IN THIS ISSUE:

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

Remember Harriet, the Tunnel Boring Machine?.....She Retired! by A.J. Staley
Custom Traxx About to Release Two New Decal Sets!
Urban Commuter / Light Rail / Modern Streetcar News! by Edward Havens
Trolleys on the Isle of Man by A.J. Staley
More Urban Rail Happenings!

MODELING INFORMATION ..........

Trolleys on the Isle of Man!
***

The Isle of Man is an island of about 266 square miles that is located between Ireland and Scotland. At one time, it was part of Scotland but was divested in 1399 and became a self-governing Crown dependency. The people who live on the island are referred to as Manx people and are a historic mix of early Viking and Celtic people. Their language is English and Manx Gaelic.

The Isle of Man’s location made it an ideal location for trade and because of this the Manx people were one of the very few people that could speak all dialects of Gaelic for Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany and the Outer Hebrides providing them with outstanding trading opportunities.

In the 1840-1850’s many Manx people migrated to the United States, settling the area of East Cleveland, Ohio. People with names beginning with a Q, like Quale, Quilliam, Quiggin, and Quick are descendants of Manx people. Former Vice-President Dan Quale was a descendant of his great-grandfather Robert Quale who was born in Douglas, Isle of Man in 1853.

One of the visual symbols of the Isle of Man is the famous Manx cat easily recognized by its lack of a tail. Today the Isle of Man is well known for its very picturesque postage stamps, which are sought after by many stamp collectors. But its main claim to current fame is the annual TT motorcycle races held in May every year.

TT Motorcycle Race in progress!

The races are held on public roads with speeds approaching 200mph with a never-ending series of bends, bumps, jumps, stone walls, manhole covers, telegraph poles, through villages, very picturesque country side and along beautiful shore lines. The races are well known throughout the world.

The island has a steam railway between Douglas and Port Erin but its most favored attraction is the Manx Electric Railway (MER) an electric interurban tramway that connects the towns of Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey. It connects with the Douglas Bay Horse tramway at its southern terminus at Derby Castle at the northern end of the promenade in Douglas. it hugs the Isle of Man’s Irish Sea east coastline for much of its trek, twisting around tight curves and climbing steep gradients as mile upon mile of stunning scenery drift past. It is largely segregated from road traffic, running on double track on roadside reservation or private right-of-way. Many visitors take excursions on the trams.

Typical view from the railway while traveling through the countryside!

The first phase of the of the Manx Electric Railway was built as part of a real estate venture by the Douglas Bay Estates Ltd., and was financed by the local prominent bank Dumbells Bank of Douglas. It was going to be only two miles long from a point in Douglas to Groudle Glen which was under construction. However, while under construction, it was decided to extend the line an additional 5 miles to the mining village of Laxey. Derby Castle is the site of the line’s important Douglas terminal. Unfortunately, it is a mile and a half short of Douglas’s city center and its important boat dock, Victoria Pier.

The first section of the MER opened on September 7, 1893 and was built as a narrow gage with rail being only 3 feet (914mm) wide. The second phase was built and extended to Ramsey. The total line is now 17-3/4 miles long.

Isle of Man Derby Castle Terminus II around 1900!

Isle of Man Derby Castle Terminus II in 1938!

The trams are electrified using overhead line at 550 volts’ direct current. Initially the trams used pairs of Hopkinson bow collectors (still used on the Snaefell Mountain Railway, owing to its dependability in strong winds on the mountains) but by the turn of the 20th century they were fitted with trolley poles. Originally the electricity was generated by the railway’s own power stations, now it is supplied by the island’s Manx Electricity Authority grid. At the time of opening the first phase, it had 3 trams and 6 open cross-bench trailers that would seat 44 passengers. Between 1893 and 1906 additional purchases were made of trams and trailers and by 1910 there was a total of 24 trams and the same number of trailers.

Car Barn Line-up at Laxey showing cars closed cars 5 and 6, open cars 16, 18 and 32!

Trailer #49 shown at the Derby Castle Car Barn!

To say that MER is unique is an understatement, two of the three original cars that opened the line in 1893 are still in use. Cars number 1 and 2 hold a place in the “Guinness Book of World Records” as the world’s oldest operating electric cars. but are not operated daily.

Car #1, built in 1893 and still serviceable!

Car #2, also built in 1893 and also still serviceable!

Car 7 with unknown trailer!

Car 7 with another trailer lettered for Manx Electric Railway heading toward Ramsay by the sea!

Except for the Winter Saloon (closed car) car number 22, which was completely rebuilt following a fire in 1992, the MER operates all its original rolling stock. In 1930, some stock was lost in a disastrous fire at Laxey, but other than this all the original stock remains. At the time of the 1930 fire, 4 cars were replaced and several trailers. The line also has a Lisbon tramway equipment purchased in 1999, but they have never seen use on the line due to clearance difficulties.

