Rail safety is a wonderful thing.
I really wish I had photos for this... Might haveta borrow one for next time.
So, I'm playing with my Lego train set, which has taken over the loungeroom (as you do). My cat strolls along and watches as I clean up the remaining lego into a box, and watches the train go around for a bit. Then she gets bored, and decides to follow her other human slave (the provider of foods). She's about to walk in front of the train... and sees it coming... She stops, waits for it to pass, then continues.
Several humans have just been pwned by a cat.
If you can't work that simple equation out people, you will come out worse for wear. I've seen several cars that have been impacted/smacked down/written off by a tram, and trains don't really leave survivors.
And if you're wondering, yea, my cat worked out not to argue with the train when she tried to, and lost. But she only needed to try that once to learn... =P
Maybe I should just get my cat to design level crossings =D
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Driving in an Autumn day's rain.
Oright, so today a mate & myself went to fix the blown fuse on Z.74, which we blew by trying to draw too much power on the party tram. Of course, with the tram being at the gasworks yard, we had to try and be as autonomous as possible for the repair job.
We dug out the 12V circuit (which appears to be a Bendigo-addition to the tram) almost all the way to the 24V-12V converter before we found the fuse. The 1st fuse was fine. The main 12V fuse was fine too. But no volts were getting through...
After a bit of testing, we discovered the problem: it wasn't the fuse. It was the freaking fuse holder!
Basically, we melted it a bit, and covered the fuse contact, insulating it.
We did a quick Jaycar trip, but they were closed, as was expected, so no replacement fuse holder. So we ended up taking the Z to the main depot for a bit of re-wiring, and for a replacement circuit breaker instead. And we failed the 'spaceship test'; we did not have a soldering iron, or power for said iron, or breaker, etc. We did not pass the full autonomy test, which in the situation of a spacecraft, equals completely screwed, or dead. So fail.
Got track permission, then headed out of the gasworks. I was warned the tram slips in the wet (Autumn day with lots of leaves on the track plus sporadic rain), and even with that warning, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That Z car slipped all over the place something horrid! The speedometer was more or less useless, and bouncing up and down if I touched the pedals - walking pace is about 5kph, not 20... and on top of this, trying to keep safe, mobile, and non-hazardous to traffic. But I managed somehow.
It was very scary how easily 20tons of aweseome can be out of your control if you misstep.
The sand helped, but the auto-skid detection was not reliable, so I was on the sand button a lot. Very much a lesson on how to take things dead easy.
Got to the depot, ran straight in with the panto up (Gotta love that...), and pulled up next to a hanging 240V socket for the soldering iron. Rigged in a new breaker, soldered up the connectors good, heatshrinked the lot, then it was time to go - half an hour before power-down time. We took off, I went around the depot curves at about 5kph (which felt fast, given the braking conditions), and off we went. The brakes kept making the wheels slide, which was not helpful at the triangle junction (mandatory stop), and very slowly got moving onto the main road. I ended up using rolling resistance for braking where possible, so as to leave the braking alone with a tap at slow, and got it back to the gasworks nice and safe. Definitely the most interesting driving lesson I've had to date!
Interestingly enough, driving up Thunder St. hill was the easy part of the drive... on massive amounts of sand.
Oh, and when we handed in the tram keys afterwards, the service driver mentioned the W class in service was just as bad, skidding out in 1st notch, and picking up speed on braking...
Definitely a learning experience.
We dug out the 12V circuit (which appears to be a Bendigo-addition to the tram) almost all the way to the 24V-12V converter before we found the fuse. The 1st fuse was fine. The main 12V fuse was fine too. But no volts were getting through...
After a bit of testing, we discovered the problem: it wasn't the fuse. It was the freaking fuse holder!
Basically, we melted it a bit, and covered the fuse contact, insulating it.
We did a quick Jaycar trip, but they were closed, as was expected, so no replacement fuse holder. So we ended up taking the Z to the main depot for a bit of re-wiring, and for a replacement circuit breaker instead. And we failed the 'spaceship test'; we did not have a soldering iron, or power for said iron, or breaker, etc. We did not pass the full autonomy test, which in the situation of a spacecraft, equals completely screwed, or dead. So fail.
