A work requirement needed some photos of a project in which we are involved. We provided he pictures but the team requiring them had an issue with the images we had an wanted something new. When we couldn’t find any more, the easiest thing was to take some. I was heading in the right direction one day so stopped off to take some shots of the Sound Transit Link light rail system. I figured I would share a little of them here too for the rail fans amongst you.
A quick work trip to Boston meant I needed to take the “T” from my hotel to the offices where we were meeting. I took the Blue Line in to the city and then changed on to the oldest line the city apparently has, the Green Line. The vehicles I rode on were very old school in their design. What amazed me more was the tight curvatures of the track.
I lived in Chicago where the “L” has some really tight curves. However, it has nothing on this track. I watch the next car pivot out of sight as we weaved through an amazing turn. When I made my return journey, I changed at one station that also had a really tight curve. At first I thought it was a relic of old track but the rail looked like it was in use and there was a power line in place so I guess it is still needed. Quite something. It would never get built like that now but that is what systems over a century old sometimes come with!
I picked up the Oklahoma City streetcar from the stop across from my hotel. There are two routes in the city – one that runs around the downtown area and another shorter loop that goes from the convention center development area back to Bricktown. The car I got was on the Bricktown Loop and, since I wanted to do the full run, I hopped off at the next stop and waited for the next car.
I got on board along with a guy that had come to check it out despite his skepticism. He ended up meeting a few people he knew and seemed pretty impressed by the whole thing. The vehicles have a battery system on board which allows them to run for periods without overhead wires. This is particularly helpful where the line runs under the main railroad. The bridges there are too low to allow for overhead wires so the system involves periods on battery and periods on wire when the batteries can be recharged,
Lots of people were out making use of the free introductory period. Given that it was a Friday, this was a good indication. Hopefully the system will prove to be a success. It is part of a number of measures that the city is implementing to improve the live ability of the area. I wish them well.
I used to make regular trips to Oklahoma City for a streetcar project I was working on. I ended up having to pick up another project which meant I dropped the streetcar project when the vehicle contract had been approved and signed and my colleague took on the delivery phase. However, I promised I would be back for the grand opening. Mid December was the time when the system was opened up.
Fortunately, I was already within three hours of OKC for another project so I drove up for the celebrations. The project team had a dinner the night before which was a great chance to get back together with some old faces. The opening was on the following morning. We had an early photo session with project team members at 7:30 on a chilly Friday. The main opening ceremony started at 10:00. It was still pretty cold but plenty of people had shown up for the evening. Speeches from those involved and then it was time for the first rides.
I skipped the initial runs and instead went to have a look at the maintenance facility that had been constructed as part of the project. It was a nice job that had been put together by all involved. After checking it all out, I parted ways with my old colleagues. Before heading home, it was time to ride the full route. That will be another post.
The number of train routes in Tokyo is substantial and the lines run through many of the neighborhoods. Having been there for a long time, the towns have grown up around them. Roads cross them on back streets and there are footpaths that cross the tracks too. As I walked up to Shinjuku, I cross the tracks at one of these crossings.
Making the crossing was not a problem but you did need to pay attention. The track was double and the trains came every couple of minutes. When the alert sounded, a sign accompanied it with an arrow showing the direction the train was going. This was very helpful in ensuring you didn’t think the train had gone and you could start to cross only to find a train coming the other way. I actually had to wait for three trains as, by the time the second train had passed, a third was coming from the original direction. They really do come that often. Looking up to the station, I could see a train in the platform with another one slowing as it approached the station. Trains really are the dominant form of transportation in Tokyo from what I saw.
I know a few of the regulars here are interested in trains. I saw a lot of different trains and rode on a few while I was in Japan so here are a selection of them for those of you that are interested. Most of these were shot around Tokyo itself but I can’t tell you what sort of services most of them were used on. I only rode on a few to get to airports or districts in the city.
New locomotives are not the only new vehicles to have shown up in Seattle. Sound Transit runs the Sounder commuter rail service in the area and they have been taking delivery of new cab cars. These are built by Bombardier, as were the previous cab cars. However, this is a new design that incorporates crash energy management technology. As a result, they have done away with the passenger gangway on the front of the vehicle and provided a full width cab for the engineer. It provides a slightly more elegant front end to the vehicle than the previous design.
In the days running up to the introduction to service of the new WSDOT Siemens Charger locomotives, they were stored in the yard in Seattle awaiting the clearance to run. I was down there for another project and all of these shiny new locomotives were just asking to have their picture taken. How could I refuse? Sadly, one of these locos was involved in the accident a few weeks later.
The Sounder commuter rail service takes passengers from both north and south of Seattle in to the city. The service from the south end is a very popular one and is expanding. The northern service from Everett has not been as popular and is not growing in the same way. However, on both routes, special trains are run on days with big sporting events such as the Seahawks playing at home. There is normally no service on the weekends so this is an unusual sight.
I was after some Sounder shots for possible use in a future project so headed down to Shoreline where the trains run alongside the beach. The beach is accessed by a footbridge over the tracks. It has some good sightlines for shots but also fencing that is not so helpful. I tried out a location further down and close to the tracks and it was not a bad spot. Since two trains were heading to the game about 15 minutes apart, I did go back to the bridge to see how that looked too.
As the train was past me, I could continue to watch it as it ran along the shore a good portion of the way to the city. It did go around a headland but again popped into view as it got closer to the downtown area.
We were wandering around down by Lake Union checking out the sights of the city. When it was time to head back, the easiest thing for us to do was to grab the streetcar that runs back up to Westlake. This is a relatively new addition to the city and they are expanding their streetcar system at the same time as Sound Transit expands the light rail system.
It did remind me of a previous trip we had to Seattle quite a few years ago. At that time, there was a vintage streetcar that ran along the waterfront. We had stayed down there on that trip and the streetcar tracks ran right outside the hotel. During the course of some redevelopment activity, the barn where the cars were stored and maintained found itself in the way and it was demolished. The system went away and clearly has not returned.
The tracks are still along the right of way but obviously aren’t used anymore. I thought it was interesting to contrast the old style of a streetcar with the modern vehicle that is appearing in cities all across the US today. The return of streetcars are gaining momentum all across the country.