ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Square]

Some more LRT news, I like the bit about the substation. I wonder how many more of the original planned substations will get moved? http://www.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/6...-the-list/

[Canard]

Here are a couple of photos from earlier this morning.

Work on Courtland:

   

   

   

[Canard]

OCS Poles are being stored behind Schneiders along Borden:

   

First OCS Poles up on Borden:

   

Sorry, I don't know what it is, but I just love this stretch of track!

   

[Canard]

OCS Poles are going up along the Waterloo Spur:

   

   

   

[tomh009]

Here are a couple of photos from earlier this morning.

Work on Courtland:

Thanks!  Where is the last photo (with the big dig) from?  I assume somewhere on Courtland, but where?

[Canard]

A big weekend push seems to be on to complete replacement of the track in front of the Perimeter Institute.  The Tamper and Ballast Plough are just upstream from here, waiting to go.  The crews were placing ties this morning, so I bet later today they'll be placing rails and attaching the E-Clips.

   

   

   

[Canard]

Thanks!  Where is the last photo (with the big dig) from?  I assume somewhere on Courtland, but where?

I was standing on the Block Line bridge, facing South(ish*), toward that big GM Dealership. I can't get over how much landscaping and ground work is going on here. I wish I'd taken some photos of this area before they started, so I could compare once it's all done to get a feel for the scope of it!

* - Every direction given in Waterloo Region should probably have the suffix "ish"

[tomh009]

OCS Poles are going up along the Waterloo Spur:

OCS poles on the spur line look like they have an I-beam profile, but the ones on Borden are the usual round profile -- is that right?

[panamaniac]

OCS Poles are going up along the Waterloo Spur:

OCS poles on the spur line look like they have an I-beam profile, but the ones on Borden are the usual round profile -- is that right?

Those I-beams are ugly!

[Canard]

Well, that's probably why they're on the spur, for aesthetics where few people will see them and it's a little cheaper to use the simple rolled profile. But catenary in general is ugly.

[notmyfriends]

Some more LRT news, I like the bit about the substation.  I wonder how many more of the original planned substations will get moved?       http://www.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/6...-the-list/

That's a pretty nice house they've switched to using now.  Any chance they can work these things into an old facade, or do they necessitate a tear down?  Asked another way, when they are located right on a visible property that is likely to be a developed main street area, are they bothering to make them fit into the streetscape?

[GtwoK]

As always, thanks for the photos Canard! I'm reaaallly hoping that this is just because of the telephoto lens you're using, but good lord, Borden looks like an absolute mess with those catenary poles up. The whole area just looks like a mess of poles and wires. I was hoping the LRT would help clean up these areas, but looks like it's just making it worse!

[mpd618]

Asked another way, when they are located right on a visible property that is likely to be a developed main street area, are they bothering to make them fit into the streetscape?

No.

[tomh009]

As always, thanks for the photos Canard! I'm reaaallly hoping that this is just because of the telephoto lens you're using, but good lord, Borden looks like an absolute mess with those  catenary poles up. The whole area just looks like a mess of poles and wires. I was hoping the LRT would help clean up these areas, but looks like it's just making it worse!

I do think it's the distance compression effect from the telephoto: look how close to each other the traffic cones appear to be.

[Canard]

By this late afternoon, they'd laid a few more strips of ribbon rail down across the culvert by Waterloo Park.

The wider concrete ties in the foreground are for the crossing of the Laurel Trail toward Father David Bauer drive.

   

These guys are drilling holes in the side of the old, used track to attach the fish plates on the side.  This is all just temporary stuff.