Got track permission, then headed out of the gasworks. I was warned the tram slips in the wet (Autumn day with lots of leaves on the track plus sporadic rain), and even with that warning, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That Z car slipped all over the place something horrid! The speedometer was more or less useless, and bouncing up and down if I touched the pedals - walking pace is about 5kph, not 20... and on top of this, trying to keep safe, mobile, and non-hazardous to traffic. But I managed somehow.
It was very scary how easily 20tons of aweseome can be out of your control if you misstep.
The sand helped, but the auto-skid detection was not reliable, so I was on the sand button a lot. Very much a lesson on how to take things dead easy.
Got to the depot, ran straight in with the panto up (Gotta love that...), and pulled up next to a hanging 240V socket for the soldering iron. Rigged in a new breaker, soldered up the connectors good, heatshrinked the lot, then it was time to go - half an hour before power-down time. We took off, I went around the depot curves at about 5kph (which felt fast, given the braking conditions), and off we went. The brakes kept making the wheels slide, which was not helpful at the triangle junction (mandatory stop), and very slowly got moving onto the main road. I ended up using rolling resistance for braking where possible, so as to leave the braking alone with a tap at slow, and got it back to the gasworks nice and safe. Definitely the most interesting driving lesson I've had to date!
Interestingly enough, driving up Thunder St. hill was the easy part of the drive... on massive amounts of sand.
Oh, and when we handed in the tram keys afterwards, the service driver mentioned the W class in service was just as bad, skidding out in 1st notch, and picking up speed on braking...
Definitely a learning experience.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Panto upgrade.
As of Thursday 17th April, 2008, we have a fully pantograph compatible tram network, with depot access.
FKN W00T!
No more worrying about breaking a very expensive piece of tramway equipment (that also doubled as an electrical hazard), no more spearing in & out of the shed with a wheely-pole, just pop the panto up & go. I love it =D
Incidentally, this makes me one of the last drivers to have speared a panto tram for depot operations (the scrubber driver/s would most certainly be the last), and I got to help 'test' the shed arrangement with a bit of shunting (to get a visual on panto clearance/geek pron). Bloody powered over the insulator on road 1, heard the thrown arc, but didn't feel the acceleration jerk that a pole tram does. Makes a difference, saves wear on the insulator too, as the panto pan isn't insulated for as long a distance as a trolley pole is, the arc isn't drawn as far or as long.
Apparently made for good viewing, everyone got a good laugh, so that was alright then =)
Next day (being beer o'clock), dropped in after work to say boo and shoot the shit (so to speak), and there was a bit of drama. The double-bladed spring loaded points on Bridge St had broken, the linkage between the 2 blades had snapped, which meant that one blade was completely unsprung... And the poor driver had gone over it with 2 conflicting blade directions. Stayed on the track, but technically a derailment. So at the end of a Friday, no less, they had to find a few tramways guys to do some very urgent welding, and they had to be completely sober (rail safety). On a friday night. Nice timing!
Fortunately, it got fixed, and I learned a few things about how the points mech works. Or doesn't. Hmm, prolly both.
Anyway, this one is for you, Myrtone, you impudent nit. You're not always right, it's not always a matter of cost, and yes, double-bladed points can be a complete pain. So STFU about bladed frog points - or come up with a fail-proof design that will allow reverse running.
FKN W00T!
No more worrying about breaking a very expensive piece of tramway equipment (that also doubled as an electrical hazard), no more spearing in & out of the shed with a wheely-pole, just pop the panto up & go. I love it =D
Incidentally, this makes me one of the last drivers to have speared a panto tram for depot operations (the scrubber driver/s would most certainly be the last), and I got to help 'test' the shed arrangement with a bit of shunting (to get a visual on panto clearance/geek pron). Bloody powered over the insulator on road 1, heard the thrown arc, but didn't feel the acceleration jerk that a pole tram does. Makes a difference, saves wear on the insulator too, as the panto pan isn't insulated for as long a distance as a trolley pole is, the arc isn't drawn as far or as long.
