Author Archives: Oren

Rail Photo of the Month: March 2022

Posted on by

Tatra KT4 1142

Location: Ivan Franko Street, Lviv, Ukraine
Operator of Vehicle: LKP Lvivelektrotrans
Date of Photo: June 1, 2008

It is very difficult to escape news about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine right now.  I visited Lviv in western Ukraine in 2008 on a family origins tour.  From what I’ve read, Lviv has not been the site of any warfare yet, but many Ukrainians are passing through the city as they attempt to escape the country and reach Poland, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Lviv.  

Unlike the larger cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, Lviv does not have a Metro system.  The backbone of its public transit system is a tram network that traces its origins to horse drawn vehicles beginning operation in 1880.  The trams have been electrified since 1908.  However, due to the lack of expansion of the system since World War II and difficulties in keeping it maintained, ridership has declined by more than half between 1990 and 2010.  Until 2014, the system was operated entirely by Soviet built trams.  In that year, a Ukrainian-German joint venture delivered eight low floor trams to Lviv, and in 2020, a low floor tram model built entirely in Ukraine entered service.

For more photos of Lviv’s Tatra KT4 trams, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: February 2022

Posted on by

Eidan 500 Series 732

Location: Carlos Pellegrini Station, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Operator of Vehicle: Metrovías
Date of Photo: January 12, 2018

Plenty of attention was given (and deservedly so) to the retirement of New York City’s R32 subway cars during December and January.  Most of the digital ink devoted to the R32’s farewell rides mentioned that these were among the oldest subway cars in the world.  So what cars should get this title?  I’m not entirely sure this is the answer, but Buenos Aires’s Eidan 500 Series cars are certainly in the running.  The Eidan 500 Series cars were built in Japan and entered service on the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (now known as the Toyko Metro) on January 20, 1954.  They ran continuously until July of 1996, at which time most of them were sold to be used on the Buenos Aires Subte, while some others were preserved in Japan.  They remain in service on Buenos Aires’s Line B, alongside other secondhand rolling stock purchased from the Madrid Metro.  

Incidentally, for many years, Buenos Aires was the indisputable winner of oldest subway cars in operation title.  The wooden “La Brugeoise” cars operated for nearly a century on Line A from its opening in 1913 until early 2013.  When they were removed from service after 99 years of service, there was no question that they were the oldest subway cars in use anywhere at the time.  Considering Buenos Aires’s tendency to purchase secondhand rolling stock for the Subte, it is quite possible that this distinction will reside in the Argentinian capital with some frequency.

Are you aware of any subway cars in service that are older than the Eidan 500 Series in Buenos Aires?  If so, post a comment with the subway car type that you think is the world’s oldest currently in revenue operations.

For more photos of the Eidan 500 Series, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: February 2022

Posted on by

New Flyer D60LFR 3314

Location: Forbes Avenue at Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Date of Photo: November 27, 2015

Bus Photo of the Month: January 2022

Posted on by

New Flyer XE40 1001

Location: Friendship Heights Station, Chevy Chase, MD
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Date of Photo: October 24, 2019

The number of electric buses in the United States has been increasing in recent years, and 2022 is only going to continue that trend.  In mid-2021, the American Public Transportation Association estimated that about 1,000 of nearly 73,000 public buses was powered by electricity.  The number of agencies that have purchased electric buses for their fleets continues to rise, and some have committed to only purchasing electric buses in order to make their fleets emission free.  

In the Washington, DC area, WMATA, the largest agency in the region, currently has a single electric bus that entered service in 2016.  Pre-pandemic, it operated during rush hours only on routes in Northwest Washington.  After receiving some public criticism from the likes of the Sierra Club for not adopting a plan to convert the fleet to electric vehicles sooner, in December, WMATA announced a plan to convert its fleet to be fully electric vehicles by 2045.  Ten buses purchased as part of the agency’s Battery-Electric Bus Test and Evaluation Program are expected to enter service at the Shepherd Parkway Division later this year.

WMATA isn’t the only agency with electric buses in the DC area.  DC Circulator has been operating a fleet of Proterra electric buses since May 2018.  Ride On’s first electric buses, also Proterras, entered service in the fall of 2020.  DASH in Alexandria, VA introduced New Flyer XE40s in the fall of 2020 and Proterras during the summer of 2021.  Finally, in Frederick, MD, TransIT purchased five Gillig Advantage low floor buses that were converted to operate using battery electric power in 2016 and an additional four BYD K7M buses in 2020.

Although the upfront cost of purchasing an electric bus is higher than that of a standard diesel or diesel-electric hybrid, electric buses often have much lower maintenance costs.  Therefore, over the life of an electric bus, its “true cost” is lower than that of conventionally powered buses.  