The design pre-dates any consensus on design and they have distinctive boxy bodies, and Manx Electric Railway has retained that style. Most services are operated with a motor car towing a single trailer. Although most cars are built to haul two trailers, this has not been a common practice. It is not uncommon to see cars haling a box van for freight and, until 1975, a mail van. In September 1975, the line was closed between Laxey and Ramsey and the contract with the Post Office was lost. But in 1977 the line to Ramsey was reopened.

While the MER has three main terminals at Douglas and Ramsay, there are several intermediate railway stations at Groudle Glen, Laxey, Dhoon Glen, Cornaa and Ballaglass Glen which are shown in timetables. The official stopping points usually have a basic waiting shelter (more recent additions have been modern bus shelters), and there are “unofficial” stopping points that sometimes have “request stop” notices but not nameboards or other passenger facilities. Several in the more rural areas have the name of the nearby farm or farmer; these are most prevalent in the northern section with names such as Rome’s Crossing, Watson’s Crossing and Dhoon Farm, but none of these have carried its name. Some stopping points are known by their nearest pole number which are number 1 to 1904 from Derby Castle to Ramsey. Trams stop within reason at any point where it is safe to do so, except where the line runs parallel to a main road. These sections were originally toll roads, built at the same time as the line.

Adding further to MER’s uniqueness is the that many of the line’s Douglas (the capital of Isle of Man) riders use the Douglas Horse Tramway to connect with the company’s electric cars. The Douglas Horse Tramway operates a 1.6 mile 3-foot gauge double-track from the MER’s Derby Castle terminal to the City Center/Sea Terminal. It runs along Douglas’s Sea-front Promenade. The horse tram is owned by The Douglas Corporation and has operated since 1876, except during the war years, whereas Manx Electric is owned by the Manx government. The trams have always operated year-round, the winter service is much less frequent than in summer, and has been intermittently dropped from schedules in recent years to allow substantial investment in infrastructure including relaying longer stretches of track.

Douglas Horse Tramway!

Manx Electric Railway through the years has had their share of closures for various reasons, and re-openings. Some of these have been due to updates of rail, minor collisions, and as late as 2012 about 70 meters of copper overhead wire was stolen sometime between January and February that year. The police did recover the stolen material. In July 2015, trailer 58 suffered a serious derailment on a relatively new crossover just north of Laxey station, toppling onto its side.

The Isle of Man also has three other Victoria-era railway systems beside the Manx Electric Railway and the Douglas Horse tram. At Laxey, the MER connects with a three foot 6-inch gauge electrically powered Snaefell Mountain Railway, which travels up the Mountain for which it is named and stops about 46 feet below the summit of 2,036 feet high. A steam rail service owned by the Isle of Man Railway runs from Douglas southwest to Port Erin and it is 15.37-miles longs. The line began on August 1, 1874 and it is powered by five historic Beyer, Peacock 2-4-0 tank locomotives which are still working and in service. The Groudle Glen Railway which runs some two miles north of Douglas and is a two-foot gauge, steam powered line runs between Derby Castle, Douglas and Groudle Glen.

For a small island that is quite a bit of rail and easy to get around all while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

More Urban Rail Happenings!
***

ATLANTA, GA - On March 30, 2017, a massive fire underneath a freeway viaduct was "maliciously set" by a group of three individuals underneath I-85 in Atlanta, Georgia, resulted in the bridge's collapse, stranding motorists for miles during rush hour traffic. The area of the collapse is along SR 237 (Piedmont Road) in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood north of Midtown Atlanta. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed described the situation as a "transportation crisis" that could take days or weeks to resolve and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency. The fire started at approximately 6:15 p.m. in a state-owned storage area under the highway bridge, which contained high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. The heat from the fire caused the collapse of a 100-foot (30 m) section of I-85 northbound at about 7:00 p.m. Fire crews had the blaze under control by about 8:00 p.m.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) operates four heavy rail lines, known as the RED, GOLD, BLUE and GREEN. The Red and Gold Lines are mainly north-south while the Blue and Green lines run east and west. As the location of the incident is in the proximity of both the RED and GOLD heavy rail lines, the (MARTA) reported that rider ship on the their system soared 25 percent on the Friday following the incident, according to MARTA General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Keith Parker and reported by Progressive Railroading. Sales of MARTA's Breeze fare payment cards soared 80 percent, according to Parker's Twitter account. After the section of the freeway collapsed on northbound I-85, MARTA increased rail services to accommodate commuters looking for alternatives to driving. Specifically, MARTA increased the frequency of trains at the Five Points station to every five minutes and to every seven minutes on the Red Line, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

MARTA operates three classes of vehicles, the majority of which are married pairs. The oldest are the 118 CQ310 class cars built in 1979-1982 by Societe Franco-Beige, series 101-200 and 501-520; Cars 501-520 are the only single units on the system. 120 CQ311 class cars, built in 1984-1987 by AnsaldoBreda (now Hitachi), series 201-320, and the latest CQ312 class, built in 2001-2005 by AnsaldoBreda, series 601-702.

