Prague T3 Trams

[bill937ca]

On a recent trip to Prague I came across 7205 (second car in the two-car Tomytec set) in its current livery promoting the Prague Public Transport Museum. It operates on route 23 which runs through the heart of tourist activity Prague.

 

 

[brill27mcb]

And they painted the pantograph red!

 

Rich K.

[brill27mcb]

Have you noticed that the dummy couplers on the Tomytec Leipzig trams have a larger coupling head than the ones on the Prague models? I only recently spotted this. They went to the bother of modeling both sizes!

 

Rich K.

[bill937ca]

2 hours ago, brill27mcb said:

And they painted the pantograph red!

 

Rich K.

Red pantographs on  the museum trams for Route 23. Regular T3s have yellow pantographs.  I will do a full report. Its been a busy week since I got back.

Edited June 23, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

The story of Prague T3 6319 which moved to Kochi Japan.   Today this tram is gone after languishing for a long time due issues with left hand traffic and being single ended. Text in Czech

 

The pictures are interesting because this T3 has the early two piece windshield.

 

https://www.cs-dopravak.cz/gejsa-ze-smichova-tramvaj-tatra-t3-v-japonsku/?fbclid=IwAR12O5Q-adXvbonJitBXPr41jrp1BNdUFkvB6tLaRU11h7GKMmRpIVPEUeg

Edited July 8, 2023 by bill937ca

[Aleks]

I am very surprised at how they brought T3 into Kochi... Europe does have two-sided tram models including Tatras that would be much easier to adapt to left hand traffic. I think the only two-sided T3 adaptation I know if was in later years in Moscow and these only had cabin on one end, but of course there could be others.  This is from 2017 - note both trams had three doors on the right hand side. Both are now in Volgograd.

 

https://aleks.smugmug.com/Trams-Trolleys/n-PsjfnT/Ex-USSR/RU-Москва-2017-Sep/i-JNP5bK6/A

 

https://aleks.smugmug.com/Trams-Trolleys/n-PsjfnT/Ex-USSR/RU-Москва-2017-Sep/i-MrqH36w/A

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Aleks

[Aleks]

On 7/14/2022 at 12:13 PM, bill937ca said:

Prague, Czech Republic based Tatra produced 13,991 T3 trams between 1960 and 1991. These trams were common in Eastern Europe countries in various configurations. As Tatra purchased a PCC license in 1947, T3s are built to PCC specifications.

 

7250 is a subvariant of the T3 called T3SUCS.  This stands for T3, SU for Soviet Union and CS  for Czechoslovakia.  Domestic production of the T3 was stopped in Czechoslovakia in 1976.  The Soviet Union version of the T3 had been built since 1963 and was delivered to 34 different Soviet cities.  The T3SU was the largest single production tram in history with 11,368 trams built.  

 

A late reply and not that it matters anything, but I think actually Russian-built KTM-5M3 aka 71-605 model may have been the largest single model in history with 12,943 built between 1971 and 1989 as the Russian version of this article indicates (and about 15,000 units including its earlier and later variations). Although it does not look anything like a Tatra tram, being designed in late 1960s when boxy designs became fashionable, but in some definitions probably qualifies as a PCC (unlicensed) as it was derived from the RVZ-6 model which itself was derived from Tatra T2. I think the bogies they used were essentially PCC bogies.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTM-5 

 

Both Tatra T3 and KTM-5M3 still operate plenty within Russia and various former Soviet republics.

[bill937ca]

T3 trams date back to the 1960s.  Tonight I came across a set of photos from 1980 during the previous regime. The buildings were in bad shape back then. Lots of soot from coal furnaces. These photos could inspire many great detail scenes.  Like setting up for a market with watermelons piled on the ground. 

 

https://www.bygonely.com/prague-1980s/

Edited July 29, 2023 by bill937ca

[Aleks]

On 12/31/2022 at 1:29 PM, brill27mcb said:

On the Tatra models, Tomytec provides two styles of coupling bars - one straight and one that dips down. The straight one will work with Tomix 140mm radius mini curves and looks more realistic. Like most coupled trams, these will not work with an immediate zig-zag of right/left or left/right curved track pieces. The coupled cars end up pulling each other sideways off the rails when the car ends swing outward in opposite directions. Even a short intermediate straight track piece can solve that.

 

Rich K.

 

I was finally able to do some running of my Tatra Dresden pair T3 today. As noted here, the dipping drawbar can pass through 103mm curve, but the straight coupler cannot.

 

I have one reverse curve at the exit from the depot. First part of the curve is actually a 140mm trailing switch, and then immediately after a 243mm turn to the right. The reverse curve only forms when trams approach the switch from the branch direction, turning left, and then go right into 243mm. It looks like the Tatra pair does have ability to pass through this curve. Although the view this creates is not anything you'd probably ever see prototypically. The only other coupled tram pair I have is Modemo NT154 Hanshin Type 71, and it cannot go through this curve, derails every time. So the Modemo will have to pass through the depot's using one of the other two tracks. There is no space here to add a straight without some significant redesign of the adjacent areas.  

 

I must say the coupled pair of T3s looks totally awesome navigating various curves (other than the weird look in the reverse curve).

Edited July 29, 2023 by Aleks

[railsquid]

Picked this up the other day. Not a kit, but a beginner's guide to the Tatra T3/T4 in booklet format.

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by railsquid

[brill27mcb]

Looks like the first Tatra Leipzig and Dresden T4 + B4 Tomytec model pairs arrived at Hobby Search Japan and promptly went out of stock there (which seems to be their normal business practice).

 

Rich K.

[bill937ca]

56 minutes ago, brill27mcb said:

Looks like the first Tatra Leipzig and Dresden T4 + B4 Tomytec model pairs arrived at Hobby Search Japan and promptly went out of stock there (which seems to be their normal business practice).

 

Rich K.

Just click notify when available.  You usually get a notice within 7 days. I think this could be manufacturers allowing only one pre-order file per dealer and treating all subsequent reservations as reorders.

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10981074

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10981075

 

RG Rokko has them in stock, right at the very bottom.  20% discount.

https://www.railgallery-r.com/n-main_1/02_N_TOMY_Tetsucolle_1c.html

 

If you want to order send them an email listing the models you want, shipping method and payment method.  They take Paypal and I usually use EMS.

 

https://rg-rokko.com/contact

Edited September 24, 2023 by bill937ca

[brill27mcb]

Just a follow-up on the Tomytec Tatra tram models - the end chassis extensions need to have clear space to accommodate the pivoting coupler shanks. Because of this, the normal pair of weights supplied with the Tomytec TM-TR01 power chassis can't go inside the chassis extensions, where they usually go on a more traditional setup. I noticed that a powered Tatra tram model pulling an unmotored tram would visibly slow down a little going around a 140mm radius curve, so I gave thought to how to mount the weights to improve pulling power. The pictures show what I came up with:

 

 

 

The two weights are not the same; one is thicker than the other. The chassis itself is biased to have more weight on the geared truck/bogie. I ended up putting the thinner weight flat across the chassis extension at that geared end, and the thicker weight vertically inside the main chassis on the other end. They both stay pretty low and fit fine. I use a craft store "tacky" glue to secure them. It's white but dries clear and slightly flexible, is water soluble, and can be undone if desired. As a side note, I tend to put the geared truck/bogie to the rear of the tram, a practice I learned from years of O-scale trolley modeling that works well.

 

Rich K.