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May 14, 2009
Expecting a Shiny New Streetcar
Today's Trib has an article about ramping up Streetcar manufacturing at Oregon Iron Works.
But the more immediate news is that the first prototype vehicle is due to be delivered to Portland Streetcar's maintenance facility (NW 16th and Northrup) TOMORROW MORNING at about 6AM. I hope to be there to get some photos.
Don't expect passengers on board for a while though. The vehicle will need hundreds of hours of burn in before revenue service (think 4th of July).
Posted by Chris Smith at 9:12 AM
Comments
May 14, 2009 10:06 AM
Benjamin B Says:
For a cross reference, with a few more pics and Q+A:
http://seattletransitblog.com/2009/05/12/united-streetcar-10t-3/
May 14, 2009 10:43 AM
Bob R. Says:
Way to oversaturate a photo there, Portland Tribune. :-)
May 14, 2009 4:11 PM
Matthew Says:
6am? What, are they going to put it on a truck? That is Lame, with a capital L. OIW is on rail line, they should roll them up here, maybe make a little towed generator so they can do it on their own power.
May 14, 2009 4:30 PM
Bob R. Says:
I don't think the unit is ready for operation under power... it will be going through a number of tests at the streetcar maintenance facility.
It would be fun if they sent it by barge, another one of OIW's specialties.
May 14, 2009 8:56 PM
Jason McHuff Says:
they should roll them up here
I'm not exactly sure about non-passenger moves, but I'm not sure the FRA would be too happy about that. Besides the issue of getting from the freight line to the streetcar line. And considering the isolation of the streetcar line from both the freight rail system and the river, just loading it once onto a truck is probably the easiest way.
But I would love to come see it and film it if someone would be willing to get me to Hayden Island by 7. :)
May 15, 2009 8:56 AM
al m Says:
The excitement is just too much to bear!
I don't think I can stand it!
Why don't they fly it in on a helicopter and give it a ticker tape parade down the new transit mall.
May 17, 2009 6:18 AM
Erik Halstead Says:
Jason McHuff wrote: And considering the isolation of the streetcar line from both the freight rail system and the river
Just a few years ago there was an ACTIVE freight rail spur that crossed the Streetcar line.
I don't know how much of the spur exists (to the north, connecting to the BNSF mainline) anymore.
But alas, the FRA would simply not allow the streetcar to move on its own rails - it would need a flatcar (like how MAX LRVs used to move) and even TriMet, despite access to the freight rail system (with an unloading ramp near the Merlo/158th station) has decided that trucks are the best option. (Ironic, eh?)
May 17, 2009 12:11 PM
Jason McHuff Says:
Just a few years ago there was an ACTIVE freight rail spur that crossed the Streetcar line.
True. But even if a streetcar was able to come down that line, it would have to be rotated 90 degrees somehow since there was no connecting track.
has decided that trucks are the best option
It may be that its easier to get a trucker (who is independent of the road system and can freely go from the source to the destination and which are plentiful) than to work with possibly multiple railroads.
May 18, 2009 10:08 AM
EngineerScotty Says:
I'm a bit surprised that a streetcar or a LRV can't be towed as freight (empty of passengers, obviously) on a heavy-rail line--the danger posed by having a light-duty vehicle running on the freight lines is primarily to that vehicle's passengers, after all, not to other rail vehicles--but much of what the FRA requires doesn't make sense to me.