Apparently made for good viewing, everyone got a good laugh, so that was alright then =)
Next day (being beer o'clock), dropped in after work to say boo and shoot the shit (so to speak), and there was a bit of drama. The double-bladed spring loaded points on Bridge St had broken, the linkage between the 2 blades had snapped, which meant that one blade was completely unsprung... And the poor driver had gone over it with 2 conflicting blade directions. Stayed on the track, but technically a derailment. So at the end of a Friday, no less, they had to find a few tramways guys to do some very urgent welding, and they had to be completely sober (rail safety). On a friday night. Nice timing!
Fortunately, it got fixed, and I learned a few things about how the points mech works. Or doesn't. Hmm, prolly both.
Anyway, this one is for you, Myrtone, you impudent nit. You're not always right, it's not always a matter of cost, and yes, double-bladed points can be a complete pain. So STFU about bladed frog points - or come up with a fail-proof design that will allow reverse running.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Party tram
The party tram was about a month ago now, can't believe I forgot to write about it.
Went pretty smoothly once we got started; before that it was chaos! Set-up the auxilary equipment, such as stereo, compy to run sound, etc, had it going pretty well... then it died. Turned out the 12V cigarette socket had a lower fuse than we were pulling, so that went. So we grabbed a spare socket, hooked a 25A breaker to it (a 300W inverter would pull 25A), and then had to make the wiring to hook it all together.
By that stage, I was stressing, as I was supposed to pick everyone up at 5, everyone at the tram stop ended up catching an incoming tram, then we headed out. Again. Got to Pall Mall... and the road was blocked. The tram line was only HALF blocked, they had a bike race on in town (thanks for the notice guys...) and the witches' hats were on the running rail, not the edge of the lane. So we made them move the hats so we could get through. Picked up the last of the peoples at the fountain about an hour late (they were going to be that late anyway, but grr...)
Cruised around for a bit, got some food, cruised some more, then handed the reigns over to my boss, who was kind enough to participate in the madness that is a LANaway-crowd event. By the end of the night, I was drunk, as was half the tram, our resident ninja had performed some pole dancing on the tram's handrails, and posed with the statues on the fountain in town.
And he was sober.
All in all, an aweseome night. Must do it again sometime! As soon as we find that fkn fuse we blew...
Went pretty smoothly once we got started; before that it was chaos! Set-up the auxilary equipment, such as stereo, compy to run sound, etc, had it going pretty well... then it died. Turned out the 12V cigarette socket had a lower fuse than we were pulling, so that went. So we grabbed a spare socket, hooked a 25A breaker to it (a 300W inverter would pull 25A), and then had to make the wiring to hook it all together.
By that stage, I was stressing, as I was supposed to pick everyone up at 5, everyone at the tram stop ended up catching an incoming tram, then we headed out. Again. Got to Pall Mall... and the road was blocked. The tram line was only HALF blocked, they had a bike race on in town (thanks for the notice guys...) and the witches' hats were on the running rail, not the edge of the lane. So we made them move the hats so we could get through. Picked up the last of the peoples at the fountain about an hour late (they were going to be that late anyway, but grr...)
Cruised around for a bit, got some food, cruised some more, then handed the reigns over to my boss, who was kind enough to participate in the madness that is a LANaway-crowd event. By the end of the night, I was drunk, as was half the tram, our resident ninja had performed some pole dancing on the tram's handrails, and posed with the statues on the fountain in town.
And he was sober.
All in all, an aweseome night. Must do it again sometime! As soon as we find that fkn fuse we blew...
Trammin' off (the wire...)
" That's great, it starts with an earthquake,
birds and snakes, an aeroplane,
Lenny Bruce is not afraid..."
-REM, it's the end of the world (as we know it)
Ok, so today I had a charter tram, with a mate for his dad's 50th. Was heaps of fun, I got to laugh at idiots on the road, and hang out with some people I like, and I got to go for a spin of 369, the Adelaide H-car. Went without a hitch, didn't stack the panto into the shed (that's suck so fucking hard), got cleaned up, and then went to shunt 35 into the shed after everyone bar my mate had gone.
