IN THIS ISSUE:

CURRENT EVENTS ..........

Urban Commuter / Light Rail / Modern Streetcar News. by Edward Havens
A Peek at History.
More Urban Rail Happenings.

A PEEK AT HISTORY ..........

A Peek at History!
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In this section, we will visit some of the past since we talk mainly about today. But the past is what got us here.

Almost 100 years ago....

It is February 3, 1918 and San Francisco Major James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, Jr. has piloted the first streetcar, Muni Class B #117 out of the West Portal. The Twin Peaks tunnel had taken three years to build.

60 years ago.....

This photograph was taken at West Portal in San Francisco long before there was a Muni Metro or BART. The day is November 18, 1958 with ex-Saint Louis PCC 1124 about to turn left on the L Taraval Line and 1146 inbound to the Transbay Terminal. These two cars had only been in San Francisco a little over one year at the time.

56 years ago.....

PCC cars did not operate in Philadelphia's Subway Surface until September 1955, when many air-electric PCC cars were transferred to West Philadelphia's Woodland and Callowhill Car houses to replace the modernized 1920's era Brill 8000 series Peter Witt cars that had ruled that territory for many years. This photo shows many of car 2660's 1942-built sisters along with one 1940-built PCC at Woodland Car House in 1962. From left to right are cars 2031, 2590, 2650, 2612, 2623 among others.

51 years ago.....

Philadelphia Transportation Company 1942-built PCC 2660 in Subway-Surface route 10 in West Philadelphia on December 30, 1967. The 25 year old veteran had only seven more years of service to give when this photo was taken. She began her service life in Luzerne Depot mostly operating on Routes 6 (Ogontz Avenue), 53(Wayne Avenue) and 56 (Erie Avenue) but saw service on other lines. In 1955, a group of 36 cars, 2645 to 2680 were shipped to West Philadelphia's Callowhill Carhouse to operate on Route 10. The car occasionally saw service on Route 15, Girard Avenue, which survives as a trolley line to this day.

42 years ago.....

One of the darkest days in Philadelphia Trolley history is shown above. This is Woodland Car House in West Philadelphia on October 23, 1975. At 12:43 AM that morning fire erupted in Bays 1 & 2. the fire department the power and the cars were unable to be moved. 60 of the 145 PCC cars assigned to that facility were lost including car 2031 shown in a previous photo.

More Urban Rail Happenings!
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CHARLOTTE, NC - The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) announced during the second week of January that its Blue Line light-rail extension will open March 16th. Pre-revenue service testing will begin the week of January 21st. During testing, light-rail trains will stop at all stations and mimic passenger boarding with active crossing signals, Charlotte city officials tweeted on January 9th. (The same testing method was used before Phase 2 of the Los Angeles Expo Line was opened in May 2016.) The 9.3-mile extension runs from the 7th Street Station in Charlotte's Center City area to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus.

Two of Charlotte Area Transit System's (CATS) 38 Siemens S70 Vehicles.

Although the $1.1 billion project has been delayed, it remains under budget, CATS officials said on Twitter. The extension originally was slated to open in August 2017, but the agency pushed the opening date to March due to construction coordination challenges and other issues. In May 2017, CATS activated the line's overhead catenary system (OCS) to perform its first "live wire" test.

CHINA - On January 7th, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world’s first carbon fibre metro car bodyshell, according to a report issued by Metro Report International. The manufacturer says that the composite materials used allow the car to be 35% lighter than the average metal body bodied metro car, which would help to reduce rail wear.

CRRC Prototype Composite Body Shell

CRRC says that it has the intellectual property rights to the design, but has not specified when it would begin mass production of carbon fibre bodyshells. [Ed: Personally we have been wondering what took composites so long to appear on rail body shells since aircraft manufacturers had embraced composites many years ago.]

