Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by Waders

Fiberglass? I was expecting metal material. I think the MK I train skin was constructed with metal?

Aluminum to be exact. Space-age materials!

[ssiguy]

The train looks like it took a real trashing but the damage, although costly, looks primarily cosmetic.

[MIPS]

What confuses me is that's an outbound train. Why is all the damage on the back? For reference the train is somewhere between track section 2245 and 2240. There's at least two large and close proximity trees.

[nname]

That was an inbound train heading toward Downtown. There is the rail replacement project this weekend so trains are single-tracked using the outbound track at that section. This is probably why they had to shut down service entirely as it just happened to have only one working track. Millennium Line also have one damaged train at around Braid (which seems to be an older model of MkII), but they are able maintain service by single tracking between Lougheed and Columbia.

I wonder if the windstorm, fallen tree, and damaged train would impact on the rail replacement schedule and if they would complete the replacement in time for rush hours on Monday...

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by Waders

Fiberglass? I was expecting metal material. I think the MK I train skin was constructed with metal?

I'm assuming it's fiberglass, if it was metal it would bend, not crack. If it was plastic it would regain it's shape like a bumper on a car does, but might come off in one piece if struck from cracking the points it's attached.

At any rate, given the shape, it's likely something that can either be replaced with a spare or patched over. The upper-right part of the picture suggests it's probably a fiberglass-over-foam process.

[xd_1771]

Originally Posted by Large Cat

Noooo not a mark ii!! Is that write-off level damage or repairable?

Probably repairable. In Kuala Lumpur they're taking some of their 2-car Mk II formations, pairing them and reforming them into fully articulated 4-car Mk II trains so they can work with the underground stations on the KJ line that have platform screen doors (the KJ line can't work 2x2-car trains because of the slight error in door positioning so they must be physically combined into 4-car trains). This will likely involve some sort of removal of the front-ends of two trains and reconstruction into an articulated section. In any case that car will not need to be written off.

[Sheba]

VancityBuzz has more pictures of the damage.

[Express691]

https://youtu.be/w14ETQSqwds

Back to the public relations side, Translink has released this video of footage of the rail replacement over the weekend. I think this is a good idea for translink to release this video to indicate the public of either bad scheduling for contractors, or just show how and why this maintenance needs to be done.

[MIPS]

Big question is how long will the joints last until they start developing a bump?

[st7860]

Originally Posted by MIPS

Big question is how long will the joints last until they start developing a bump?

exactly. the older rails were continuously welded or something like that right?

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by st7860

exactly. the older rails were continuously welded or something like that right?

Yep. When the line was built the short sections were butted, electrically welded and the edges ground until they had lengths 100 or so feet long which they then again butted together and welded.




Screengrabs courtesy of Yaletown/GEM Productions

[st7860]

Originally Posted by MIPS

Yep. When the line was built the short sections were butted, electrically welded and the edges ground until they had lengths 100 or so feet long which they then again butted together and welded.

so would that mean riding the skytrain would eventually sound like a regular train? click click, click lick.

but yes, i remember the really old ALRT brochures, the ones that detailed a T line to Richmond etc and one of the special points of the ALRT was the welded rails and the "heavier than a bus but lighter than a train" MK 1 cars.

I suppose its cheaper to do it the way they did last weekend...

[red-paladin]

What's the difference?

[st7860]

supposedly one of the benefits of skytrain is that the rails are welded so that its quieter and bolting them together is the normal way people do it but its noisier....

[Bdawe]

Originally Posted by st7860

supposedly one of the benefits of skytrain is that the rails are welded so that its quieter and bolting them together is the normal way people do it but its noisier....

Ya, no. Continuously Welded rail is standard best practice on rail lines. It's lower maintenance than jointed rail, particularly on lines that see lots of traffic (like a rapid transit system). If you see jointed rail on a rapid transit system, it has nothing to do with not being skytrain, and everything to do with the operator having failed to modernize it's plant. If you see jointed rail on a regular railway, it's a sign that the owner of the track doesn't return enough value on the old track to realize the benefits of welding the rails together. You'll notice that the Amtrak Cascades line is mostly welded rail, and only makes that characteristic clickity-clack once you pass the junction at Willingdon, where the line ceases to be busy and becomes something more of an industrial spur that has a train station on it.

[Waders]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

The train looks like it took a real trashing but the damage, although costly, looks primarily cosmetic.

The repair is indeed costly. Repairs for SkyTrain car damaged from windstorm to cost up to $60,000.

[st7860]

When those mk2.5 came out , I remember they were said to have cost two to three million each . So 60k to repair doesn't sound like a lot .

Remember even a common 40 ft bus is about 500 thousand and a trolley bus is about a million

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by st7860

When those mk2.5 came out , I remember they were said to have cost two to three million each . So 60k to repair doesn't sound like a lot .

Remember even a common 40 ft bus is about 500 thousand and a trolley bus is about a million

It's also a super-rare thing to even have to fix one.

Collisions between automobiles and other LRV's are common on at-grade rail systems (like that which Surrey wants) and often cost half a million dollars to repair (and two to eight million dollars per person injured-but-not-killed.)

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Kisai

It's also a super-rare thing to even have to fix one.

Collisions between automobiles and other LRV's are common on at-grade rail systems (like that which Surrey wants) and often cost half a million dollars to repair (and two to eight million dollars per person injured-but-not-killed.)

And people keep touting the wonders of LRT.
Maybe it's been posted before, but take a look at Houston. Big, booming Houston. They chose LRT over grade-seperated..............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq6W45lG1Jg ....... (so fast, too)

Is this what people want for Surrey, too? (not to mention LRT-related deaths)

[Express691]

People are stupid and selfish. Its just taking the government a hard time to realize that in regards to the LRT Situation

Back to bus service discussion, the alerts page suggest the 214 is getting a reroute. It will use Highway 1 between Fern street and Phibbs Exchange instead of Mountain Highway.

I went to I love transit camp yesterday. It was a rather fun experience seeing behind the scenes of CMBC. Here's a few interesting facts mentioned.

-The engines in our 40 foot hybrids are "thrown away" at the end of their term, as it is the cheaper option.
-The specific transit center determines which seat fabric to use for replacements.
-CMBC was called "BusLink" during transition to Translink in 1999 for 9 months.
-CNG buses are towed to BTC to be repaired.
-In the case of a roach infestation, the bus has to be abandoned until it is deemed safe.
-Handydart zone 10 is Lions Bay
-"Bus Heaven" is located in Oakridge along 41 avenue just east of Oak street.
-The record for a BO or "Bad Order" line of broken buses is 65 (Vancouver Trolley Crisis)
-The seatwork and stop signage is done at the North Yard
-A bus' Transmission and engine are swapped/changed 3 times during the 17 year career of the bus
-They are replacing articulated buses at BTC (and presumably STC) with a new order of 21 New Flyer Hybrid A/C buses coming this fall.
-The bus unit numbers are prefixed with a letter, (V, B, P, R, S, N) to indicate which garage it is coming from.
-The warehouse for parts has $20 Million worth of parts ranging from Powertrains to fareboxes to nuts and bolts.
-I am one of the very few individuals who have memorized the entire CMBC Conventional fleet.