Bojaxs
Active Member
West Coast Express has the same bilevel coaches as GO transit, but I noticed they put tables between some of the seats.
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- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
Willybru21
Active Member
GO used to have tables in their coaches, as well as a bunch of other things that were added/removed over the years
lenaitch
Senior Member
Just curious why you think the Pearson guideway is "cheap"?
I was under the understanding that it had to be built to heavy rail standards because it it is connected to the the network. If true, that would rule out cheaper (lighter/smaller) guideways and tunnels for EMUs.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
The Pearson Spur/guideway is built quite well and can handle full-on locomotives on it.
RS3488
Active Member
From what I heard that isn't the case.
I've been told that the Pearson Spur is only capable of holding equipment slightly heavier than the UPX DMUs (like the TTC Subway cars). It doesn't seem capable of holding heavier equipment like full on locomotives or the BiLevel cars.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Whoever told you this is exaggerating. Maybe not MP40s, but lighter locomotives for sure. Bilevels absolutely could be accommodated by the Pearson Spur, no question about it.
Metroscapes
Active Member
With all due respect to all, I'd want to see / get a proper engineering assessment.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
Tables are definitely an important feature they should add to facilitate longer trips, but they need to be large and sturdy enough that they can comfortably support a laptop. If they switched to row seating they'd be able to have seatback traytables which provide that without taking up lots of space like the tables with quad seating.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
The signals for the Pearson spur deliberately prevent non-UPX trains from going onto it, presumably because it has a lower weight rating than would be required for a locomotive.
But if a DMU can run on it, an EMU could as well since they have the same axle weight.
crs1026
Superstar
The issue at Pearson is not weight, it's the GTAA's position that high-horsepower fuel-laden diesels have no business getting that close to an airport building.
I don't know if a light but powerful electric loco would raise similar concerns.
- Paul
I don't know if a light but powerful electric loco would raise similar concerns.
- Paul
AHK
Senior Member
From my perspective, the guideway's load bearing considerations would not be the major factor limiting other transit vehicle types, but the turning radius. Some background - when the Scarborough LRT opened in 1985, it incorporated a turn-around loop at the Kennedy end, allowing the LRT trains to travel in a continuous direction, without the operators having to switch between the two cab cars. The turn around loop was abandoned in short order, and replaced by a cross-over connection with the operator having to change ends of the LRT to make the journey to Scarborough. While designed and built to specification of the turn radius requirements for the LRT cars, in real life, operational, experience the tightness of the turn-around loop's curve ripped the guts out of the undercarriages. The vehicles were developed a major side-to-side wobble when they were moving.
Fast forward thirty odd years. While the Pearson guideway presumably would have been engineered and constructed in accordance with the turning radius requirements for the Nippon Sharyo DMU's - in real life operational experience, the curves are too tight and were causing major maintenance issues (aka by me as ripping out the guts) for the undercarriages. Anyone taking the UP Express in the past while would know first hand of the material speed reduction that has taken place in the guideway section - the trains now transit that section in little better than a waking pace.
Seeing the operator after arriving at Pearson, I asked what had happened, why the big slow-down. The answer was the damage being done to the undercarriages when travelling over the curved section at their original speeds.
So in terms of Yogi Berra's famous quote: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice - in practice there is" - in theory one can design a section of track to the minimum turn radius specification of the equipment to be used, in practice, turn radii designed to the minimum requirements of the equipment is just not going to work well in actual operation on a sustained basis.
So before discussing weight limitations of alternative equipment on the Pearson loop - to me the first consideration would be could any of the equipment being suggested as an alternative even work properly with the existing guideway curves?
lenaitch
Senior Member
As opposed to the high-horsepower, fuel-laden aircraft on the other side of the fence.
crs1026
Superstar
Willybru21
Active Member
RS3488
Active Member
Well if we're looking at the used market, there are actually the 10 EXO F59s (that coincidentally are ex GO), that would be up for retirement by 2024 due to them being displaced by the Charger locomotives.
Metrolink also has their own list of F59s that they are retiring and putting up for sale, so you never know.