In these cases in Budapest, we have a bus with poles on it, but it is not for loading electricity from the wires, it is for showering defrosting liquid onto them. So in those frosty nights, this bus cleans the wires for the trolleybuses.
They have buses like this, here, too. Well, sort of. They are called "triesels" (trolley + diesel) and actually do have a diesel engine. I don't think they spray anything on the wires. They do they use them (and the ice cutters on the poles) to scrape the ice off.
You have me remembered about other cases, when there's no heavy ice on the wires, in Budapest a few drivers stays on the roads through the whole night, and goes round the lines to break down thin ice from the wires...
I used the word "breaking" because the Hungarian verb for this is nearly the same (having the ice broken off of the wires)
In case it makes you feel better: I've only been on one once myself and that was only a short ride. :-)
Interestingly, the interior is a bit different from the new 60 ft. diesel buses (New Flyer D60LFR) although new diesels and new trolleys look the same from the outside (except for the poles, of course).
They had to make arangements with the Transit Museum Society (TRAMS) that now owns the triesel. It sprays an alchol based deicing fluid out of the trolley shoes to deice the lines. It seems funney that Coast Mountian Bus bad to use a museum bus to maitain daily opperations.
Yes, we have in Hradec Kralove (CZ) similar thing. There is a special vehicle (it is actually trainer t-bus) with fuel can full of fridex which is pumped toward the end of the poles under wires.
thse trolleys arent garbage! translink decided to retire the old trolleys cuz they couldnt maintain enough money to refurbish them. and also the old high floors made it hard for disabled ppl for board so they orderd these new low floors.
I feel so sad when I heard about the news. The new "smart" trolleybuses with more advanced "computer brains" are so sensitive that it fails to detect power on the overhead power lines due to a thin layer of frost, and it thinks that the poles are disconnected with the overhead lines hence it lowers the poles to prevent them from damaging the overhead lines. The new trolleybuses must have disappointed many rush-hours commuters by leaving them stranded in Vancouver's harsh cold winds.
Fortunately, they got it figured out pretty quickly last winter. It was, like so many things these days, a software glitch.
The software detected that power was coming in intermittently, decided the bus had de-wired or something, and fully retracted the poles to protect the wires (so they can't be brought down by stray poles). Not so good in this case.
A change to the software actually fixed the issue. Don't know what exactly they changed, but it worked fine after that.
@mman75 the trolly buses here in seattle are all using an over 30 year old computer system since thats the only system that works with the electrical system at this time. they are trying to come up with what to use next but they arent sure what to use. there is a video that shows how old the system is and that they have had to jumper lots of the old computer boards cause of dead spots on many of the boards. these are old breta buses and gillig phantoms and a few others. oh how times have changed
This was during the frozen weather. Translink now has a truck that cleans the ice off the wires when frozen.
kr192101 1 year ago
get a russian trolley bus, and use it instead of icebreaker :)
kalatorulstalker 3 years ago
The driver talking at the end had an interesting accent..Sounds like he comes from Southern England.
Butchuk2007 3 years ago 5
Luckily Edmonton didn't buy any of those ^^
jackieliem2007 3 years ago
They fixed the problem already =P
tempensen 3 years ago
well, Edmonton Transit had plan to clear ours Trolley bus network in the city ^^
So.....
jackieliem2007 3 years ago
but the bus stil fails, it dewires so easily in the rain and is oftne late.
iridethelines2nd 3 years ago
Yep, they have pretty much "fixed" the problem, by getting rid of their trolleybuses. =D
jemdude22 3 years ago
@tempensen They are now fixing the same issue at Dayton, Ohio USA
qwandiddy 1 year ago
ha! those edmonton trolleys sh9ould be reitred by now! Vancouver got rid of there old e900 trolleys and these new low floors are way better
cactuarizamoron 2 years ago
In these cases in Budapest, we have a bus with poles on it, but it is not for loading electricity from the wires, it is for showering defrosting liquid onto them. So in those frosty nights, this bus cleans the wires for the trolleybuses.
olahjoci 3 years ago
They have buses like this, here, too. Well, sort of. They are called "triesels" (trolley + diesel) and actually do have a diesel engine. I don't think they spray anything on the wires. They do they use them (and the ice cutters on the poles) to scrape the ice off.
mman75 3 years ago
You have me remembered about other cases, when there's no heavy ice on the wires, in Budapest a few drivers stays on the roads through the whole night, and goes round the lines to break down thin ice from the wires...