And I fucking forgot to change the pole to turn around.
So I speared on a carbon skid into the depot yard. FKN NICE WORK!
Well, it was pretty decent really, lost the tram lights, made a fuckload of noise, broke the retriever rope, but not the span wires fortunately, and in my panic killed the substation, which the restaurant tram needed to run. Ouchies!
But it wasn't quite the end of the world. Got the power back on in a few minutes; got the trolley pole down, and managed to untangle the loose rope from the overhead; and nothing was destroyed, apart from a snapped rope.
However, I don't think trams are ready to run wireless somehow.
Note to self: when it's dark out, make FUCKING SURE you really have turned the poles, double check. Maybe even triple check.
Oh well. Another oops! Hopefully I won't cop too much shit for it...
-------------------------------------
Well, the charter for my mate's dad went well, and had lots of fun. Oh, and Squiddy, I told you that I look awesome in that uniform!
birds and snakes, an aeroplane,
Lenny Bruce is not afraid..."
-REM, it's the end of the world (as we know it)
Ok, so today I had a charter tram, with a mate for his dad's 50th. Was heaps of fun, I got to laugh at idiots on the road, and hang out with some people I like, and I got to go for a spin of 369, the Adelaide H-car. Went without a hitch, didn't stack the panto into the shed (that's suck so fucking hard), got cleaned up, and then went to shunt 35 into the shed after everyone bar my mate had gone.
And I fucking forgot to change the pole to turn around.
So I speared on a carbon skid into the depot yard. FKN NICE WORK!
Well, it was pretty decent really, lost the tram lights, made a fuckload of noise, broke the retriever rope, but not the span wires fortunately, and in my panic killed the substation, which the restaurant tram needed to run. Ouchies!
But it wasn't quite the end of the world. Got the power back on in a few minutes; got the trolley pole down, and managed to untangle the loose rope from the overhead; and nothing was destroyed, apart from a snapped rope.
However, I don't think trams are ready to run wireless somehow.
Note to self: when it's dark out, make FUCKING SURE you really have turned the poles, double check. Maybe even triple check.
Oh well. Another oops! Hopefully I won't cop too much shit for it...
-------------------------------------
Well, the charter for my mate's dad went well, and had lots of fun. Oh, and Squiddy, I told you that I look awesome in that uniform!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Trammin' on.
Ok, so Easter weekend is coming up. Equals fkn MAYHEM! But I'm out on the road conducting, we have a timetable that works, and works well, and I run a tight timetable. So it will be good.
I've been in the workshop of late, and been busy with that, and having a 'hiatus' from service duties. Finally found out the full story behind that, and while I needed a bit of time in workshop, when I found out that I'd been grounded for (almost) purely political reasons, makes me RAGE! Granted, there were a few things that needed addressing, but my public presentation was not one of them.
So, a certain person who shall not be named, who is not involved directly with the tramways yet has power to say what's what, I'm onto you and your games, and what you did was completely unjustified, immoral, it may well be illegal, and you can go crawl in a hole and die.
I could go on, but I think this image says it all:
So I will spend my time doing what I love, and fuck you and your control-bullshit games.
TRAMS!
Anyway, so Easter will be mad, and I'm gonna love it, because this is what I love doing, I'm playing with other projects as well, such as homebuilt marker lights for 610 (final adjustments at the moment), and trying to help gear up for Easter.
----------------------------------------------------------
I got to conduct today for the first time in a long while, partly because it's been quiet season, and partly because of bullshit. Drove the display tram out in the morning, and the OIC (Officer in charge) asked if I'd be around all day, the short answer being most of it, then disappeared with my tram. When I got back, I asked why she wanted to know that, and she "Because I need a conductor." By that stage, my brain had shut off from a late evening, and after 5 seconds, all I said in response was "I need coffee." That's me making a slow decision.
