ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[danbrotherston]

Yeah, I didn't want to dignify that with a post here because it's so bogus.

Without saying too much I can assure you that LRT construction had virtually nothing to do with that place closing.

(One could even argue that LRT construction gave them additional traffic passing by)

Agreed very much. Now if Central Fresh had closed I might have been forced to accept it as a victim of LRT.

They are at least actually in the construction zone.  

Honestly, the other one just sounds like sour grapes.

[DHLawrence]

Bombardier's been shipping to Toronto with CP though.  If they do that for our vehicles it will come up from Cambridge past Freeport, Fairway, Ottawa/Mill etc.  A lot of excellent viewing opportunities there, if we know when to look.

Hey, we'll be getting light rail in Cambridge after all!

[jwilliamson]

There is an open house at the OMSF tomorrow from 10-2.

Region of Waterloo

[ijmorlan]

Agreed very much. Now if Central Fresh had closed I might have been forced to accept it as a victim of LRT.

They are at least actually in the construction zone.  

Honestly, the other one just sounds like sour grapes.

That reminds me. Did Jay move his fence business off of Northfield? Or is he waiting for property values to increase after the LRT comes? I remember joking at one point that he is so litigious he would sell before construction, then sue the Region for his loss in not getting the property value increase after the LRT came.

[Canard]

That reminds me. Did Jay move his fence business off of Northfield? Or is he waiting for property values to increase after the LRT comes? I remember joking at one point that he is so litigious he would sell before construction, then sue the Region for his loss in not getting the property value increase after the LRT came.

His "Future Home" in Woodstock has been sitting like this for years with no activity:

   

There is an open house at the OMSF tomorrow from 10-2.

Region of Waterloo

Today is the day! Can't wait!!

[greybird]

Paving behind City Hall this morning!

[KevinL]

Signal poles going up at Frederick and Duke.

I was, alas, unable to get the day off work and attend the OMSF tour. I'm looking forward to pictures from the members here!

[Pheidippides]

Will the Ion on a flatbed rail car fit under the catenary they've already strung?

[timio]

Took a tour of the OMSF this morning. Can't wait to see it with trains.

[isUsername]

Will the Ion on a flatbed rail car fit under the catenary they've already strung?

I don't know the exact measurements, but the pantograph (the arm that connects the vehicle to the catenary wires) is nearly the same height as the LRV car and it retracts, so you have nearly an LRV-worth of vertical clearance with the pantograph retracted.

[JoeKW]

We had some fun at the open house today

[KevinT]

So I asked about the ION vehicle deliveries today:

The flatcar will be parked on the northbound mainline track just south of the Northfield station platform, and the ION vehicle will be offloaded with ramps. The yard tug (the diesel one, not the battery powered one that was sitting in the shop sans-cab today) will then tow it into the OMSF for commissioning.

Apparently the high speed mainline catenary has more ground clearance than the yard wiring, leaving plenty of room for a flatcar'd ION.

[Pheidippides]

And apparently it will take about 2 weeks for the vehicle to get from factory to OMSF and may end up sitting in Kitchener for a day or two as it switches from CP to GEXR (they are still working it out).

Also, the safety campaign is coming. It will be a joint effort between GrandLinq and the region. They wouldn't be more specific than saying "before regular service."

Finally, apparently late fees have kicked in on LRV #1 already (originally due 15-Aug-2016); which based on the posted rate of $1,500 a day would now be at >$150,000 and counting.

[plam]

I did take some pictures of the OMSF. Decent turnout, especially since I didn't observe that much advertising of the event except for here. They had a lot of staff around to answer any questions.

I also learned that the bogie can separate from the main train body, which is why the spinning track (http://gallery.patricklam.ca/picture.php...egory/1120) can work; with the body attached there wouldn't be enough turning room.

Full set: http://gallery.patricklam.ca/index.php?/category/1120

[KevinL]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1st <a href="[url=https://twitter.com/CrosstownTO">@CrosstownTO</a]https://twitter.com/CrosstownTO">@CrosstownTO</a[/url]> Pilot LRV picture. Departed <a href="[url=https://twitter.com/BombardierRail">@BombardierRail</a]https://twitter.com/BombardierRail">@BombardierRail</a[/url]> yesterday. Exciting! Photo credit: Bryan Martyniuk <a href="[url=https://twitter.com/hashtag/onpoli?src=hash">#onpoli</a]https://twitter.com/hashtag/onpoli?src=hash">#onpoli</a[/url]> <a href="[url=https://twitter.com/hashtag/topoli?src=hash">#topoli</a]https://twitter.com/hashtag/topoli?src=hash">#topoli</a[/url]> <a href="[url=https://twitter.com/Metrolinx">@Metrolinx</a]https://twitter.com/Metrolinx">@Metrolinx</a[/url]> <a href="[url=https://t.co/VXUnJlUmoC">pic.twitter.com/VXUnJlUmoC</a></p>&mdash]https://t.co/VXUnJlUmoC">pic.twitter.com/VXUnJlUmoC</a></p>&mdash[/url]; Chris Drew (@chrisjamesdrew) <a href="[url=https://twitter.com/chrisjamesdrew/status/802962537163550720">November]https://twitter.com/chrisjamesdrew/status/802962537163550720">November[/url] 27, 2016</a></blockquote>