I used the word "breaking" because the Hungarian verb for this is nearly the same (having the ice broken off of the wires)
olahjoci 3 years ago
Yep, they tried that here at first, too. It didn't work. I guess the humidity from the Pacific Ocean might have been a bit too much.
PS: You and I are (or were) neighbours of sorts. I am from Austria, but live in Vancouver. :-)
mman75 3 years ago
We say, world is so small - you always meet people from your homeland (or neighbours...)
But now I'm so envy... One of my dreams is to drive a trolley in Vancouver, especially the 60ft long ones (articulated trolleys)
olahjoci 3 years ago
In case it makes you feel better: I've only been on one once myself and that was only a short ride. :-)
Interestingly, the interior is a bit different from the new 60 ft. diesel buses (New Flyer D60LFR) although new diesels and new trolleys look the same from the outside (except for the poles, of course).
mman75 3 years ago
driving a trolley bus is a pain in an ass
Dalek0122 3 years ago
Hmm.. what makes you think so? Have u been a trolleybus driver before?
jemdude22 3 years ago
how? i mean ya there are dewirements and u gotta get ur lazy ass out of the bus to re-attach the poles but wat else is worng?
cactuarizamoron 2 years ago
They had to make arangements with the Transit Museum Society (TRAMS) that now owns the triesel. It sprays an alchol based deicing fluid out of the trolley shoes to deice the lines. It seems funney that Coast Mountian Bus bad to use a museum bus to maitain daily opperations.
jmw0284 3 years ago
Yes, we have in Hradec Kralove (CZ) similar thing. There is a special vehicle (it is actually trainer t-bus) with fuel can full of fridex which is pumped toward the end of the poles under wires.
jakubzhk 3 years ago
In Philadelphia, here in the states, they got these same trackless trolleys.
I hope they don't go through this in the winter.
videonut33 3 years ago
waste of money these trolleys are garbage if the older ones had power steering they would be great
morrisondandm 4 years ago
thse trolleys arent garbage! translink decided to retire the old trolleys cuz they couldnt maintain enough money to refurbish them. and also the old high floors made it hard for disabled ppl for board so they orderd these new low floors.
cactuarizamoron 2 years ago 7
I feel so sad when I heard about the news. The new "smart" trolleybuses with more advanced "computer brains" are so sensitive that it fails to detect power on the overhead power lines due to a thin layer of frost, and it thinks that the poles are disconnected with the overhead lines hence it lowers the poles to prevent them from damaging the overhead lines. The new trolleybuses must have disappointed many rush-hours commuters by leaving them stranded in Vancouver's harsh cold winds.
jemdude22 4 years ago
Fortunately, they got it figured out pretty quickly last winter. It was, like so many things these days, a software glitch.
The software detected that power was coming in intermittently, decided the bus had de-wired or something, and fully retracted the poles to protect the wires (so they can't be brought down by stray poles). Not so good in this case.
A change to the software actually fixed the issue. Don't know what exactly they changed, but it worked fine after that.
mman75 3 years ago
@mman75 the trolly buses here in seattle are all using an over 30 year old computer system since thats the only system that works with the electrical system at this time. they are trying to come up with what to use next but they arent sure what to use. there is a video that shows how old the system is and that they have had to jumper lots of the old computer boards cause of dead spots on many of the boards. these are old breta buses and gillig phantoms and a few others. oh how times have changed
rmx77 3 months ago