LOS ANGELES, CA - By the end of last year, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) "nearly completed" mining twin tunnels for the Regional Connector light-rail project, agency officials announced in a blog post. The tunnels run from the city's Little Tokyo neighborhood to the financial district, according to the post summarizing progress on the project. Each tunnel measures about 5,700 feet in length and is made of 1,140 pre-cast concrete rings. The agency also has relocated major utilities along the 1.9-mile alignment. The Regional Connect project will connect the Blue, Expo and Gold light-rail lines via the twin tunnels below downtown Los Angeles. (Note: This connection in the original plan until hysteria spearheaded by a former politician prevented subway building for many years.) The route is expected to make light-rail trips to and through downtown faster with fewer transfers needed. In 2018, work will continue to build the Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill Station, which is the project's deepest station. Crews will pour concrete to build the station's floors and walls.

One of the twin tunnels that will connect and unite all of Los Angeles light rail lines for the first time!

Train service on the Norwalk to Redondo Beach Green Line stopped going further west than Hawthorne, starting January 26th, as Metro needs 2.5 months to reconfigure tracks to bring in connections to the new Crenshaw Line, the agency announced on January 21st. Switches will need to be installed on the Green Line tracks which were installed before the Crenshaw Line was envisioned or funded. When the Crenshaw Line opens in 2019, its trains will connect to the current Aviation/LAX station, as its southern terminus. Train service will be suspended from the last five stations -- Aviation/LAX, Mariposa, El Segundo, Douglas and Redondo Beach until April 7th. A free shuttle bus will link those stations to the Hawthorne/Lennox Station, where trains will continue serving stations from there east to Norwalk. The line opened in 1995 using the 15 NipponSharyo P2020 cars which were replaced by the Siemens P2000 cars. At the current time, some of the new P3010 cars have begun to operate on the Green Line.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA - Streetcar line construction in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, is expected to begin this year from Santa Ana to Garden Grove, according to an Orange County Register website report on January 12th. Building the $299.3 million, 4.1 mile modern streetcar line partially over abandoned Pacific Electric "Red Car" right of way will last two years. Eight streetcars are slated for the fleet, including six for peak period travel. Orange County Transportation Authority will seek bids in February from streetcar manufacturers.

Orange County Streetcar Concept!

Projected Route of the Orange County Streetcar!

Concept Streetcar at Ross St!

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Philadelphia broadcast outlet KYW reported on January 12th that a newsstand and bookstore at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Suburban Station just west of City Hall in Center City closed their doors in December 2017. However, SEPTA officials say the space will be rented, despite the action of the New Jersey based news sales operator to close its outlets. However, whatever is leased will not be to a newspaper or magazine operator so SEPTA riders will have to buy train reading material elsewhere. The building retains its historic 1930's facade.

Philadelphia's SEPTA, formerly Pennsylvania RR, Station at 30th & Market Streets.

REDLANDS - SAN BERNARDINO, CA - The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (OmniTrans) has issued Stadler with a notice to proceed with the design and supply of three Flirt diesel multiple-units (DMU) for the Arrow commuter service which is to be launched in 2021 under the Redlands Passenger Rail Project.

The services will use 14 km of former AT&SF line owned by San Bernardino Associated Governments, running from the University of Redlands via three intermediate stations to the San Bernardino Transit Center where they will connect with Metrorail services to and from Los Angeles. The DMU order is worth $31.4 million, and there are options for three more units. The 48.5 meter long DMUs will have two passenger sections with a total capacity of 116 seated and 118 standing passengers, and a central module housing the EPA Tier 4 Final compliant diesel traction equipment. The DMUs will be equipped with PTC, and will comply with the Federal Railroad Administration’s Alternative Vehicle Technology requirements for mixed operation with freight trains. Arrow services will operate at speeds up to 70 km/h, although the design would be capable of a service speed of 160 km/h. OmniTrans has requested a ‘scalable’ design, with the option to add an additional passenger car and to convert from diesel to ‘zero-emission propulsion technologies as they become appropriately suited for the service’. Stadler said the order announced on January 18th was its eighth in the USA. The DMUs are to be manufactured at Stadler’s new plant in Salt Lake City, meeting federal Buy America requirements.

