Ottawa Transit Developments

[smallspy]

Wait a minute... so is Alstom saying we need some silly tram rail for their equipment or just rail like European UIC 60 rail vs AREMA 132 RE?? If they are saying they are only going to build equipment for some special tram rail then this is even dumber than I thought. The whole point of going to standard gauge vs TTC gauge is to NOT need a bunch of unique rail and bogies.

No, that doesn't seem to be what Alstom is saying here.

But they have been consistent in their proclamation that their trucks under the Citadis Spirit aren't the culprit. They have tried to blame the rails, the geometry, and the restraining rails.

Which I now believe is wrong. The trucks are the problem. They are a unique design not used anywhere else in the world. And particular to their design, they aren't as stable at supporting the bearings, which would explain why Ottawa is having so many bearing issues.

Dan

 

[urbanclient]

Does anyone know what is so different about Iponam (Ixège POur North AMerica; used on Alstom Citadis Spirits) compared to the regular Ixège bogies?

Doesn't seem to be an issue of pivoting vs. kinda pivoting vs. non-pivoting bogies. As far as I can tell, trams with some bogies being non-pivoting Ixège still perform better than Spirits in tight turns.

2015 Brochure for Alstom Bogies:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150921232307/http://www.alstom.com/Global/Transport/Resources/Documents/brochure2014/Alstom%20Bogies%20Catalogue%202015%20-%20English.pdf?epslanguage=en-GB

 

[smallspy]

Does anyone know what is so different about Iponam (Ixège POur North AMerica; used on Alstom Citadis Spirits) compared to the regular Ixège bogies?

Doesn't seem to be an issue of pivoting vs. kinda pivoting vs. non-pivoting bogies. As far as I can tell, trams with some bogies being non-pivoting Ixège still perform better than Spirits in tight turns.

2015 Brochure for Alstom Bogies:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150921232307/http://www.alstom.com/Global/Transport/Resources/Documents/brochure2014/Alstom%20Bogies%20Catalogue%202015%20-%20English.pdf?epslanguage=en-GB

The main difference is that they are an inside bearing design versus an outside bearing design. The bearings are mounted inboard of the wheels, versus outboard.

This by itself is not unusual. What is unusual is the truck frame in concert with the swing-link suspension AND the outside-hung motors, which use gearboxes to transmit power on the outside of the wheels.

Because of the design, the axles are free to swing in an arc as they move through their suspension range, rather than a pedestal design where they are constrained to only move vertically. And the outside-hung motors mean that there is a torque applied to the end of the axle well outside of both the wheel and the bearing support.

I don't know of any other single LRV design that uses trucks like this. And that includes the Citadis' back in Europe and Africa.

Dan