15 minutes later, I'm in dress uniform, looking like another person completely, and had a coffee/Milo, and bright awake again. Had a great day, and chatted to the OIC about a regular rostered shift, seeing as we at the tramways now know who's been playing games and bullshitting about me. This is how I win in a game like this - like the "Global Thermonuclear War" game, the only way to win the game is not to play at all. I'm not playing the game - I'm jumping on a tram, checking tickets, and driving occasionally. So there!
I've been in the workshop of late, and been busy with that, and having a 'hiatus' from service duties. Finally found out the full story behind that, and while I needed a bit of time in workshop, when I found out that I'd been grounded for (almost) purely political reasons, makes me RAGE! Granted, there were a few things that needed addressing, but my public presentation was not one of them.
So, a certain person who shall not be named, who is not involved directly with the tramways yet has power to say what's what, I'm onto you and your games, and what you did was completely unjustified, immoral, it may well be illegal, and you can go crawl in a hole and die.
I could go on, but I think this image says it all:
So I will spend my time doing what I love, and fuck you and your control-bullshit games.
TRAMS!
Anyway, so Easter will be mad, and I'm gonna love it, because this is what I love doing, I'm playing with other projects as well, such as homebuilt marker lights for 610 (final adjustments at the moment), and trying to help gear up for Easter.
----------------------------------------------------------
I got to conduct today for the first time in a long while, partly because it's been quiet season, and partly because of bullshit. Drove the display tram out in the morning, and the OIC (Officer in charge) asked if I'd be around all day, the short answer being most of it, then disappeared with my tram. When I got back, I asked why she wanted to know that, and she "Because I need a conductor." By that stage, my brain had shut off from a late evening, and after 5 seconds, all I said in response was "I need coffee." That's me making a slow decision.
15 minutes later, I'm in dress uniform, looking like another person completely, and had a coffee/Milo, and bright awake again. Had a great day, and chatted to the OIC about a regular rostered shift, seeing as we at the tramways now know who's been playing games and bullshitting about me. This is how I win in a game like this - like the "Global Thermonuclear War" game, the only way to win the game is not to play at all. I'm not playing the game - I'm jumping on a tram, checking tickets, and driving occasionally. So there!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
...And then there was the rest of the week.
Oh far out, I can't even remember half the shit I've done this week.
I've been working on Y1 class 610 (1 of only 4 ever built), working on the low voltage electrical gear, which means headlights, taillights, indicators, door control (which is partially an air circuit too), then there will also be the sound system, and fucked if I can remember the rest. So not the smallest job. That's been making progress, and I've been driving the display tram for half the week.
I keep a log book of what service duties I've been up to, and only today I realised I've forgotten to fill it in this week (and last) - and I only remember half of it! That's just service duties too...
Thu/Fri, came into workshop in the arvo to muck with 610 some more, slung some more wiring through, managed a powered test, most of the 2nd console is working, no indicators yet (gotta troubleshoot it - or just shoot it =P ), and wire in the 1st console.
Then there's today (Sunday), which whilst not technically service, was me driving a tram, more specifically the Z class. FKN AWESOME!
Drove that for about 4, 4.5 hours, managed to do 4 trips around the circuit. After I said I wouldn't be able to rack up the trip numbers. It had 8 trips left on it before it *has* to go in for maintainence, now it doesn't. Kept forgetting stupid little things, like pop the side mirror in when switching ends, and then remembering it, and at one point could not for the life of me get the brakes to disengage. Did all my troubleshhoting, reset the system, nothing worked... until I realised the rear door was open.
D'OH!
Oh well, we had a good laugh.
Oh, and thanks to Squiddy, who made the day a lot of fun just by being there, and word to my ninja for making a mystery appearance. You know who you are - hell you've probably read it before it's even typed out, because you're a ninja. =P
So, with today's hours not actually written in my hours, I've done about 35-odd hours this week.
FARK!
Loved it though.
Anyway, me & the boys will be taking the Z out in a few weeks (hopefully) to offically celebrate me getting my full tram licence =D
Huzzah!
I've been working on Y1 class 610 (1 of only 4 ever built), working on the low voltage electrical gear, which means headlights, taillights, indicators, door control (which is partially an air circuit too), then there will also be the sound system, and fucked if I can remember the rest. So not the smallest job. That's been making progress, and I've been driving the display tram for half the week.