SAN FRANCISCO (BAY AREA), CA - The first of 775 new cars went into service on the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) on January 19th. They are called the "Fleet of the Future" and the cars will alleviate crowding and provide a cooler and quieter ride for the patrons.

New Bombardier-built BART Car!

With an average fleet of over 30 year old, BART is running the oldest fleet of cars in service in any large city in the United States. the current fleet of 669 cars is shown in the next chart.

Model	Supplier	Number of cars	year placed in service	Typical Life Span	Year of mid-life rehab	Projected end of useful life
A2/B2	Rohr	439	1972	25-30	1997-2002	2012-2017
C1	Alstom	150	1988	25-30	None	2013
C2	Morrison-Knudsen	80	1994	25-30	None	2019

Bombardier delivered. 10 pilot cars in 2016 for initial shakedown and testing. Federal requirements, "Buy America" require that 60% of the total cost of all components be made in the USA. Deliveries will continue until 2022.

Original Rohr-built BART A1 car!

SANTA BARBARA - VENTURA, CA - The mudslides in Montecito, CA which killed at least 20 people have closed Highway 101. The only way to get to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles by car or bus was to use a detour via Interstate 5, California 126 to Santa Maria and then south on Highway 101, a four-hour trip. Meanwhile many Southern Californians discovered Amtrak since the tracks were cleared by January 11th.

On January 12th, The Pacific Surfliner, operated by Amtrak reported that "...trains were experiencing very heavy passenger loads on trains traveling through the areas affected by the recent mudslides. We're adding additional cars to trains where possible to increase capacity and will continue to do so through the weekend as relief efforts continue. Eight additional cars and three locomotives from Northern California were added so that another 270 seats per train could be added. Highway 101 in Montecito was not able to be cleared and reopened to traffic until January 22nd.

TACOMA, WA - According to the NTSB, the engineer on the fatal December 18th crash missed the sign shown below that indicated a 30 mile per hour speed restriction:

The train was going about 80 miles per hour when it derailed on curve where the speed limit was 30 mph. It crashed onto Interstate 5, closing the southbound freeway lanes for most of three days, causing traffic havoc in the region. The train was on its inaugural run, carrying 83 passengers. Three passengers were killed and 62 injured. The 55 year old engineer could not be interviewed until mid-January due to the seriousness of their injuries. The engineer had undergone only one southbound training trip prior to this run. He had been hired by Amtrak in 2004 as a conductor and was promoted to engineer in 2013.

 

More 3D Printed Light Rail Vehicle Models !
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Just prior to the release of the January 2018 issue of the Trolleyville Times, we learned about two more model Light Rail vehicles that are available from 3D printing. We are happy to report that models of Boston's KinkiSharyo-built Type 7 and 7.5 and AnsaldoBreda-built Type 8 vehicles are now available on Shapeways from Tramspotter, who mostly makes European prototype tram models.

The KinkiSharyo vehicles, called Type 7s, came to Boston to replace the troublesome Boeing United States Standard Light Rail Vehicles that ran only in Boston and San Francisco.

By the early 1980s, with the Boeing LRVs proving to be very unreliable (a "nice" description) and the PCCs still in service in dire need of restoration, the MBTA (Boston's Transit Operator at that time) was in dire need of new, reliable streetcars. After its less-than-ideal experience with the Boeing LRVs, the MBTA decided that with its next streetcar, it would start from scratch and design a streetcar that would best serve the its needs and not repeat the problems found with the Boeing LRVs. The MBTA came up with a design and commissioned Japanese engineering firm KinkiSharyo to build a new LRV for Boston. A total of 100 new cars, numbered 3600-3699, were ordered from KinkiSharyo, beginning in 1986 and ending in 1987. The new design quickly won favor in Boston, as it was wide and roomy not to mention that its design evoked the PCCs, which by now had reliably served Boston for over forty years. Like Boston's PCCs, the Type 7s have since proven to be very reliable assets for Boston. The cars have been very dependable and were much better built than Boeing's LRVs. The cars shown above were pictured in 2003, 16 years after their delivery to Boston, and still appear strong and solidly constructed without having received any major rebuild. So they are a superb choice for a model.

