Another Gordon Hatch trolley discovered and posted

Here's a newly-discovered trolley by Gordon Hatch ... these are

COMPLETELY NEW AVENUES TO EXPLORE FROM OUR FEVERED IMAGINATION

I have been beating the drum, in this and other Blogs, for an expansion of model railways into new and hitherto (almost unexplored) avenues of effort.

I always characterize --- and think of --- Electric Railways as models realized in T⁴ , in which one of the T's stands for Transit, an often-neglected area of effort in the modeling hobby . Actually, there is at least one modeler in --- I believe --- New York City who has produced an extensive model based upon the New York City Transit System --- the NY Subway --- and has succeeded to such an extent that I am embarrassed to even try to emulate him .

Again, the advantages of the sharp curves and short turning radiuses, the world's familiarity with the system, and its one hundred-year history have much to recommend it .

I woke up today in a fever of creativity --- probably brought on by one of the preposterous (but  true) new TV shows being aired about multi-million dollar real estate listings --- thinking about an imaginary transit line extending from the Glitter and Swank of Park Avenue, NYC, with its multi-million dollar apartments, out to the Hamptons, with their luxurious beachfront homes .

This makes the high fashion of both terminii of this transit line very plausible. If we specify our newly proposed DisplayScale of  two inches = one foot, this allows venturing into one-sixth scale and the use of many products of the Mattel Corporation and small companies producing GI Joes and other military figurines . It also encourages small businesses to produce the myriad landscape , lineside, and track accessories needed .

We can even picture modeling a town like Breezy Point, the extraordinary little community of NYC Fire Fighters along the right-of-way, as a symbol of the resilience of the American people following the 9/11 terror attack . There's much to feed the imagination and many possibilities, as much of the line will be elevated . Note the great work that Jimmy Sparkman***  has done in 1:16, or 3/4ths inch scale, with SEPTA , the Philadelphia transit system, built on trestles and displayed at chest height, but decidedly NOT ridden upon . Give it some thought !

*** A real-life employee of SEPTA, the SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, and a long-time member of the East Penn Traction Club  

HYDROLLEYS --- Hydrogen-powered Trolleys, or more properly, Streetcars

 

HYDROLLEYS --- Hydrogen-Powered Trolleys, or More Properly, Streetcars

This essay by Stan Thompson, of the Hydrogen Economy Advancement Team, Mooresville, N.C.,

is about a breakthrough method for powering streetcars and making them independent of overhead power-feeder lines, reducing costs so drastically that there is now this major new incentive to equip cities with the capability of installing and extending streetcar --- and light rail --- lines .

 

The resultant advantages are presented below in an essay by Stan, presented at Hydrail 2013, a recent  major international conference in Canada . We're including a hyperlink to the Conference presentation --- immediately below --- so that BLOG readers can download the original. We hope that this methodology will begin to put an end to the prevailing municipal philosophy of using asphalt and new roads to solve the problems brought on by asphalt and old roads . NEW AUTOMOBILE ROADS ARE THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION .

[This is one argument that your BLOGGER enjoys destroying : 

The Asphalt Fallacy : believing that adding more lanes to current roads will solve the traffic nightmare. As the Mayor of Milwaukee said, in 1997, “Adding highway lanes to reduce traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to fight obesity”.  HNP  ]

Download hydrolley presentation [PPT - 3.2MB]
 

[ ... continuing with Stan Thompson's  presentation  : ]
 

Just as hydrail is the easiest application of hydrogen fuel cell technology to transportation, it may be that the hydrolley  -  or hydrogen streetcar - is the easiest form of hydrail to introduce .

Hydrogen buses are already deployed in several cities around the world and are reportedly doing well, so why do we need hydrolleys? We can think of four reasons:

 

1. Unlike buses, rail transit has a clear positive effect on high-density residential and business development along the route. In Charlotte, North Carolina, where one of the most recent light rail lines just opened, the investment along the line before it opened was enormous, jumpstarting what had been a fading part of town. And it continues. It's reasonable to expect that similar development will follow clean, silent, wireless hydrolley lines.

[ Your Blogger's comment :  This Real World result is in sharp contrast to the standard thesis of a famous Florida transportation engineering Think-tank  to which, unfortunately, almost all local transportation plans are submitted before approval . They consistently argue the inverse : They say that transit lines should not be built until population density is high enough to justify them . If that were true,  New York City's population would still be hovering at an incredible , stagnating 200,000 people . One hundred years ago, forward-thinking City Fathers ignored that Sacred Tenet and built the subway system transit lines first, and then gleefully watched the population growth explode in direct proportion and proximity to the transit system . ]  

 

2. Steel-wheels-on-rails offer only about one-seventh the rolling friction of rubber tired vehicles, conferring a range and economy advantage over buses.

