Goings On...
Things have been VERY busy the past couple of weeks. The new 4th Avenue underpass will open this Thursday for public use. The City of Tucson and a number of organizations will be holding events to celebrate this occasion. The Old Pueblo Trolley will begin service into downtown and so I have been very busy with operational details. The City's independent inspector was here last week to inspect the railway. His approval was essential to get the necessary approval to commence passenger operations into the underpass and on the 5th Avenue Loop. The cars were inspected and tested. Our Japanese car (No. 869) was only certified for passenger operations on the existing line from the north end of the underpass to the University-a number of items must be provided for it to be certified to operate downtown. The Belgian tram (No. 1511) was granted conditional certification for operations into downtown-a few items must be addressed for the certification to be made permanent. Files and other items were also included in the inspection which took the better part of four days.
My involvement was in my official capacity of Training Department Manager and as Special Duty Motorman. Under training, we have developed policies and procedures to contend with any foreseeable incidents that may occur in the underpass or on the 5th Avenue Loop. Special Instructions have been approved and will be provided to govern operations. We tested the Belgian tram on the Loop to determine performance and both cars were required to pass American Passenger Transit Association stopping distance tests. The cars were required to be loaded with a simulated passenger load and stop within required distances at speeds of ten and twenty miles an hour. That was both fun and educational as the 1511 required a bit of skillful handling during the tests. We used an accelerometer with GPS to test the 869 without any problem. However, the rough ride produced by the 1511's single truck precluded us from using the accelerometer on it-we had to do the test on a level section of track with pavement markings at the appropriate distance. Due to the short length of the level section of track, we had a very short distance in which to get the car up to twenty miles an hour. This was complicated by the fact that there is a switch with a speed restriction in that section. We determined that the maximum safe speed over the switch was ten miles an hour, so that left me only about a hundred and fifty feet to accelerate the car the additional ten miles an hour before the Braking mark was reached. Since the cars are not equipped with speedometers, the inspector used a GPS receiver to determine the speed. I had to hit the switch right on the mark to get a good result and we did just that.
I have also been scheduling and conducting Motorman training as the new section presents a number of operational conditions that our Motormen have not faced before. Spent most of Saturday making preparations and doing limited Motorman training. Additional Motorman training was done today in addition to some mechanical work on the 1511. We will be doing additional Motorman training, route familirization and Motorman certification throughout the week, up to and after the grand opening on Thursday. We will also be providing rudimentary training for the Mayor of Tucson since he will be "motoring" the ceremonial first streetcar through the underpass and around the Loop. I will be supervising the training and ceremonial run along with our Safety Officer (who will act as Conductor). This requires me to take four vacation days from work-everyone there knows what I'm up to, so that's no big deal.
My involvement was in my official capacity of Training Department Manager and as Special Duty Motorman. Under training, we have developed policies and procedures to contend with any foreseeable incidents that may occur in the underpass or on the 5th Avenue Loop. Special Instructions have been approved and will be provided to govern operations. We tested the Belgian tram on the Loop to determine performance and both cars were required to pass American Passenger Transit Association stopping distance tests. The cars were required to be loaded with a simulated passenger load and stop within required distances at speeds of ten and twenty miles an hour. That was both fun and educational as the 1511 required a bit of skillful handling during the tests. We used an accelerometer with GPS to test the 869 without any problem. However, the rough ride produced by the 1511's single truck precluded us from using the accelerometer on it-we had to do the test on a level section of track with pavement markings at the appropriate distance. Due to the short length of the level section of track, we had a very short distance in which to get the car up to twenty miles an hour. This was complicated by the fact that there is a switch with a speed restriction in that section. We determined that the maximum safe speed over the switch was ten miles an hour, so that left me only about a hundred and fifty feet to accelerate the car the additional ten miles an hour before the Braking mark was reached. Since the cars are not equipped with speedometers, the inspector used a GPS receiver to determine the speed. I had to hit the switch right on the mark to get a good result and we did just that.
I have also been scheduling and conducting Motorman training as the new section presents a number of operational conditions that our Motormen have not faced before. Spent most of Saturday making preparations and doing limited Motorman training. Additional Motorman training was done today in addition to some mechanical work on the 1511. We will be doing additional Motorman training, route familirization and Motorman certification throughout the week, up to and after the grand opening on Thursday. We will also be providing rudimentary training for the Mayor of Tucson since he will be "motoring" the ceremonial first streetcar through the underpass and around the Loop. I will be supervising the training and ceremonial run along with our Safety Officer (who will act as Conductor). This requires me to take four vacation days from work-everyone there knows what I'm up to, so that's no big deal.