I keep a log book of what service duties I've been up to, and only today I realised I've forgotten to fill it in this week (and last) - and I only remember half of it! That's just service duties too...
Thu/Fri, came into workshop in the arvo to muck with 610 some more, slung some more wiring through, managed a powered test, most of the 2nd console is working, no indicators yet (gotta troubleshoot it - or just shoot it =P ), and wire in the 1st console.
Then there's today (Sunday), which whilst not technically service, was me driving a tram, more specifically the Z class. FKN AWESOME!
Drove that for about 4, 4.5 hours, managed to do 4 trips around the circuit. After I said I wouldn't be able to rack up the trip numbers. It had 8 trips left on it before it *has* to go in for maintainence, now it doesn't. Kept forgetting stupid little things, like pop the side mirror in when switching ends, and then remembering it, and at one point could not for the life of me get the brakes to disengage. Did all my troubleshhoting, reset the system, nothing worked... until I realised the rear door was open.
D'OH!
Oh well, we had a good laugh.
Oh, and thanks to Squiddy, who made the day a lot of fun just by being there, and word to my ninja for making a mystery appearance. You know who you are - hell you've probably read it before it's even typed out, because you're a ninja. =P
So, with today's hours not actually written in my hours, I've done about 35-odd hours this week.
FARK!
Loved it though.
Anyway, me & the boys will be taking the Z out in a few weeks (hopefully) to offically celebrate me getting my full tram licence =D
Huzzah!
Busy day
Monday was another step forward - first day rostered on as a driver in traffic - I had the display car. Most days a tram gets taken down to the gold mine to sit there and look pretty for most of the day. And now the duty to deliver and retrieve that tram is mine, 3 days a week.
Monday had tram 34 down for display tram, and I am reasonably sure that it was 34's first day out since it got the pantograph conversion. So I had the honour of it's first trip since the test run =)
It's certainly a bit different with the panto, obviously it's still the same tram, same handling characteristics, but I had to keep remembering to cut off earlier than usual for the section insulators. Plus, the tram has to sit out in the yard, partly because they're shit-scared that someone's going to flip the panto on the depot door. Until now, all the panto-equipped trams have had seperate accreditations attached to them, and now a 'normal' tram has one too...
So that was about two-half hours of my day.
The rest of the day was spent in the workshop, throwing wiring around under the pits of tram 610, which is my priority project (and now has a deadline =S ), and so myself and a new co-worker got grease all over us & the wiring hooking things up. But by the end of the day, we had a majority of round one wiring done, and on wed. I got to test it - and most of it worked!
So, that was Monday. Driving, getting filthy in the pits (you haven't really worked until you're disgusting after all =P ), getting clean again, and taking a tram home.
I loves my work =D
(yes, this was supposed to be posted on Monday, but I was too busy playing trams =P )
Monday had tram 34 down for display tram, and I am reasonably sure that it was 34's first day out since it got the pantograph conversion. So I had the honour of it's first trip since the test run =)
It's certainly a bit different with the panto, obviously it's still the same tram, same handling characteristics, but I had to keep remembering to cut off earlier than usual for the section insulators. Plus, the tram has to sit out in the yard, partly because they're shit-scared that someone's going to flip the panto on the depot door. Until now, all the panto-equipped trams have had seperate accreditations attached to them, and now a 'normal' tram has one too...
So that was about two-half hours of my day.
The rest of the day was spent in the workshop, throwing wiring around under the pits of tram 610, which is my priority project (and now has a deadline =S ), and so myself and a new co-worker got grease all over us & the wiring hooking things up. But by the end of the day, we had a majority of round one wiring done, and on wed. I got to test it - and most of it worked!
So, that was Monday. Driving, getting filthy in the pits (you haven't really worked until you're disgusting after all =P ), getting clean again, and taking a tram home.
I loves my work =D
(yes, this was supposed to be posted on Monday, but I was too busy playing trams =P )
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Sparks are pretty...
