ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[KevinT]

Another thing I've noticed are the 'no left / no right / train' signs are way too conservative, particularly the ones out of the Graybar driveways on Hayward.  For northbound trains they don't clear until the train has made it quite some distance down Courtland, leaving a driver blocked for 30 seconds or more after the train has passed.  I haven't sat around to watch but I'd be surprised if their employees haven't already developed bad habits, and I fear "the boy who cried wolf" effect is going to cause an accident there one day. 

Agreed. Yesterday at Water and Charles after a train went by I counted 24 seconds (not with a watch, so not exact) that the `no right / train` sign was lit. It didn't turn off until all the lights at the intersection changed to allow traffic on water to move again.

The signals for the on-street sections are triggered by 'inductive loops' in the pavement, just like left turn lanes are for cars.  (That's why the bus parked on the tracks at Charles kept triggering the train cycles at Ontario.)  There's a loop on each side to allow trains to reverse run in emergencies, and I suspect it's not until the train has cleared the second loop that the signs go dark.  To me that's a design deficiency, as soon as the second loop is triggered the sign could go dark, but there's probably some arcane "what if?" based regulation that governed the way it was done.

I keep hoping the vehicle location system that's used for schedule adherence and automatic train protection will be overlayed into it somehow to make it more precise (and also prevent false trips from cars, bikes, and buses), but the closer we get to launch without a change to the status quo the more I think it's just not going to happen.

Edit to add: We also have to recognize that what appears to be an arcane "what if?" based regulation may have been written in blood. Failure of imagination during the design phase has been responsible for innumerable injuries and deaths.

[jamincan]

I wonder if the long length of the "No Right Turn" signs has to do with the signs just being tied into larger blocks so that if the block is occupied, the signs come on, if it's not, they go off. It would be a simpler and cheaper arrangement, especially where there are multiple spots in close succession where the signs are required, but it would mean that the signs would be slower to respond to a passing train.

[tomh009]

I saw a train with no numbers at all at around 6:15 AM today. Could this have been 501? Or are there other trains that are missing numbers? (It did have the usual larger "testing" decals, though.)

[tomh009]

We have art! (This is at the Kitchener Market station.)

   

[Rainrider22]

I like it !!

[Rainrider22]

And I notice that in the background we can see that DTK still doesn't have a completed crane !!

[KevinL]

And I notice that in the background we can see that DTK still doesn't have a completed crane !!

Per the DTK thread, they had issues installing the jib.

[robdrimmie]

The piece looks really good from the seat of a bus as well. Next time I ride to/from work I'm planning on taking Charles to see it in person.

[urbd]

[robdrimmie]

Great Canadian Coaches do all kinds of different runs, scheduled and chartered. Since Google isn't in the Tannery any more, I suspect it's not them. My guess is that's it's most likely a delegation visiting the Hub, Velocity, or D2L.

[timc]

I saw a train with no numbers at all at around 6:15 AM today. Could this have been 501? Or are there other trains that are missing numbers? (It did have the usual larger "testing" decals, though.)

I saw one at lunch time today that had no number on the front, but there was a number on the side. It was not 501, but I can't remember which one it was.

[kps]

Pretty sure this is Google's shuttle coach service.

It's not. Google uses the same bus company, but this is the wrong location, wrong time of day, and lacks the route sign in the window.

[tomh009]

I saw a train with no numbers at all at around 6:15 AM today. Could this have been 501? Or are there other trains that are missing numbers? (It did have the usual larger "testing" decals, though.)

I saw one at lunch time today that had no number on the front, but there was a number on the side. It was not 501, but I can't remember which one it was.

Paying more attention this morning, I notice that 502 has no number on the front but it does have numbers above the cockpit (?) windows.

I thought the one I saw didn't have those either but I may be mistaken on that ...

[urbd]

Great Canadian Coaches do all kinds of different runs, scheduled and chartered. Since Google isn't in the Tannery any more, I suspect it's not them. My guess is that's it's most likely a delegation visiting the Hub, Velocity, or D2L.

Pretty sure this is Google's shuttle coach service.

It's not. Google uses the same bus company, but this is the wrong location, wrong time of day, and lacks the route sign in the window.

I know GCC does other runs. As for the location, I was under the impression that still or until very recently Google had some staff on the ground floor and basement of the Tannery - this is what friends that work at Google told me a few months ago, maybe by now they have all moved to Breithaupt.

[urbd]

Also, it feels lonely here without Canard. It's pretty sad that he left this forum mere weeks before launch date. It would be nice to hear his thoughts at this stage of the project and after opening.