Class CQ310 car 105 at Avondale (1979)!

Class CQ311 car 233 at the Airport (1998)!

Class CQ312 car 658 approaching Lakewood station (2011)!

All of the active class CQ310 and CQ311 cars were renovated by Alstom between 2006 and 2009.

Riders at MARTA's Sandy Springs Station!

CALIFORNIA & ILLINOIS - By April 30, Siemens' new Charger locomotives were to begin a 30-day revenue testing period on California's Capitol Corridor passenger route. The units meet Tier IV emissions standards and can operate at speeds up to 125 mph.

Six locomotives have been ordered for Northern California. Once testing is completed, the Chargers will begin service on the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin routes, Siemens officials said in a press release. The units are part of a larger multistate order from transportation departments in California (Caltrans), Illinois, Washington and Maryland.

A Siemens Charger Locomotive built for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)!

Additional states receiving locomotives from that procurement are Oregon, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan and Iowa. The Charger locomotives are equipped with electronically controlled regenerative braking systems that use energy from traction motors during braking to feed the auxiliary and head-end power systems. The feature is expected to minimize fuel consumption, Siemens officials said.

In addition, the units' diesel-electric operation is designed to enable better acceleration, cleaner emissions and low noise levels. The locomotives feature a 4,400 horsepower Cummins QSK95 diesel engine. Not only will the locomotives contribute to a more sustainable transportation system, they also are expected to improve reliability and help efforts to double current statewide rider ship of 5.4 million passengers by 2040, said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) yesterday wrapped up testing of a Charger locomotive pulling empty Amtrak cars between the Chicago-Milwaukee, Chicago-Carbondale and Chicago-Quincy lines. The Charger units are expected to go into full-time service later this spring, IDOT officials said in a press release. IDOT has ordered 33 total Charger locomotives from Siemens. Additional testing on the Chicago-St. Louis line will be conducted later this year.

DETROIT, MI - Brookville Equipment Corp. last month delivered the final two off-wire capable Liberty Streetcars for Detroit's QLINE streetcar system as reported by Progressive Railroading.

Q-line Streetcar on wire-free portion of the line!

The company wrapped up QLINE's six-unit order ahead of contractual delivery dates, Brookville officials said in a press release. Since September 2016, QLINE has been testing a pilot vehicle in preparation for the line's opening scheduled for May 12. Designed and manufactured at Brookville's Pennsylvania plant, the streetcars will travel along a 6.6-mile loop on Detroit's Woodward Avenue.

For 60 percent of the route, the units will move without the aid of an overhead contact system and instead will use an onboard battery energy storage system, Brookville officials said. At 66.5-feet-long, each streetcar can transport up to 125 passengers. "Brookville worked with us every step of the way to ensure the QLINE would meet its spring 2017 operational launch," said Matt Cullen, chief executive officer of M-1 Rail, which will operate QLINE. "Our vehicle testing and training programs benefited from the early vehicle deliveries and we are looking forward to our May 12 grand opening." Brookville has delivered Liberty streetcars to Dallas Area Rapid Transit and is under contract to build similar units for Oklahoma City and Milwaukee.

KANSAS CITY, MO - Because the Kansas City streetcar Authority (KSCA) expects to reach two million riders by May 2017, they have started negotiations with CAF USA Inc to obtain two additional cars to bring their total fleet up to six vehicles. Each new vehicle may cost about $5 million including parts and warranty.

One of the four CAF-built cars presently in service!

It may take two years to build the two units. KCSA also is expanding Sunday hours as rider ship grows. The agency plans to run streetcars from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday beginning April 9 instead of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday is typically the second busiest rider ship day of the week for the KC Streetcar.

KCSA has logged total rider ship since the system opened in May 2016 at 1,787,746 rides. The authority expects to experience 2 million total riders by the system's first anniversary. There will be a one year birthday party for the KC streetcar at 11:00 AM in the East Plaza of Union Station.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has partnered with GPS navigation app Waze to provide grade crossing alerts for drivers. Users will receive alerts at designated intersections along the Blue, Gold and Expo rail lines. The chosen intersections were identified as having the highest occurrences of traffic violations, according to the agency's blog.

Two 1995-built P2020 NipponSharyo LRVs at a Grade Crossing in downtown Los Angeles!