We had some work going on at the depot today - moving towards pantograph compatible overhead wiring in the shed. While the Bendigo tram network is panto compatible, the depot shed is not, which means all panto-fitted trams need to have a trolley pole attached as well. Roads 1-3 at the depot are also panto compatible - apart from the bloody doorframe! argh!
As we are fitting one of our regular service trams (number 34) with a panto, it's basically time to get the shed doorways fixed. While this has been in the works for a while, we're nearly there, so road 4 was fixed up for panto running. The overhead wiring was lowered so that the carbon pickup pans won't interfere with the structure above... except for the 2 or so metres around the door. That will come a bit later.
I was conducting today, so I got to see the work at its various stages, and on one particular trip, the power was shut down so as to get the depot overhead reactivated. We got back to the depot about 15 mins later, and got to watch the scrubber tram running up and down the new work, sparking like... a... bad analogy. Fireworks. There.
Actually, it looked like a welder. Probably as bright too, I had to look away a few times.
It reminded me of my model trams throwing sparks when the wire's shitty and dirty - which is exactly what was making the wire spark (go figure). The burn marks were even visible on the panto for the scrubber tram, which I thought was funny.
Coming soon (hopefully) : fitting the overhead wire through the doors for panto running, before someone forgets to pop the panto down and breaks something very expensive. Seen another driver get way too close to doing it, know others that are petrified of doing it, and come too close to it myself!
Here's a pic of what you don't want your tram to look like:
Broken'd.
Credits to VicSig for the original image.
As we are fitting one of our regular service trams (number 34) with a panto, it's basically time to get the shed doorways fixed. While this has been in the works for a while, we're nearly there, so road 4 was fixed up for panto running. The overhead wiring was lowered so that the carbon pickup pans won't interfere with the structure above... except for the 2 or so metres around the door. That will come a bit later.
I was conducting today, so I got to see the work at its various stages, and on one particular trip, the power was shut down so as to get the depot overhead reactivated. We got back to the depot about 15 mins later, and got to watch the scrubber tram running up and down the new work, sparking like... a... bad analogy. Fireworks. There.
Actually, it looked like a welder. Probably as bright too, I had to look away a few times.
It reminded me of my model trams throwing sparks when the wire's shitty and dirty - which is exactly what was making the wire spark (go figure). The burn marks were even visible on the panto for the scrubber tram, which I thought was funny.
Coming soon (hopefully) : fitting the overhead wire through the doors for panto running, before someone forgets to pop the panto down and breaks something very expensive. Seen another driver get way too close to doing it, know others that are petrified of doing it, and come too close to it myself!
Here's a pic of what you don't want your tram to look like:
Broken'd.
Credits to VicSig for the original image.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Driving is awesome
Today, I got to drive the Z-class tram.
We do actually have some modern(ish) trams in Bendigo, they just don't get used much. We have a couple of Z1-class, which are basically held for preservation. With Melbourne looking to get rid of the remaining Z's when fleet capabilities permit, we were fortunate enough to get a few.
When I lived in Melbourne, there was a large variety of different trams. W's were prominent on the St. Kilda road lines, Z's were prominent on St. Kilda Rd & Elizabeth St., A-class were on Flinders & Collins St., and the B's were on the heavy-use lines, first the former Port Melbourne & St. Kilda raillines, which were converted from suburban railway to lightrail in the late 80's, and later, the Bundoora & East Burwood lines.
The B's were (and are) my favourite of them all. They first came into service when I was fairly young, which always leaves an impression. They were quite modern for their time as well, featuring dot-matrix destination screens, air conditioning, and of course the articulated vehicle design. And the motor system made the most interesting buzzing noise when initially accelerating. The motor noise sounded quite clean and modern too.
Until I moved up to Bendigo, I'd always seen the W's as 'the classic tram', which to be honest, is exactly what it is for Melbourne; The B's as completely awesome, the A's as a little B (true from a technical point of view, but the styling is very similar too), and the Z's... I just always saw them as 'there'. Funny what you learn to appreciate when it disappears.
