Re: Re: Melbourne Historic Fleet - thoughts
Bill Bolton
Thursday, November 29, 2001 10:36 PM
On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 05:57:27 -0800, Peter wrote:
MUNI is also a MUCH smaller system than Melbourne with far fewer lines
and special work, under the operational control of a single public
operator.
Perhaps on a restricted number of lines.
750V is a 25% over voltage for a car designed for 600V +-10%. Running
the traction motors in series-only may help with motor insulation
issues, but it wont help with line wiring, line breakers, compressor
motors, series lighting circuits etc... all of which would need to be
upgraded to *safely* handle a higher line voltage in public operation.
Its not impossible, but for most Australian cars would require
extensive rewiring, which in turn would imply a significant rebuild of
at least some of the bodywork etc... in other words not a trivial
task.
In the case of Melbourne, it may mean a selection of older cars
upgraded for continued "heritage/tourist" operation on 750V, perhaps
fitted with pans for the wider system but its unlikely that anyone
would have the time, money or motivation to upgrade all the preserved
electric trams (from the tramway trusts period forward) to that
specification for what would only be occasional operation.
Its seems to me that the long terms solution for the 600V trolley pole
cars is to build as separate "heritage/meuseum line" of a few
kilometers length in some location readily accessible by the main
Melbourne tram system, and put out tenders for the various trams
preservation organisations in Victoria (and perhaps elsewhere in
Australasia) to supply suitable cars to it.
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Bolton
Sydney, Australia
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San Francisco Municipal Railway does just that without difficulty. The
entire surface network outside the Church & Duboce and West Portal subway
portals is both pan and pole-compatible.
MUNI is also a MUCH smaller system than Melbourne with far fewer lines
and special work, under the operational control of a single public
operator.
So in this sense, a Melbourne vintage operation is definitely do-able.
Perhaps on a restricted number of lines.
Then here is how San Jose neatly solved the problem. Its vintage cars run
only on series, with the exception of Milan 2001, whose motors were rewired
for 750v.
750V is a 25% over voltage for a car designed for 600V +-10%. Running
the traction motors in series-only may help with motor insulation
issues, but it wont help with line wiring, line breakers, compressor
motors, series lighting circuits etc... all of which would need to be
upgraded to *safely* handle a higher line voltage in public operation.
Its not impossible, but for most Australian cars would require
extensive rewiring, which in turn would imply a significant rebuild of
at least some of the bodywork etc... in other words not a trivial
task.
In the case of Melbourne, it may mean a selection of older cars
upgraded for continued "heritage/tourist" operation on 750V, perhaps
fitted with pans for the wider system but its unlikely that anyone
would have the time, money or motivation to upgrade all the preserved
electric trams (from the tramway trusts period forward) to that
specification for what would only be occasional operation.
Its seems to me that the long terms solution for the 600V trolley pole
cars is to build as separate "heritage/meuseum line" of a few
kilometers length in some location readily accessible by the main
Melbourne tram system, and put out tenders for the various trams
preservation organisations in Victoria (and perhaps elsewhere in
Australasia) to supply suitable cars to it.
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Bolton
Sydney, Australia
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Universal Inkjet Refill Kit $29.95
Refill any ink cartridge for less!
Includes black and color ink.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/f00vhB/MkNDAA/ySSFAA/DiTxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/