O-Train Line 2/4 [Stage 2 | Greenboro to Limebank/Airport] | In Service

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Catenary

the Trillium Line north of Greenboro had concrete ties added in 2017

I had completely forgotten about that.

[TheMatth69]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I'm not really sure where most of what you say is coming from. Concrete ties are commonly mixed with wood, the Trillium line had segments of both before it shut down. What you don't want to do is intersperse concrete ties with wood, as they do have different spacing and of course fastening systems, as well as different maintenance needs. You can easily switch back and forth though - the Trillium Line north of Greenboro had concrete ties added in 2017, then wood for the Walkley diamond, then back to concrete again until the north connecting track switch. The Confederation line used wood ties for all of its special work, as I'm sure the Trillium Line will too. There's no issues having areas of each adjacent to each other.

With that said, It would not surprise me to see large sections of track with concrete ties. They've removed the track from huge sections of the line already, and it would make some sense to replace them with concrete to reduce their long-term maintenance costs.

I'm not saying you can't mixed them, I'm saying it's not a favourable option considering that both technologies don't age the same , therefore you could end up with major differences in quality of rail alignment very fast, higher maintenance cost and that all for all it would be simplier just to change everything to concrete now and not in 15 years.

Also if we're going like the confederation line to lay what we call ''Continuous Welded Rail'' (CWR) then using two type of ties isn't an option. Because like you said different attachement, different life spans, difference in quality of alignment. And considering the major constrast in temperature in our lovely capital we experience major rail expension/contraction (we saw what happened with confederation this winter and summer) therefore uniformity is pretty useful ally.
Last thing, according to european standards Concrete ties last 40 to 55 years, when wood ties last between 20 and 25 years. Since our climate is rougher then theirs you can probably slash by 1/3 of that life span.

[Andyvc10]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Rail installation is beginning on the extension. I can't really tell where along the alignment this is, but it's a single-track section.
It looks like they're using concrete ties there.

Edit: It's somewhere between South Keys and Leitrim.

https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1322243967916875781

I wonder if the spur to the NRC test facility at Uplands will be maintained or reconnected if the rails were removed. Will they still be able to use rail to transport things to their facility, after the Trillium line is extended south?

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by Andyvc10

I wonder if the spur to the NRC test facility at Uplands will be maintained or reconnected if the rails were removed. Will they still be able to use rail to transport things to their facility, after the Trillium line is extended south?

Good Day.

AFAIK, yes. Capital Railway will still supply freight access from Walkley Yard to NRC.
The freight rail will run from WY south through Greenboro (single track), split to the east side through South Keys (since the west side is the Airport spur side),
single track to the next split to the west side, cross Lester at grade running beside the single track O-Train bridge overpass, and reconnect to NRC yard.
The O-Train track thereafter splits to twin track just south of NRC.
I believe service will be supplied during the maintenance hours when required, or on light service Sundays if more urgent to be during daylight.

FWIW, without recent plans updates. EnJoy!

[Andyvc10]

Originally Posted by PHrenetic

Good Day.

AFAIK, yes. Capital Railway will still supply freight access from Walkley Yard to NRC.
The freight rail will run from WY south through Greenboro (single track), split to the east side through South Keys (since the west side is the Airport spur side),
single track to the next split to the west side, cross Lester at grade running beside the single track O-Train bridge overpass, and reconnect to NRC yard.
The O-Train track thereafter splits to twin track just south of NRC.
I believe service will be supplied during the maintenance hours when required, or on light service Sundays if more urgent to be during daylight.

FWIW, without recent plans updates. EnJoy!

Thanks. That’s good to hear. It must still be a useful link for the NRC, from time to time at least.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by TheMatth69

Also if we're going like the confederation line to lay what we call ''Continuous Welded Rail'' (CWR) then using two type of ties isn't an option. Because like you said different attachement, different life spans, difference in quality of alignment. And considering the major constrast in temperature in our lovely capital we experience major rail expension/contraction (we saw what happened with confederation this winter and summer) therefore uniformity is pretty useful ally.

The Trillium Line has had CWR for the last 15 years, and as Catenary mentioned they've mixed concrete and wooden ties in the last few years.
But although it is all CWR, there are a number of places where the rail isn't continuous, like at switches, diamonds, the Rideau bridge, etc.