 

3. For reasons that are intuitive, if hard to put into words, rail transit is somehow "up market" from buses and will draw ridership that would not give up cars for buses. In Charlotte, plans for a Bus Rapid Transit ("BRT") system linking downtown with the CLT airport disappointed those who preferred something like Atlanta's MARTA train to "ATL." But a wireless hydrolley line at about the same cost of BRT would be an easy sell.

 

4. And finally, hydrolleys might carry about half again as many passengers per operator as buses, and labor is a major transit expense.

We would like to remind our readers that hydrolleys do not require the expensive , complex, and fragile catenary wiring required of streetcars that must receive their power from overhead lines ]  

 

Even without hydrail technology, U.S. streetcar re-introduction plans are already booming. Municipalities are willing to bite the catenary bullet and spend big bucks to get folks out of cars.

But if the same hauling capacity can be had without the clutter of overhead wires and without the two to three million dollars per mile of track that overhead power adds to streetcar line construction cost, the advent of the hydrolley may spark a much bigger streetcar renaissance, and do so fairly soon.

With the prospect of hydrolleys now in sight, it's hard to imagine that Federal transit funding for new catenary streetcar lines will continue much beyond the end of this decade.

Our wrap-up : Check with the people in community and industrial development offices --- One of the first questions asked by BOTH prospective new technology fims looking to relocate to your region AND by prospective new residents being recruited as new hires is "Where are the transit lines ? Will it be easy for our staff and management to get into work without the infamous dreaded one hour automobile drive ? "  As an easy and instructive personal confirmation of this, try watching some half-hour segments of HGTV's House Hunter program !  

Finally, let us recall the unsuccessful struggle of Tampa, Florida's recent mayor to extend the pathetically short TECO trolley line that started out so bravely ... and small. Former Mayor Pam DiOrio wanted to continue this very short line from a collection of tourist attractions into the heart of Downtown Tampa . This was rejected by tight-fisted politicians and voters who did not realize that it might change Tampa from a sleepy, self-satisfied southern town to a Gulf Coast powerhouse . Ask any delegates to the 2012 Republican Convention about some of the Moebius Strip contortion commuting they had to perform to get from their hotels into the Convention proper .
It makes me believe that city planners had never been to a modern, clean, comfortable town in Europe , well-supplied with clean, quiet, easy commuter transit lines .  

TRANSPORTATION FALLACIES

Consider the false notions that have contributed to transportation decisions over the past 100 years or so :

The Athletic Fallacy : thinking that the average person --- let alone the visually or physically handicapped, out-of-shape, or elderly person --- can travel to work, school, medical appointments, or shopping, by bicycle or on foot.

The Meteorological Fallacy : Just consider the enervating heat or “frog-choker” tropical downpours of a Florida summer, the snow and ice in much of the north for months at a time, or the lightning storms and tornadic winds almost anywhere in the heartland of this country.

The Asphalt Fallacy : believing that adding more lanes to current roads will solve the traffic nightmare. As the Mayor of Milwaukee said, in 1997, “Adding highway lanes to reduce traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to fight obesity”.

The Traffic Engineering Fallacy : thinking that current road designs contribute to traffic safety. Turn lanes are badly designed and demonstrably dangerous; traffic circles --- given up as unworkable even by New Jersey ---are being proposed for Gulf Coast Florida. There actually exist lists of treacherous intersections that publicize the most dangerous. We know what and where the problems are but, like the buffalo in the herd standing around and watching as their just-killed companion is dragged away by hunters, presumably thinking “Well, there goes Old Herb. What a shame ! Oh, well ! This certainly has nothing to do with me”.

The Gas Mileage Fallacy : believing that improving automobile gasoline mileage figures will decrease our dependence on foreign oil. It is a futile --- and at best only temporary --- method of saving gasoline that has little impact on the problem.

The Passenger Fallacy : Considering only the problems associated with transporting people from one place to another. Even as far-sighted and intelligent a group as The Monorail Society does not pay sufficient attention to monorail use for freight traffic -- an absolutely obvious and natural concurrent associated need. Indeed, it may well be the income provider that, like Mighty Mouse, Saves the Day by paying for the installation, covering ongoing costs, OR, dare we say it, makes a profit. This is particularly ironic because it is often factory-installed monorail freight systems that power assembly lines in many large factories.

It’s not just a question of dependence on foreign oil. Even oil-rich states in the Middle East and Asian-Pacific Rim are building and operating Monorail and MagLev transit systems for transit needs.

