One of the perks of being a member of the board of Portland Streetcar Inc. is the opportunity to occasionally inspect our new vehicles under construction. The last time I did this I had to travel to the Czech Republic. This time it was just a carpool out to Clackamas.
The prototype vehicle, now outfitted with a Rockwell propulsion system, on the test track at Oregon Iron Works/United Streetcar |
More photos after the jump…
The new test track at United Streetcar 
The new vehicles that will expand our fleet for east side operations in various states of assembly! 
The boxy looking thing in the center foreground is the propulsion system – this is an Elin unit that will go in one of the new vehicles. It actually mounts on the roof and is sitting next to an HVAC unit that will also go on the roof. |
8 responses to “Progress at United Streetcar”
A related question: It was recently announced that the city of Milwaukee, WI’s streetcar project has recently won FTA approval. The website for the streetcar project has a picture of one of Portland Streetcar’s trains ‘cross the top, and some of the planning documents indicate they plan to use vehicles similar to the Skoda/United Streetcar vehicles we have here… but I haven’t seen any indication of which vendor, if any, has been selected.
Given that this is a FTA-funded project, that implies a US supplier (even if it is a US subsidiary of a foreign company such as Siemens). Is United Streetcar competing for this business, and/or in a position to win a bid?
I don’t know, but I hope so!
I would love to see more “under construction” photos of Portland’s new vehicles as they are built.
Any updates on the issue with the Washington DC bid?
I have an odd question: given that the design is originally Czech, presumably it was designed in metric units, using standard metric components. Given that it’s now being made in the US, have they converted the design to Imperial units, or are they building it in metric?
That one I can answer. While the design has been substantially updated to U.S. standards, the components are still in metric dimensions.
You “had to travel to the Czech Republic”? Poor, poor you. :)
You “had to travel to the Czech Republic”? Poor, poor you. :)
And drink all their crappy beer.