Modeling European Streetcars with Tomix 1790 Paved Trackage

[bill937ca]

I've been looking at the prototype for the Tomix 1790 street trackage and thinking how it along with Tomix Wide PC Rail could be used to model non-Japanese streetcar trackage.

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,2385.msg23193.html#msg23193

 

Seeing we have lots of members around the world, I thought some photos of streetcar systems in Europe might stimulate some ideas. Unfortunately these photos cannot be hot-linked so you will have to open them.

 

Streetcar lines often have reserved trackage with ballast up almost to the rail head.  Here's an example from Ostravia, Czech Republic.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?25335

 

The starting point would be Wide PC Rail, then some ballast could be added to hide the ties.

 

European systems often have track-width only paved trackage off street. I'm not sure what the benefits of this are other it allows easier access by motorized service vehicles.  This is Liberec, Czech Republic.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?25269

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?25270

 

This could be modeled with a single radius of paved track or if you want to build a terminal you could lay down three different radius of curved track. This is in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?44289

 

There even loops are paved, but only to the track width.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?44348

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?44329

 

Paved trackage doesn't just have to be on urban streets.

 

Those photos are from some of the smaller systems.  Vienna and Budapest are huge systems and you may be able to find lots of ideas. There are 644 photos of the Budapest system alone.

 

In Europe you will find paved trackage in off street junctions where several tram lines come together. Platforms are curb height and the paved surface is only wide enough for two cars. This is Budapest.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?28255

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?28368

 

These are off street terminals with curb loading in Vienna.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?8829

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?8842

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?8898

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?8920

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?8792

 

The big systems will sometimes have lines that time seems to have forgotten. This is Budapest Line 42.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?28120

 

Budapest is another place with off road paved right-of-way trackage.

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?27956

 

That's a lot, but we still haven't looked at streetcar systems in Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and many cities in Germany or Poland.  If you want more its at the link below:

 

http://world.nycsubway.org/world/index.html

 

And most of this you can't do with Kato Unitrack. 

[scott]

Thanks, Bill--lots of interesting pictures and ideas.

 

Pardon me for being slow, but could you post a link to the "1790 Paved Trackage"? I'm having a hard time turning anything up online.

[disturbman]

It's because it has not been released yet. Look here: http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,2385

[bill937ca]

Thanks, Bill--lots of interesting pictures and ideas.

 

Pardon me for being slow, but could you post a link to the "1790 Paved Trackage"? I'm having a hard time turning anything up online.

 

As Vincent said its only a prototype at this point.  I'm guessing it should be on the market in about six months if we are seeing a prototype.

[scott]

I see...thanks, and sorry to be clueless.

[IST]

The big systems will sometimes have lines that time seems to have forgotten. This is Budapest Line 42.

http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?28120

 

This part of the Line 42 was closed some years ago. There was a loop at the end of the line where the photo was taken, but today it is out of use, trams terminated before the loop. I live not too far from there.

Budapest has many tramlines with different trackage, but those are the typical which are on the linked pictures.

[marknewton]

European systems often have track-width only paved trackage off street. I'm not sure what the benefits of this are other it allows easier access by motorized service vehicles.

 

That's the reason, Bill. It allows access for rubber-tyred tower wagons and towing/recovery vehicles.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.