Every country without blinders is beginning to subscribe to the dangers of massive carbon dioxide production, whether or not it's the cause of the Global Warning that, while denied by many, is an ice-melting fact of life in the Arctic and Antarctic. While the debate goes on, the ice roads melt into puddles of water, making road traffic impossible and impeding vital transport needs ---- food and medical supplies to polar settlements, as well as the availability of emergency medical services and the transportation of oil drilling machinery and re-supplies. The Canadian government recognizes and acknowledges these needs, and is looking to innovative transport methods such as huge Lighter-Than-Air freight carriers (Zeppelins, dirigibles, blimps) to satisfy those needs. See the scientific and technical papers presented at Dr. Barry Prentice's Airships to the Arctic conferences .

It takes mental blinders or obsessive-compulsive behavior for people to sleep on airport floors for days --- as is reported in the national media every year during heavy snow storms --- because of bad weather or cancelled flights, instead of taking readily available, comfortable, fast trains that would take them to their destination in a few hours.

Readily, widely available Monorail would ensure safe, comfortable passage far above even a three-foot snowfall, while other air, road, and foot travel are snarled, unusable means of getting about .

Rails-to-Trails is a sadly misguided, quasi-permanent transformation of railroad right-of-way --- potentially usable by large numbers of travelers for necessary work and travel --- into biking and hiking trails usable only for optional recreation by a small number of people for leisure time activities. It's sardonically amusing that, often, this occurs in areas naturally well-supplied with recreational opportunities, like waterfront communities and rustic areas .

Even worse is the blatant disregard of the “rail-banking” concept upon which the authorizing legislation is based, as no withdrawals are ever made from this bank. Once the rails are ripped up and the roadbed converted to trails at great public expense, these same recreational users fight --- tooth-and-nail --- any re-conversion to transportation purposes when the need for rail service arises later, despite the original premise upon which this change was made. The taxpayer, of course, continues to pay for the maintenance and policing of these underutilized stretches of linear recreational areas throughout their (perpetual?) existence.

What is particularly vexing is availability of vast, existing, tax-payer-maintained, dedicated recreational areas already in place. This entire concept exhibits a hugely unbalanced political favoritism catering to the never-satisfied demands of the recreational biking-hiking-and-running-lobbies, which contribute next to nothing to cover the costs of purchase and maintenance, a never-satisfied Black Hole. See also, the Athletic Fallacy.

Quick Notes and Impressions of Ultra-Light Rail --- a New Quicker, Easier Branch of the Model T⁴ Interest

It pays to look at older periodicals in your reading collection ; there's an article on the prototype on page 6 of the January 2002 issue of Tramways & Urban Transit , a superb UK magazine with international coverage of all our favourite topics . The prototype runs on electricity and !!! a flywheel !!!

Parry's People Movers provided major impetus to this whole Ultra-Light Rail movement in the prototype . The models are easier to build (no teeny-tiny catenary parts, wiring, fumble-fingers), and easier to transport to exhibitions

Shades of Lionel center third rail OR of no current carrier at all, whether third rail or overhead . NYC subway (and other transit system) modellers have been doing without overhead catenary [redundant and, obviously unprototypical] for years .

Advantages accrue to those who are taken with small English rural and suburban scenes, like those in the Miss Marple films based on the mystery novels popularized by Agatha Christie about the delightful (and always successful) English detective . Also to those who enjoy the magnificent , inexpensive David Winter collectible cottages as easy-to-place background accessories .

                                      
PARRY PEOPLE MOVERS David Parry and a model of his ultra-light rail vehicle to a scale of 2 inches = 1 foot , one-sixth full size at an industrial Exposition

Barbie dolls and GI Joe military action figures make perfect passengers for the models, once they have been de-glamorized and de-militarized, respectively, by modifying their clothing to the appropriate scale in street clothes and civilian work clothes.

Please note : I have absolutely no financial interest in Parry's People Movers (although its Return on Investment is probably going to be better than the 0.5 % interest we're getting at the bank); NOR in Mattel OR whoever manufactures GI Joe .

Where do Political Movers-and-Shakers get their Attirudes Toward Public Transit ?

Do we remember how powerful and effective were the campaigns by the Bus Lobby in the 1930's and 1940's against other forms of urban transit like trams and trolleys ?

The transit planners of those years are now safely out of reach of angry mobs carrying pitchforks and flaming torches . Encouraged by the bus lobby, they wiped out most of the effective, inexpensive, comfortable, passenger-oriented, city-wide rail-based transit systems (trolleys, streetcars, trams, light rail) then in existence and --- cheerfully supported by the asphalt lobby --- ripped up the rails, repaved the roads, added treacherously dangerous bicycle lanes that force cyclists to travel alongside speeding autommobile, bus, and truck traffic --- to whom they are essentially invisible --- and then proudly presented this system to populations that included :

1.  aging people forced to give up driving because of encroaching physical impairments . Think it will never happen to you ? Wait until you encounter the need for your first pair of bifocals at about the age of 40 , or the first time you hear the dreaded word "cataracts" --- and those are the inevitable, predictable hazards !

