Plzen naturally is an international tourist attraction, for a city dating
back about 1,000 years. Czech Republic also has a significant Vietnamese
community. The main impetus to cosmopolitanism, however, is a large
international student body, Plzen having campuses of a couple of Czech
universities that also teach in English. Many medical students from around
the world come to study for medical degrees in CZ, including at Plzen.
Another source of visitors and expat residents is the many international
manufacturing companies with factories in Plzen.
The tram fleet is now being steadily modernised and one line has been
extended. There is also an extensive trolleybus system.
https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramvajov%C3%A1_doprava_v_Plzni#Vozov%C3%BD_park
Tony P
On Sunday, 22 May 2022 at 14:30:33 UTC+10transit...@... wrote:
> Must be an International City. "T World " teas and coffees, next to
> Vietnamese coffee also advertising "Home made cake Bahn Mi and Hot Food,
> next to "SkipPie" for"Australske Masove Kapse" and then the "Happy Salon" -
> English and French!
>
> I remember the BKV panels in Budapest having plain concrete surfaces, no
> pretty imitation brickwork. But very noticeable joints.
>
> Perhaps the panels should rest on a levelled layer of sand which has been
> sprinkled with some binder on which the panels can be laid so as to produce
> a perfectly even and rigid surface suitable for heavy vehicles.
>
> Regards
>
> Dudley
> On 21/05/2022 6:46 pm, TP wrote:
>
> Skippie is still operating after ten years?
>
> http://skippie.cz/index.htm
>
> I see that Miroslav now has a dining pod out on the street, about a pie's
> width from passing trams. You can't get much closer than that:
>
>
> https://www.google.com.au/maps/@49.7466927,13.3743197,3a,75y,242.73h,86.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMdqbu1faDouhaNHVazWaXA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DMdqbu1faDouhaNHVazWaXA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D105.35062%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
>
> The BKV panels seem to have a stone paving imprint on them? I don't recall
> noticing that before, usually just smooth concrete. Specially done for the
> historic precinct I guess?
>
> I can see when I visit Fremantle's west end why it reminds me of Plzen.
>
> The street, Prešovská, is a popular location for tram photography. Here is
> a new Skoda 40T tram passing the pie shop heading east on line 1:
>
> https://i1.wp.com/www.cysnews-new.cz/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/tram-pl.jpg
>
> The 40T is a 30 metre tram of the same configuration as the Melbourne E
> class. 22 are being purchased for PMDP Plzen. Plzen (population 170,000) is
> disposing of its smaller trams in favour of 30 metre trams to meet demand -
> at the same time as some other city (population 5 million) is downsizing to
> 24 metre trams (to meet demand?). Funny old world, the world of trams.
>
> Tony P
>
> On Saturday, 21 May 2022 at 12:12:19 UTC+10eme...@... wrote:
>
>> The BKV panels are a good idea, wrongly used. They are extremely cheap
>> and quick to install. Excellent for temporary track relocations such as
>> round the Anzac Station under construction. Similarly, for very light
>> traffic where other methods would make trams uneconomic. However, when
>> their use was extended to busy lines, a life of ten years seemed to be the
>> maximum...but cheap. Then, of course, it was cheaper to just let them get
>> worse and worse by slowing the service down. Various operators in Czech
>> Republic are persevering with them in low usage lines, but with sturdier
>> bases.
>>
>> I'm interested to see how these are standing up. One such section is
>> outside the Skippy Australian Pie Shop in Plzeň. So, on my next visit I
>> shall observe while munching a pie.
>>
>> Mark Skinner
>>
>> On Sat, 21 May 2022, 9:11 am Matthew Geier, mat...@...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> If we are talking asphalt roads , probably won't matter how well you
>>> pack that thin layer of fill, it will tend to 'flow' under load. The
>>> tram rails probably act to constrain where the road vehicle's wheels go
>>> - they have issues like this on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the Cahill
>>> lanes (ex railway/tramway) as they are quite narrow and have a high
>>> amount of bus traffic. With the buses constrained to run in the 'same'
>>> path due to the narrow lanes the asphalt ruts quite rapidly.
>>>
>>> I've also seen this elsewhere where the lanes are narrow and constrained
>>> - and particularly on those guided rubber tired tram things. They rather
>>> rapidly rut their guideway unless it's concrete, and the first Translohr
>>> has noticeable wear on its concrete sections!. I think the Paris
>>> Translohr lines are all concrete on the running surface.
>>>
>>> Those pre-fab track panels they used in Eastern Europe have proven to be
>>> problematic over time - unless the bed those panels are placed on is
>>> very well compacted (and often wasn't) the panels tend to rock with the
>>> road traffic and eventually break the rails.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 20/5/22 21:47, Dudley Horscroft wrote:
>>> > Perhaps it might be better in these high traffic areas to ensure that
>>> > the concrete to top of sleeper height is completely level, then insert
>>> > between the rails long concrete panels linked by some sort of mastic -
>>> > tar or rubber? Similar to the panels used in Budapest but without the
>>> > fixings for the rails, or the panels used in somewhere in the Czech
>>> > republic - Tony knows where and can probably find the advertising
>>> > material on these.
>>> >
>>> > Regards
>>> >
>>> > Dudley
>>> >
>>> > On 20/05/2022 9:36 pm, David Batho wrote:
>>> >> Thank you, all, for some recondite observations.
>>> >>
>>> >> David
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>> On 11 May 2022, at 11:14 am, Mal Rowe mal....@...> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> On 08/05/2022 13:10, Mal Rowe wrote:
>>> >>>> The strength and finished surface are starting to show some
>>> problems.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>> As promised, I went out to get some pics of some problems with some
>>> >>> of Melbourne's tramways renewed using the current technique.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> The technique involves concrete to sleeper height, then crushed
>>> >>> rock/concrete fill to just below rail height and topping off with
>>> >>> bitumen.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> It mostly works well, but there are at least a couple of places
>>> >>> where problems with the road surface have emerged.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> The two attached pics show Bridge Rd Richmond where there is very
>>> >>> heavy road traffic. The use of "Vienna stops" in this location
>>> >>> concentrates the motor traffic on the tramway section of the road.
>>> >>> Most motorists avoid going up and over the kerbside lane. It looks
>>> >>> like the crushed rock has not been stable enough and the bitumen
>>> >>> surface is breaking up. The tramway is fine - just the road surface
>>> >>> is failing.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> The other location I have noticed problems is in Dawson St
>>> >>> Brunswick. The section of roadway outside the tram rails is quite
>>> >>> uneven - driving along it in a car one notices 'long period
>>> >>> corrugations' that give a bumpy ride.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Getting the crushed fill to pack down is tricky - the small roller
>>> >>> that is used (see: https://tdu.to/i/80550 ) is probably not able to
>>> >>> do the job properly.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Mal Rowe - grateful to Warren Doubleday for the 'heads up' on Bridge
>>> >>> Rd.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> --
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>>> >>>
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>>> .
>>> >>> <2096_BridgeRd_10May2022.JPG><Damage-BridgeRd_10May2022.JPG>
>>> >
>>>
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>>>
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