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TTC: Flexity Streetcars Testing & Delivery (Bombardier)

Can we just take it as read that streetcars don't have fuel gauges or tires and move on?

Both streetcars and subway cars do, however, get "flats". That results in some noise, which needs to be corrected. See link.

Wheel Flats and Wheel Roughness

A wheel flat is a flat on the surface of a steel wheel. Flat spots create levels of noise and vibration that can be annoying to neighbouring residents. People often refer to the sound as a “thumping noise”.

Flat spots are more common in the autumn and winter when wet leaves fall on the rails or when it rains and/or snows. The rain and/or wet leaves can make the top of the rail “slippery” and when the subway train brakes, it can cause the subway car wheel to slide along the rail after the wheel/axle has stopped rotating. This sliding can grind a flat spot on the wheel.

Flat spots can also be caused by the activation of the train’s emergency brake which, in some instances, can cause the wheel(s) to lock up and slide along the rail causing a wheel flat.

The TTC has installed remote monitors on the subway line to measure the condition of wheels of in-service trains. These monitors allow us to identify and measure the severity of the wheel conditions of subway cars as they travel past the monitoring station. TTC crews schedule wheels for wheel truing as soon as practically possible to keep wheel flats to a minimum.

Subway car wheels and rail can also develop irregularities (“roughness”) over their service life. Rail grinding equipment is used to smooth rough sections of track and wheel truing is used to smooth a subway car’s steel wheels.
 
It seems like the modern solution would be to install a tachometer/encoder on each axle and modulate the dynamic braking to each axle's drive motor accordingly. In essence, train ABS.

Probably lots of technical reasons why they don't, however.
 
Other fuel tank weirdness in motor vehicles: older Jaguars that had two tanks but only one gauge that could show you the level of one tank at a time, by pressing a button ...
My 1969 Triumph motorcycle has no gauge. Instead there's a two stage fuel petcock, turn one way you get the first part of the tank, turn the other way and you get the reserve portion. So, you run until the first part is exhausted and then switch to reserve as a warning to get gas.

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Duck, the technology exists for locomotives. Whether it is installed on Flexities, I don't know.

For locomotives, maximum adhesion is achieved when there is a small amount of slippage. So the units are actually noisier when the adhesion control is operating than when it isn't.

- Paul
 
Duck, the technology exists for locomotives. Whether it is installed on Flexities, I don't know.

For locomotives, maximum adhesion is achieved when there is a small amount of slippage. So the units are actually noisier when the adhesion control is operating than when it isn't.

- Paul
I'd be interested to know more about this, as it runs contrary to the more basic concept of static friction being greater than kinetic friction.
 
I was wondering the same thing, but held my thought. Static friction is greater for a given load and contact area than kinetic friction... Perhaps the belief is more generated on observation, that "we get the most traction right as our wheels start to slip" - since that's the "observable edge". You can't hit max traction without going a little too far (slipping) then backing off.
 
I'm not an engineer and don't pretend to understand the fine points.

What I gather is that with AC motors, it is possible to detect the point where adhesion is lost much more effectively, and reduce torque much faster than with DC motors, which will run away into true wheel slip. I believe that with AC, controlling the frequency of the power circuit does this inherently. So the traction control system is basically 'pushing the envelope' all the time, powering up until adhesion is lost, then cycling back quickly when wheel slip is detected. I gather the result of these micro-slips is that the wheels turn faster than the locomotive is actually moving. The units have a radar unit that measures speed over ground and compares to tread speed, and this controls how the power is modulated to the motors.

This system was first introduced with EMD's SD70MAC model. If you have ever heard this technology at work, you know the sound. It works in dynamic braking mode also.

- Paul
 
It sounds like you understand the fine points quite well! Thanks for the explanation. Sounds like it's doing just what we thought - riding the edge. That's all I meant when I said it's probably just perceived by the industry that maximum adhesion is actually "a little slip" - the reality is that's just when the feedback loop scales back real quick and it all happens so fast, that visually, it appears as though a little slip is best.

With regard to the new streetcars; where exactly are the Leslie Barns? I found a system map, but I can't seem to find one that shows where the barn is relative to the network layout. This goes back to my question of trying to understand why a couple of the new LFLRV's were showing up on a route other than 510.
 
With regard to the new streetcars; where exactly are the Leslie Barns? I found a system map, but I can't seem to find one that shows where the barn is relative to the network layout. This goes back to my question of trying to understand why a couple of the new LFLRV's were showing up on a route other than 510.

South of Queen, between Broadview and Coxwell. All LFLRV's make the trip across Queen to get to their runs, so they are effectively 501 or 504 short turn cars.

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- Paul
 

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I'm not an engineer and don't pretend to understand the fine points.

What I gather is that with AC motors, it is possible to detect the point where adhesion is lost much more effectively, and reduce torque much faster than with DC motors, which will run away into true wheel slip. I believe that with AC, controlling the frequency of the power circuit does this inherently. So the traction control system is basically 'pushing the envelope' all the time, powering up until adhesion is lost, then cycling back quickly when wheel slip is detected. I gather the result of these micro-slips is that the wheels turn faster than the locomotive is actually moving. The units have a radar unit that measures speed over ground and compares to tread speed, and this controls how the power is modulated to the motors.

This system was first introduced with EMD's SD70MAC model. If you have ever heard this technology at work, you know the sound. It works in dynamic braking mode also.

- Paul
This makes sense, as it's essentially ABS for acceleration. As Duck says, if it happens fast enough, it would look like continuous slip.
 
I'm not an engineer and don't pretend to understand the fine points.

What I gather is that with AC motors, it is possible to detect the point where adhesion is lost much more effectively, and reduce torque much faster than with DC motors, which will run away into true wheel slip. I believe that with AC, controlling the frequency of the power circuit does this inherently. So the traction control system is basically 'pushing the envelope' all the time, powering up until adhesion is lost, then cycling back quickly when wheel slip is detected. I gather the result of these micro-slips is that the wheels turn faster than the locomotive is actually moving. The units have a radar unit that measures speed over ground and compares to tread speed, and this controls how the power is modulated to the motors.

This system was first introduced with EMD's SD70MAC model. If you have ever heard this technology at work, you know the sound. It works in dynamic braking mode also.

- Paul

Modern DC traction systems do this as well, although they are not able to do it quite as well as the thermal capacity of an AC traction motor is enormous when compared to that of a DC traction motor.

Anyways, going back to the topic at hand - yes, the Flexities have wheelslip control, both for acceleration and braking. For that matter, the CLRVs do, as well. I'm not clear how exactly the system works in the Flexities, but in the CLRVs it measures the speed of the axles of the front truck versus those of the rear truck, and will reduce traction power or braking force momentarily and automatically apply sand to the rail.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
This isn't about the new Flexities and I wasn't sure where to post - but it looks like Nike is turning a TTC ALRV into a mobile shoe store dubbed "SNKRS XPRESS" for the NBA All-Star Game this weekend. Article here.


Interestingly, the rendering of inside the car looks like major modifications were made. I wonder if the TTC just sold Nike an old ALRV that wasn't being refurbished for them to use, then to be disposed of after. Insights on this?
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