Last thing, according to european standards Concrete ties last 40 to 55 years, when wood ties last between 20 and 25 years. Since our climate is rougher then theirs you can probably slash by 1/3 of that life span.

Thankfully we don't salt our railways.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by roger1818

It makes me wonder if we should ever name anything after anyone in case sometime in the future it comes out that they did something bad.

There was a relatively recent high-profile naming of a thing after a person that is going to come back to bite the city hard at some point.

Almost every historical political figure who has something named after them, has something problematic about their history or record that could be used against them now. That's presentism, and I don't like it. We can correct and expand the historical record in other ways, for the most part.

[Harley613]

A lot of activity on site this afternoon. It's amazing how much work it is to sink a single concrete tube in the ground.

[IMG]_DSC8619 by harley613, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]_DSC8617 by harley613, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]_DSC8615 by harley613, on Flickr[/IMG]

[OCCheetos]

They were working on it really late into the night. Saw them out there still at 9pm

[OCCheetos]

From the construction update newsletter (about Bayview):

*Crews have mobilized for construction activities by preparing the laydown area. Survey stakes have been erected to mark the perimeter for the installation of fencing around the laydown area which is on the City’s land by Tom Brown Arena. The laydown area is required to facilitate and support construction activities and ensure the health and safety of TransitNEXT crew and the public.

*Grade work commenced during the week of October 5 and crane pad construction on the east side of the site began the week of October 13.

I think this explains a lot.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

From the construction update newsletter (about Bayview):



I think this explains a lot.

Did you get that by email? I registered several times and still only receive one or two per month.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Did you get that by email? I registered several times and still only receive one or two per month.

I did. Here's the link to the email: https://mailchi.mp/2ffa2690f4c1/o-train-...construction-update-1055943?e=16641e8b73

As usual, it's a couple of weeks behind the present.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

I did. Here's the link to the email: https://mailchi.mp/2ffa2690f4c1/o-train-...construction-update-1055943?e=16641e8b73

As usual, it's a couple of weeks behind the present.

Thanks. Quite frustrated I'm still not getting all of them.

[AuxTown]

This is the most exciting hole in town! Reminds me of some of the supertall threads where people post minute by minute updates speculating about construction. I guess this is our own "supertall"

[Multi-modal]

They are now working on a caisson very close to Sawmill Creek for the Via Rail, Transitway, and Sawmill Creek rail overpass:



Also lots of work going on around Mooney's Bay Station:

[LRTeverywhere]

Originally Posted by Multi-modal

They are now working on a caisson very close to Sawmill Creek for the Via Rail, Transitway, and Sawmill Creek rail overpass:

I'm sorry if I'm out of the loop this is the first I'm hearing of this overpass, I knew they would be going over the via line but I didn't realize they were building new bridges, are they double tracking this portion aswell?

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by LRTeverywhere

I'm sorry if I'm out of the loop this is the first I'm hearing of this overpass, I knew they would be going over the via line but I didn't realize they were building new bridges, are they double tracking this portion aswell?

This is the same overpass over the VIA line, but in order to gain the elevation needed to fly over the line it needs to start basically at the end of the Brookfield passing track, and therefore requiring the demolition of the old bridges over the creek and Transitway.

The flyover will be built for a single track.

[LRTeverywhere]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

This is the same overpass over the VIA line, but in order to gain the elevation needed to fly over the line it needs to start basically at the end of the Brookfield passing track, and therefore requiring the demolition of the old bridges over the creek and Transitway.

The flyover will be built for a single track.

Ah ok I see thank you, thats a much larger project than I thought it would be, I was under the impression that converting it to double track some time in the future wouldn't be too bad but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by LRTeverywhere

Ah ok I see thank you, thats a much larger project than I thought it would be, I was under the impression that converting it to double track some time in the future wouldn't be too bad but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The overpass is being built so that they can easily twin it if they ever decide to double track the line.

[J.OT13]

Quick question on the Stadler FLIRT for anyone who might know. I know it's an electric train with a diesel generator (the "Power Pack") and could one day run on catenaries. Would it be possible to run it as a dual mode? For example, if we moved Dow's Lake station under Carling and built the new Civic Hospital over the trench, could the FLIRT run electric in the Dow's Lake tunnel and under the Civic but remain diesel along the rest of the line? Similarly, back when the old N/S line was close to reality, Carleton mused at building a student centre on top of Carleton station. Could they do that with the FLIRTs running electric for a few hundred meters?