Trolley bus dewires

A cone tied to one of the support wires was too close to the live wires and caused the dewirement.

The trolley bus is a New Flyer E40LFR run by TransLink in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• trolley
• bus
• new
• flyer
• e40lfr
• translink
• vancouver
• dewire
• dewirement

[DennisTT]

Yeah, subsequent drivers used lane 2 to pass the intersection, but there were at least 2-3 buses who didn't notice the cone.

[DennisTT]

Yes, for safety the retrievers pull down both poles when a dewirement is detected.

[LESTERNIDOY]

I thought these buses were better than the old ones

[DennisTT]

The new poles aren't any better at avoiding obstacles than the old ones...

[jlb62983]

When the poles popped off, did the bus immediately lose power???

[DennisTT]

There are a bank of batteries on the bus which provide auxiliary power. However, the bus must be stopped first, then switched into battery mode before continuing. I believe another set of batteries keep the lights, signs, power steering and brakes working, but I'm not sure about the last two.

[villageway124]

WTH

why is there a cone on the wire?

[kiernan8666]

The cool thing about the new buses is how the wires come down...Unlike the old ones where they fling around and get tangled up.

[ajaynejr]

In this situation the driver should have pulled out slowly all the way into the left lane and then the trolley poles would not have hit the cone.

With rope retrievers on the back of the bus the poles will fly up more if they were out to the side at the time of the dewirement. The new style pneumatic retrievers on the roof at the pole bases can lower the poles more quickly regardless of the angle of the poles.

[trainman1971]

We have E40LFR trackless trolleys here in Philadelphia as well. For us, in the event of a dewirement, our coaches have a diesel EPU (Emergency Power Unit) that can be turned on to run the coach for short distances around the depot, but it has also been used to bypass construction or other wire outages for a few blocks at a time. With the poles latched on their storage holders, max speed in EPU mode is 24mph, and with the poles hanging free, 8mph.

[lgman83]

Problem??

[X2an]

Why does the other pole dewire when it isn't affected by the cone?

Or is it for salfety?

[ecologist96]

@datalal624 All trolley buses dewire sometimes. It's not the trolleybus' fault, sometimes there's a cone in the way, sometimes the driver does the turn wrong, etc.

[ecologist96]

@villageway124 it's to inform trolley bus drivers of construction in the area. Sometimes it means the wires have been moved to the side a little bit, to allow for the construction.

[kr192101]

@villageway124 the cone is there to inform the driver that the switch is broken or the turn switch is broken.

[iluvSpectacular011]

Thank you for uploading this............... I love when the wires fall off ( yea, im a weird child)