. Does any mass-transit organization in the US have the sense to do this with non-air-conditioned rolling stock? Will Martin seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or (ARPA/MILNET) wmartin@almsa-1