Oddly enough, Your Seattle trains are just like our Phoenix trains, In fact, They're made by the some company, at the same manufacturing facility, at the same time, side by side.
Everything sounds the same (except the station announcements, although the ding before each announcement is the same.) and if you look at a picture of the Phoenix trains, your able to see some similarities at their design (hint: look at a picture of the front of both, and look at the head/tail lamp sections.)
Thanks for the info. I just looked up the Phoenix trains and do see the similarity. In fact the slightly different front ends seem to be the only difference.
How does light rail with a pantograph share overhead with the hybrid diesel/electric buses? I could understand if the LRVs used trolleys, but how does a pantograph handle both positive and negative overhead wires? Don't the buses use only diesel now, at least where space is shared with the LRVs?
The current buses don't use the overhead wiring. Their technology is similar to hybrid gasoline/electric automobiles. A previous generation of buses ran on overhead wire in the tunnel, and diesel outside the tunnel.Those buses have been retired.
Oh! Cool! I think the free shuttle buses in Denver must be similar: CNG engine runs at constant speed; bus is powered from the battery pack--and powered it is! All the pickup of an electric trolley bus without the investment in overhead. Thanks!
Thanks for the info on the Denver buses. The engine in these buses doesn't run at constant speed, however the technology must be similar. The engine shuts off completely at stops, and runs in "quiet mode" while in the tunnel. (I've never seen an explanation of what "quiet mode" actually does...)
Hmm... I've had a Toyota Prius since 2001. Prius owners refer to "stealth mode" when operating without the internal combustion engine. The car is nearly silent. I wonder if that's what Seattle's "quiet mode" means.
@SilvermanStan Officially it's called "Hush Mode" - fuel is cut to the diesel engine, and the electric motors propel the bus when below 15 MPH. Above 15 MPH (which only happens in the tunnel bores, not at platforms) the diesel engine is allowed to idle to charge the batteries. A small electric motor turns the diesel's crankshaft to keep the hydraulics working while fuel is cut, which is why it almost sounds like the motor is still running in station. Metro's Wikipedia page has more info.
Too jouncy and excessively cut-up I'm afraid. Try showing longer and more continuous footage of arrival/departure from a few stations, rather than a ton of short cut-up snippets in rapid succession.... it excessively breaks up the flow of the video, giving no time to admire the process of travelling in the train.
Missing Seattle
bigbtripathi 2 years ago
Is there a better city? I think not...
SilvermanStan 2 years ago 2
Oddly enough, Your Seattle trains are just like our Phoenix trains, In fact, They're made by the some company, at the same manufacturing facility, at the same time, side by side.
Everything sounds the same (except the station announcements, although the ding before each announcement is the same.) and if you look at a picture of the Phoenix trains, your able to see some similarities at their design (hint: look at a picture of the front of both, and look at the head/tail lamp sections.)
xoDAKxo 2 years ago
Thanks for the info. I just looked up the Phoenix trains and do see the similarity. In fact the slightly different front ends seem to be the only difference.
SilvermanStan 2 years ago
How does light rail with a pantograph share overhead with the hybrid diesel/electric buses? I could understand if the LRVs used trolleys, but how does a pantograph handle both positive and negative overhead wires? Don't the buses use only diesel now, at least where space is shared with the LRVs?
Larsky1010 2 years ago
The current buses don't use the overhead wiring. Their technology is similar to hybrid gasoline/electric automobiles. A previous generation of buses ran on overhead wire in the tunnel, and diesel outside the tunnel.Those buses have been retired.
SilvermanStan 2 years ago
Oh! Cool! I think the free shuttle buses in Denver must be similar: CNG engine runs at constant speed; bus is powered from the battery pack--and powered it is! All the pickup of an electric trolley bus without the investment in overhead. Thanks!
Larsky1010 2 years ago
Thanks for the info on the Denver buses. The engine in these buses doesn't run at constant speed, however the technology must be similar. The engine shuts off completely at stops, and runs in "quiet mode" while in the tunnel. (I've never seen an explanation of what "quiet mode" actually does...)
SilvermanStan 2 years ago
Hmm... I've had a Toyota Prius since 2001. Prius owners refer to "stealth mode" when operating without the internal combustion engine. The car is nearly silent. I wonder if that's what Seattle's "quiet mode" means.
Larsky1010 2 years ago
@SilvermanStan Officially it's called "Hush Mode" - fuel is cut to the diesel engine, and the electric motors propel the bus when below 15 MPH. Above 15 MPH (which only happens in the tunnel bores, not at platforms) the diesel engine is allowed to idle to charge the batteries. A small electric motor turns the diesel's crankshaft to keep the hydraulics working while fuel is cut, which is why it almost sounds like the motor is still running in station. Metro's Wikipedia page has more info.
compboy1 3 months ago
Comment removed
compboy1 3 months ago
....Interesting Video :)
videosporalex 2 years ago
Thanks.
SilvermanStan 2 years ago
The acceleration on the Seattle LRT sounds very similar to the NJTransit's HBLR. Even the automatic voices are similar.
BDavinci06 2 years ago
The trains don't look similar though...
SilvermanStan 2 years ago
Obviously
BDavinci06 2 years ago
Too jouncy and excessively cut-up I'm afraid. Try showing longer and more continuous footage of arrival/departure from a few stations, rather than a ton of short cut-up snippets in rapid succession.... it excessively breaks up the flow of the video, giving no time to admire the process of travelling in the train.
axl170 2 years ago
very cool. @Acelib - I read that this system is a very expensive system ($2 bil) because of the terrain of the Puget Sound.
I would say about 1/3 is underground, 1/3 is elevated, and 1/3 is at street level (i.e., along I-5).
Lukelr 2 years ago
The camera is an Aiptek. It was the least expensive video camera I could find - about $150 or so a year ago. It's capable of 1080P @30 FPS.
SilvermanStan 2 years ago
Thanks!
Acelib 2 years ago
Sweet. This seems like a mix between light rail and a subway. Interesting. May I ask what camera you used. Nice colors in the clip.
Acelib 2 years ago