ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Canard]

Yeah... which is why they were not operating automatically, and were operated manually.

[trainspotter139]

Yeah... which is why they were not operating automatically, and were operated manually.

And also why they had a police escort

[trainspotter139]

Northbound Track will be tested today!!

[ijmorlan]

Northbound Track will be tested today!!

I wonder when they will test the crossovers?

[Bob_McBob]

'Everything was positive,' ION light rail car completes first testing

[ijmorlan]

'Everything was positive,' ION light rail car completes first testing

Just saw it in front of UW, on the northbound track (although still heading south).

Does anybody know exactly how far south they are going? Do they stop just shy of the Erb/Caroline intersection?

[Canard]

The original plan was to go that far South, yes.

The idea was that they'd use the freight crossover for LRV's during burn-in, as their bums will stick out into the intersection if they use the LRV crossover, which is further South. As a result, a temporary strand of OCS is wired up, with wooden poles, over the freight crossover.

I wrote up a post with photos and diagrams explaining this some time back, I'll dig around and see if I can find it, and link it here.

[Canard]

So, I can't find the post, so here's a brief description with the diagrams I had made up to go with it.

Here's the layout in that area:

   

Here's the path freight takes (note that freight must always cross over to the SB LRT tracks - because those are the only ones with gauntlet tracks installed):

   

Here's the path LRV's take, in normal operation:

   

Look on the left; you can see two half-crossovers.  Freight uses the one on the far left, LRV's use the one on the right, closer to the intersection.  They are different types - freight can only use the one at the far left (further North).  LRV's can use both, from a wheel-interface standpoint, but in normal operation (beyond testing) they'll only ever use the one at the right - which is the only one fitted with permanent contact wire.  The temporary contact wire strung above the freight crossover allows LRVs to turn back without blocking the intersection.

Hope that makes sense!

[KevinT]

Thanks for the link, Markster. I don't do the faceboo thing, so it's a helpful reference for me.

All the videos I posted to the Facebook group yesterday have also now been uploaded to YouTube:

YouTube: Ion LRT Push Test Playlist

[Markster]

Posing at a jaunty angle

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well hello there <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rideIONrt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RegionWaterloo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RegionWaterloo</a> <a href="https://t.co/1yTEC36HP9">pic.twitter.com/1yTEC36HP9</a></p>&mdash; Chris Lolas (@crlolas) <a href="https://twitter.com/crlolas/status/928313126898094081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2017</a></blockquote>

[timc]

I believe the clock in that photograph hasn't been set back for the fall yet.

[JCnb]

Flexy was coming out of the maintenance building again this morning about 10 minutes ago, are they done with clearance testing yet? I would think self powered testing could start as soon as the track is cleared.

[timc]

As of yesterday, I don't think the power was on. I suppose that could change, but so soon?

[danbrotherston]

Flexy was coming out of the maintenance building again this morning about 10 minutes ago, are they done with clearance testing yet? I would think self powered testing could start as soon as the track is cleared.

As I understand there's actually more clearance testing.  I'm guessing that both tracks in the first testing zone have been tested, but there are still crossovers.

[KevinT]

Flexy was coming out of the maintenance building again this morning about 10 minutes ago, are they done with clearance testing yet? I would think self powered testing could start as soon as the track is cleared.

I threw my bike in the trunk this morning, if it's not raining on my lunch break I'll ride the test section and report back if I spot it.