So, the Z's we have (Z1.11 & Z1.74) are in their Met livery, the green & yellow, which I think looks the nicest. The original colour scheme looked horrid (brown & orange, very 70's, which is fair enough when you consider that's when they were built), and the Yarra Trams livery leaves a lot to be desired. The original conductors desk is long gone (took up way too much space and caused loading bottlenecks), and the original flip-blinds for the destination display is also long gone, replaced with a dot-matrix display. it's a very comfy ride, for both passengers and driver, and it really is a pity we don't use it more often.
We went to the Gasworks to pick up the Z in the morning (we have no spare space at the main depot, so spare/long term store trams goto the gasworks depot), did all the powerup tests, and headed out.
Even that is an event really - because road visibility coming out of gasworks is literally zero. If a car is heading along Weeroona ave., they are not going to stop for you (assuming they can even see you, which I doubt), so you really need a 2nd body there to direct you for traffic clearance. Once out, everything's easy. The Z's are equipped with a pantograph instead of a pole, so de-wirements are virtually eliminated; foot pedals are a lot easier to hand controls - once you get used to them, and from there, it's pretty smooth sailing.
So, I managed to do that for about 3 or so hours, and it really is cruisy; also, the motors, whilst having a different control system from the later Z/A/B class, still have a similar clean sound whirring at high speed. Just hearing that kept making me smile.
I'll include some of my photos once I can get them off the camera; in the meantime, here's an older picture of Z.74 which was originally posted on VicSig.net
We do actually have some modern(ish) trams in Bendigo, they just don't get used much. We have a couple of Z1-class, which are basically held for preservation. With Melbourne looking to get rid of the remaining Z's when fleet capabilities permit, we were fortunate enough to get a few.
When I lived in Melbourne, there was a large variety of different trams. W's were prominent on the St. Kilda road lines, Z's were prominent on St. Kilda Rd & Elizabeth St., A-class were on Flinders & Collins St., and the B's were on the heavy-use lines, first the former Port Melbourne & St. Kilda raillines, which were converted from suburban railway to lightrail in the late 80's, and later, the Bundoora & East Burwood lines.
The B's were (and are) my favourite of them all. They first came into service when I was fairly young, which always leaves an impression. They were quite modern for their time as well, featuring dot-matrix destination screens, air conditioning, and of course the articulated vehicle design. And the motor system made the most interesting buzzing noise when initially accelerating. The motor noise sounded quite clean and modern too.
Until I moved up to Bendigo, I'd always seen the W's as 'the classic tram', which to be honest, is exactly what it is for Melbourne; The B's as completely awesome, the A's as a little B (true from a technical point of view, but the styling is very similar too), and the Z's... I just always saw them as 'there'. Funny what you learn to appreciate when it disappears.
So, the Z's we have (Z1.11 & Z1.74) are in their Met livery, the green & yellow, which I think looks the nicest. The original colour scheme looked horrid (brown & orange, very 70's, which is fair enough when you consider that's when they were built), and the Yarra Trams livery leaves a lot to be desired. The original conductors desk is long gone (took up way too much space and caused loading bottlenecks), and the original flip-blinds for the destination display is also long gone, replaced with a dot-matrix display. it's a very comfy ride, for both passengers and driver, and it really is a pity we don't use it more often.
We went to the Gasworks to pick up the Z in the morning (we have no spare space at the main depot, so spare/long term store trams goto the gasworks depot), did all the powerup tests, and headed out.
Even that is an event really - because road visibility coming out of gasworks is literally zero. If a car is heading along Weeroona ave., they are not going to stop for you (assuming they can even see you, which I doubt), so you really need a 2nd body there to direct you for traffic clearance. Once out, everything's easy. The Z's are equipped with a pantograph instead of a pole, so de-wirements are virtually eliminated; foot pedals are a lot easier to hand controls - once you get used to them, and from there, it's pretty smooth sailing.
So, I managed to do that for about 3 or so hours, and it really is cruisy; also, the motors, whilst having a different control system from the later Z/A/B class, still have a similar clean sound whirring at high speed. Just hearing that kept making me smile.
I'll include some of my photos once I can get them off the camera; in the meantime, here's an older picture of Z.74 which was originally posted on VicSig.net
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