Examples of these safety alerts include "Watch For Trains When You Turn!" and "Heads Up! Watch For Trains!" The initiative is part of a safety campaign that began last month and will end in June. The campaign also includes a series of ads aimed at curbing the number of rail accidents involving cars or pedestrians. Metro has already taken a proactive approach to this issue. Several of the P865 and P2020 Nippon Sharyo cars that operate on the Blue and Expo lines have been adorned for some time on the sides with large black letters "HEADS UP! WATCH FOR TRAINS! on a bright yellow background. Cars 105, 110, 114, 119, 120, 132, 147, 157, 158, 162, 165 and 168 have been observed so marked over the past year.

NEW YORK CITY, NY - A New Jersey Transit train carrying about 1,200 became disabled in the Hudson River tunnel between New York and New Jersey during the week of 9-16 April. The train was stuck in the tunnel for almost three hours as reported by Progressive Railroading.

The incident which occurred on Friday, April 14th seems to have been caused by a problem with the trains pantograph and not by any Amtrak infrastructure as reported by Amtrak spokesman, Mike Tolbert. When AMtrak learned of the incident a rescue locomotive was dispatched to tow the train into Penn Station. However, the rain was not able to be moved until the pantograph was dislodged from the overhead wires. After Amtraks' engineering forces removed the offending pantograph, The NJ Transit Train was able to move to the platform on its own power.

Pantographs in tunnels and overhead wire present problems when problems occur. There is little room to maneuver and it is usually a worn through blade that allows the wire to cut through it and then entangle itself in the overhead wires. After the offending pantograph and the now disabled train car or locomotive is removed, there is usually serious damage to the overhead wires that cause more problems and delays on the line. A recent such situation happened in Los Angeles involving NipponSharyo car 134 in the tunnel in downtown Los Angeles. A defect in the OCS far west of the downtown area on the Expo Line was damaging the carbon on the pantograph blades. Before the LACMTA forces could locate the issue, the unfortunate incident happened, shutting down the line for hours.

There may be a solution for some of these issues. Why not replace overhead wire in tunnels with an "overhead third rail"? Trolleyville has been told that this type of rail is going to be installed by Mass Electric Construction Company in the Regional Connector Transit Project in downtown Los Angeles. This connector will connect the Blue/Expo and Gold Lines and will for the first time allow all of the light rail lines in Los Angeles to be connected by tracks and wire. This more robust installation may survive some similar pantograph mishaps. Below are some photos of such installations.

SACRAMENTO, CA - On April 20, Progressive Railroading reported that Siemens launched a new business that will use sensors and software platforms to help improve rail operations. Known as Siemens Digital Rail Services, the new business unit aims to "put intelligence behind billions of data points created on the country's rail systems," Siemens officials said in a press release.

Insights gathered from the data are expected to help U.S. rail operators improve operations and create an "Internet of Trains" to bring infrastructure and vehicles into the digital era, according to Siemens. The business unit is a part of the Siemens Mobility Division, which provides solutions for rail and road transportation.

The city of Atlanta and the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) are among the first transportation providers to work with Siemens to use Big Data to improve operations and safety. Both of these systems use a version of the Siemens S70 partially low floor vehicle, reputed to be one of the better vehicles available today.

In Atlanta, the Siemens digital services team will collect information captured via on-board systems from the Atlanta Streetcar and analyze data points to make the best use of the fleet. Meanwhile, CATS is working with Siemens on a pilot program for near real-time diagnostics and analytics of its light-rail system data. The data is expected to help the agency make prescriptive maintenance recommendations. "Today, rail vehicles send between 1 [billion] and 4 billion data points per year and rail infrastructure can send billions of messages just inside a specific system," said Simon Davidoff, head of Siemens Mobility Digital Services in North America. "With our digital services business, we're taking not only experience from our global rail footprint but also our extensive company-wide digital expertise to turn billions of data points into action, including the ability to detect malfunctions well before they can cause problems and information that helps improve arrival times and punctuality for riders."

TORONTO, ONT - The Toronto Transit Commission has powered up the third rail on its Line 1 subway extension to begin trial runs for trains according to Progressive Railroading on April 10.

Map shows the six new stations on the Number 1 (Yonge-University) Line!
(Vaughan Metropolitan Center, Highway 407, Pioneer Village, Finch West, Downsview Park and Sheppard West!)

The move also allows the TTC to test the automatic train control signal system, agency officials said in a press release. The third rail became live on March 26. Over the coming months, power will be tested across the extension or in parts as needed. Known as the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension, the project is the first subway to cross Toronto's boundary into the York region in Southern Ontario, TTC officials said. The 5.3-mile extension, which includes six stations, is jointly funded by the governments of Canada, Ontario, Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York. The extension is scheduled to open before the end of 2017.