2. those who have been visually-challenged and handicapped for some time ;

3. children too young to drive ; remember, that's sixteen years of guaranteed dependence on others ... each ;             

4. users of golf carts, especially in warmer climates like Florida, Arizona, and California . Golf carts are often the vehicle of last resort of people with an urgent need to get to the local super market or pharmacy ; our wise politicians (!!!) have therefore carefully banned them from using the public roads --- for safety sake .

5. bar-hoppers who consider it a regular part of their lives to "stop off for a  drink", which almost always escalates to 4 or 5 or 12 drinks, and who then drive home dangerously impaired ;

6. their cousins, the beer drinkers, who (literally) do not consider beer an alcoholic beverage;

7. life-long urban dwellers who have never learned to drive ("Back home I can just hop on the subway" OR " a taxi ... the EL" ... OR, increasingly, light rail ) ;

8. people who just flat out can't afford an automobile, with the accompanying down payments, the monthly payments, the cost of parking , the liability insurance required by law, or the gasoline at over $3.00 per gallon to run it ;

9. most important for the economic health and growth of a region, the developers, relocation specialists, and potential property owners , who often as their first question to Economic Development Authorities trying to persuade a new industry to relocate into their town and to realtors talking to out-of-town residents inquiring about buying local residential property, raise the question :

"Is public transit available?" AND "How far is the nearest transit station?" .

They're not talking about a bus route that exists primarily on paper and that might be redrawn or eliminated at the whim of the next politician two years down the road . They want something dependable and permanent, like steel wheels on steel rail .

How do we know all this ? Personal experience, because recently we became a member of one of those groups listed above . We quickly realized that members of our family had appointments with several doctors and almost no civilized or comfortable way to get there... in a word, our independence was gone, snatched away by inexorable, relentless, pitiless Father Time .

Days of empire-building may be long gone, but requirements and needs still exist ... with almost no way to get where we need to go, certainly NOT by frequent, convenient, safe public transit . Our only course is to beg our friends for a ride, often to discover that they are in the same situation as we are.

Maybe the real problem is basically threefold in nature :

1. A complete lack of imagination on the part of planners, pundits in think tanks, and city fathers. AND

2. Complete reliance on academic authority falsely assumed to be bright, impartial, and accurate by the City-Father-of-the-Month Club, a poitical leader who is liable to be unseated in the next election, apparently with little real-life experience aside from politics and golf courses, AND

3. Have you ever noticed that professional Planners insist that public transit must break even or DISPLAY A PROFIT --- but nobody ever demands that, say, the army or the navy be similarly required to break even or show a profit.

We're all human and can make mistakes ; no one is asking that transit planners be perfect; just that they be rational, well informed, and --- almost above all ---- impartial .

Respectfully submitted ! 

HYDROLLEY GOING INTO SERVICE ON SPANISH NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS

FROM THE RAILWAY GAZETTE INTERNATIONAL 19 October 2011

SPAIN: Meter-gauge transit operator FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha, meaning "Narrow-Gauge Railways") is a state-owned Spanish railway company that has unveiled a tram (can we still call it a "trolley" ? ) powered by two hydrogen fuel cells that can carry between 20 and 30 passengers at up to 20 km/h. (12 mph) .

The prototype was built at the company's PRAVIA workshops by Fenit Rail (in which FEVE holds a 37.5% interest), and it is hoped that it will enter service in Asturias, Spain, next year.

Developed at a cost of €1m --- one million Euros ($1,310,900) --- using a     14.3 meter (47 foot long) Series 3400 car originally built for SNCV of Belgium** and later operated by FEVE in Valencia, Spain, the prototype vehicle weighs 20 tonnes (44,000 pounds). It is powered by two 12 kW fuel cells, supplied with hydrogen from a rack of 12 canisters containing 105.6 cubic meters of the gas.

Current is fed to four asynchronous AC traction motors, each rated at 30 kiloWatts. Energy produced during regenerative braking is stored in three Maxwell HTM125 super-capacitor modules or lithium-ion batteries rated at 95 kiloWatts.

Power equipment was designed by CIDAUT, a transport and energy research and development centre formed in 1993 to draw upon the expertise of the University of Valladolid, in Spain. Funding for the project was provided by the Asturias regional government.

** Societe Nacional de Chemin de Fer Vicinal (Federal Local Railways Corporation --- think 'vicinity rail')