Urban Commuter / Light Rail / Modern Streetcar News!

BETHESDA, MD - The  has provided a low-interest loan of up to $1.76 billion to Purple Line Transit Partners for the in Maryland, the bureau announced today.

The loan will finance up to 33% of the $5.9 billion in eligible project costs, bureau officials said in a press release. The bureau helps communities deliver infrastructure projects by providing Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans and other types of innovative financing.

Now under construction, the Purple Line is a 16.2-mile, 21-station, east-west light-rail line that will extend from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George's County. Once the project is completed, five major activity centers — Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma-Langley Park, College Park and New Carrollton — will connect with 16 other stations that serve residential communities, commercial districts and institutional establishments.

CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA - It was reported by Progressive Railroading in early April that the city of Calgary, Alberta, has released a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the proposed Green Line light-rail project's first phase. The Green Line is a future light rail transit (LRT) line planned to run between north-central and southeastern Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When completed, it will be the third line in the CTrain system and will be known as Route 203, connecting with the existing Red Line and the Blue Line in Downtown Calgary.

The line, which would run from the Shepard to Eau Claire neighborhoods, includes 11.2 miles of track with room for expansion. The Green Line would be the largest infrastructure project to be constructed in the city’s history,  Calgary officials said in a press release. It will also the first to use low-floor cars.

The current project timeline estimates that the project board would select a development partner in early 2023 following the request for proposal stage. The development phase would take about a year.

The project also calls for 13 new stations, bridge structures, park-and-ride facilities and a maintenance storage facility for vehicles. "The RFQ is a significant step toward delivering this important city-shaping project,” said Green Line Chairman Don Fairbairn.

KANSAS CITY, MO - Kansas City Streetcar Authority, federal, state and local officials broke ground on a $351 million project to expand the streetcar system in Kansas City, Missouri.

Expected to take two years to complete, the project calls for adding 3.5 miles of track to the existing system. In attendance at yesterday's groundbreaking were representatives of the Federal Transit Administration, the city, KC Streetcar Authority, KC Area Transportation Authority and KC Streetcar Constructors.

“The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project will connect our city’s largest employment centers and elevate the function of our system from a downtown circulator to the spine of an improved regional transit system,” said KC Streetcar Authority Executive Director Tom Gerend.

The extension will connect the current southern terminus at Union Station to the University of Missouri-Kansas City at 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard.

Funds for the extension come from federal Capital Investment Grants program as well as local funding through the Transportation Development District. The extension will be passenger-ready in 2025. KC Streetcar Constructors, which is leading the construction, is a joint venture between Herzog Contracting Corp. and Stacy and Witbeck.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - On April 18th, the Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County officials in Minneapolis announced the route recommendation for Metro Transit's Blue Line light-rail extension.

The recommended route would extend the existing Blue Line light-rail service from the Target Field station along West Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis to County Road 81 in Crystal and Robbinsdale, and along West Broadway Avenue in Brooklyn Park.

"The communities served by the proposed route are transit-reliant and racially diverse and have experienced historical disinvestment," said Regional Railroad Authority Chair Irene Fernando in a press release. "The proposed route will connect students to education, workers to jobs, patients to health care and families to resources, while connecting the corridor to the broader transit network."

Public comments on the recommendation are due May 18. Council and county officials will consider public input and technical analyses before approving a final route. After the council officially adopts a route, design work and an environmental review will advance.

 

DCC/Sound in the HO scale Bachmann Baltimore Peter Witt Trolley!
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By now most traction modelers have realized that the Bachmann HO scale Peter Witt Trolley is a very accurate rendition of the Baltimore Peter Witt trolleys built by J.G. Brill in 1930. The other road names offered were various levels of fantasy. Custom Traxx came across the following article written some time ago by Fred Miller and thought our readers would find it interesting.

 

The Rocky Mountain Train Show

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This was one of the first major train shows scheduled after height of the COVID-19 pandemic and we really wanted to "check it out". The opportunity came when Lee English, CEO of Bowser Manufacturing Co, asked George Huckaby of Custom Traxx to assist him at his dealer booth. Custom Traxx has served as the Project Coordinator for Bowser's HO scale model streetcars since 2009. As you can see from the handout at left, there were many of not all of the major model railroaders represented at this show. Bowser did not commit to coming until after this poster was made so their logo is not present. The National Western Complex is a huge building capable of handling three or four shows independently. there is ample parking and plenty of refreshments.

The refreshment issue was the first thing noticed because within the show is a full scale restaurant serving breakfast lunch and dinner plus scattered within the show, not outside, were at least four separate refreshment stands offering everything from soda and hamburgers up to beer and pizza.

 

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But one of the most interesting things at the show are the displays that the dealers spend lots of effort, time and money to build, pack, set up and tear down to show some of their new products. These new products will be in the magazines soon if not already, like Rapido's new HO scale Metrolink cars. I did not have a lot of time to discuss the new products because I was at the Bowser booth discussing their new RS-3 locomotive, equipped with ESU LokSound and the coming Kansas City Public Service All-electric PCC cars in HO scale.

 

ATHEARN BOOTH

 

The one thing that I was really liked was a German N scale layout with what appeared to be operating catenary. A portion of this is shown below:

At least the pantographs were actually touching the wires. This will force me to do the same on the club N-scale layout.

The last thing that really stuck in my mind had nothing to do with trolleys. The hobby seems to have drifted into a fantasy scheme stage and I saw this in the Lionel Booth:

Don't miss the shows where the dealers are present.