In particular, the cars' articulation unit was much better built than that of the Boeing LRVs, and accordingly Type 7s have had almost no major derailments (not caused by operator error), allowing them to be used on lines, such as the E Branch of the Green Line, with sharp, street-running curves. Accordingly, the MBTA was so pleased with the Type 7s, that despite the design being ten years old, they ordered 20 more in 1997 (Type 7.5s) and they became 3700-3719. Likewise, in the late 2000s, when the cars were reaching their twentieth year in service, the MBTA opted to install digital display signs, electronic stop announcements, new couplers and new wheels in all Type 7s to make Type 7s mechanically compatible with the MBTA's later Type 8 streetcars.

With a planned future Green Line Extension to Somerville and Medford, the MBTA still had to procure some additional new streetcars. Also, with Type 7 trolleys requiring outside ramps for people with disabilities to board, it was clear that more-easily accessible streetcars would have to be bought. Therefore, the MBTA turned to Italian engineering firm AnsaldoBreda to design and build new accessible trolleys, the Type 8s. The first Type 8s began arriving in Boston in 1998, a year after the Type 7.5s.

Initially, the Type 8s were plagued with problems. From brake problems to derailments, the AnsaldoBredas at first were proving to be similar to the Boeings in reliability?\the MBTA was constantly reassigning Type 8s to different branches of the Green Line after it was proven that the Type 8s could not operate on different branches due to their wheels being unfit for existing trackage. Accordingly, in 2004 the MBTA declared it was halting its contract with Breda after receiving only 47 Type 8s. The MBTA proceeded to modify the Type 8s it had received so that they could operate on the MBTA's tracks and succeeded, reinstating its contract with Breda a year later and proceeding to receive a total of 95 Type 8s, numbered 3800-3894. The MBTA has since made significant modifications to Green Line trackage to accommodate the Type 8s and swapped wheels on all Type 7s to bring them in line with the Type 8s, ensuring that Type 8s will serve the Green Line for years to come. As one of the first low-floor cars in service, this is another good choice for a model.

Type 8 #3855 with a modified Type 7 in train behind it at Reservoir Yard in Brighton.

Type 8s currently run regularly with Type 7s, ensuring there is one fully ADA accessible streetcar per Green Line train.

The Tramspotter Boston Type 7/7.5 model seems to be available separately in the three sections, A, B and C. As is the case with the Interurban Models Siemens S70 Ultrashort, and the West Coast Traction Supply Los Angeles Metro P865 and P3010 vehicles, the bodies and floors are separate items and must be ordered separately. This allows floors to be designed for different power systems. The Boston Type 7 model has floors designed for both Halling Drives and Bowser traction mechanisms. The Custom Traxx 125158 Three-Truck LRV / Modern Streetcar Power works perfectly in floors designed for it. There is not a lot of product information available on Shapeways about the Type 7 units and we have tried to contact Tramspotter for more details. But we think these should be worthwhile models for current hobbyists.

Tramspotter Boston Type 7 A unit shell.

Tramspotter Boston Type 7 floor designed for Bowser power!

The Tramspotter Boston Type 8 model seems to be available as a package with all three sections, A, B and C, included. The three bodies and floors are also available as separate items. At this time, the only floor currently offered is designed for the Halling drives. We are familiar with the Halling Drives as the very first Siemens S70 model was equipped with the Halling Drives. There is not a lot of product information available on Shapeways about the Type 8 units and we have tried to contact Tramspotter for more details. But we think these should be worthwhile models for current hobbyists. We are in the process of obtaining an Type 7 and will get a Type 8 when the Bowser floor is available.

Tramspotter HO scale Boston Type 8 model with Halling drives.