tram

Tours tram wireless operation

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Videos of Alstom Citadis 402 trams in the French city of Tours switching from 750 V DC overhead to APS ground-level power supply, outside the main station. APS catenary-free operation is used on a 1·8 km section of the line through the pedestrianised city centre.

Design agency RCP developed the ‘architecture in motion’ theme for the trams, which features a mirrored adhesive film intended to reflect the urban surroundings and resemble the River Loire.

The tram ends feature two vertical strips of LEDs aligned with the rails, which glow white at the front and red at the back.

Trams and trains in Belgium

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

In September 2001 I went to Belgium (and Luxembourg) on holiday. Here are a few badly-scanned old photographs.

[Tram]
Tram 7066 near the center of Antwerpen. 2001-09-05.

[Tram]
A modern tram in Brussels.

[Tram]
Tram 7811 at the terminus near the Atomium in Brussels.


Another Brussels tram.

[Commonwealth military cemetery]
Ramparts military cemetery, on the city walls in Ieper. The town is called Ypres in French, but is perhaps better known in Britain as "Wipers".

[Tram]
De Lijn coastal tram at Oostende, 2001-09-03.

[Railcar at Dinant]
Railcar 4508 at Dinant in the Ardennes, forming the 12.47 departure to Beauraing on 6 September 2001. These noisy little things are probably as bad as British Pacer trains – though they do have bogies, and if the driver leaves the cab door open you can see out of the front. From Beauraing to Gedinne the train was replaced by a bus, owing to electrification work.

[Tram]
A tram in the streets of Gent, 2001-09-02

[Tram]
Tram 6304 seen from the castle walls, Gent 2001-09-02

[Tram]
Tram 53 at the terminus Gent 2001-09-02. Note the "park and ride" facilities.

[Train]
Loco 6313 at Gent Sint-Pieters station.

[Train]

SNCB locomotive number 2131 in the rain.

[Belgian National Railways logo with nightcap]
The SNCB/NMBS logo, on an overnight train

Waterloo station nameboard

One of my ancestors fell at Waterloo…

[People in Napoleonic costume heading for a bar]

My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender. 2001-09-08.

Croydon after the 2011 riots

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Some photos of damage to London Tramlink infrastructure at Reeves Corner in Croydon on Wednesday 10 August 2011, after the rioting of Monday 8 August. The overhead lines were down, a mast looked scorched, and the stuff which the rails are embedded in had been damaged.

On Wednesday tram services were running from Wimbledon to Reeves Corner tram stop, and from the eastern branches to East Croydon, but the town centre loop was out of action.

Grenoble ticket machine thinks it’s in Croydon

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Grenoble tram ticket machine message

Visting the French city of Grenoble back in May 2005, I was impressed to discover that the ticket machines on the tram stops offer an English language option. As I don’t speak French, this was rather useful.

Unfortunately, after buying a ticket in English, the display says that Croydon Tramlink wishes you a good journey!

Croydon Tramlink wishes you a good journey

The the unofficial Croydon Tramlink website has oodles of information about Croydon Tramlink, and its ticketing systems – presumably Grenoble used the same software!