For more photos of WMATA’s New Flyer XE40 Buses, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: January 2022

Posted on by

R32 3410

Location: Lorimer Street/Broadway, Brooklyn, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: June 2, 2014

For the past 15 or so years, the MTA has operated some of its vintage subway cars on Sundays in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  After a one year hiatus last year due to the pandemic, the tradition is back again this year, albeit with a twist.  Instead of the traditional R1–9 (“Arnine”) train, this year’s event is a sendoff for the 58 year old R32 subway cars.  The R32s were nominally retired in April 2020, though they briefly reentered service during the summer of 2020 when the R179s were pulled from revenue service due to mechanical issues.  The farewell train will run twice more this year, on the 6th Avenue and Central Park West lines on January 2, and on the Second Avenue, Broadway, and Brighton lines on January 9.  On the latter date, the train will be operating over the Q train route, which is the line they originally debuted on in 1964.  As of this writing, the R32s are the oldest subway cars in operation anywhere in North America and among the oldest to be in operation anywhere in the world.  The R32 has also outlasted the R38s, R40s, R42s, and R44s, all of which were built after the R32.  

The R32 is also the last New York City car type to have a full “railfan window” at the front of the train.  This meant you could stand at the front of the train and see signals and other infrastructure pass by with a view almost identical to that of the train operator.  I loved standing at this window on the R32s (and other New York City car types with the feature) and while going through my photos to select one for this post, noticed there was often someone standing at the window.  I wonder how many New Yorkers became transit enthusiasts because of this opportunity that future generations will not experience.  While there may be operational advantages to building trains with full width cabs, a certain nostalgia is being lost as a result.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to New York for any of the farewell trips.  However, I had a great time chasing the R32 trainsets on the J line on June 2, 2014, and one of the photos from that day is featured here.  (My last R32 photos were taken in 2019 but aren’t particularly noteworthy.)

For information about the farewell trip routes and schedules, please click here for the press release from the MTA.

For more photos of the R32s, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: December 2021

Posted on by

Orion VII/HEV 6735

Location: East 79th Street & Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: May 8, 2017

With the gradual retirement of the RTS buses that had been a mainstay on the streets of New York for decades, the Orion VII became the most prevalent bus in the Big Apple.  Although the Orion VII is not on the verge of being entirely removed from service, the number of buses in the “original” style of construction is dwindling.  As of this writing, some depots have fewer than 10 buses of this style available for service.  Since the “Next Generation” model of the Orion VII was introduced in 2007 and a transit bus in the United States is typically in service for between 12 and 15 years, it is not surprising to see that the last of the Orion VIIs to be built using the original design are being retired.  

Although the original Orion VII design was quite boxy and not particurily streamlined, I actually prefer it over the “Next Generation” design.  To me, the latter looks like a poor imitation of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro models frequently found in Europe, and just doesn’t look right as a US bus model.  Which one do you prefer?

For more photos of MTA New York City Transit’s Orion VII buses, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: December 2021

Posted on by

Bombardier Type 1 LRV 110

Location: Old Town/Chinatown Station, Portland, OR
Operator of Vehicle: TriMet
Date of Photo: August 2, 2007

Recently, TriMet shared photos of its Type 6 rolling stock, currently being manufactured by Siemens.  The 26 Type 6 LRVs are expected to enter in service in 2022, replacing the original 26 Type 1 LRV cars ordered for the opening of the Portland light rail network in 1986.  These cars, the only Portland LRV cars to not be manufactured by Siemens, have seen a number of changes over the course of their 35 year careers.  Originally, they came equipped with stop request cords that passengers had to use in order to have the train operator stop at stations to alight, just like on a bus.  The Type 1s also lacked air conditioning until it was added during a retrofit in the late 1990s.  More recently, most of the fleet underwent a body overhaul program carried out by Trimet employees.  Finally, the Type 1s had their rollsigns replaced with LED signage in 2016 and 2017.  

When I was in Portland in 2007, the Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 cars were the only ones in service.  I have yet to visit Portland since the Type 4 and Type 5 cars entered service.  The Type 6 cars will be almost identical to the Type 5 cars, but will have cabs at each end of the car, rather than just at one end.

For more photos of Trimet MAX Light Rail Rolling Stock, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: November 2021

Posted on by

CQ311 272

Location: Five Points Station, Atlanta, GA
Operator of Vehicle: MARTA
Date of Photo: August 12, 2000

This Photo of the Month selection honors the Atlanta Braves, who just won the 2021 World Series.  Back when I took this photo on my first trip to Atlanta in 2000, the Braves were not even five years removed from their first championship in Atlanta, they played at Turner Field, and the CQ311 rolling stock seen here would not begin to undergo rehabilitation for another six years.  While Turner Field wasn’t particularly close to a MARTA station, a short shuttle bus ride connected the stadium to the West End station, about two miles away.  Starting with the 2017 season, the Braves have played their home games at what is currently called Truist Park, which has practically no public transit access.  Two circulators serving the Cumberland area around the stadium operate every 30 minutes on weekdays and every 60 minutes on Saturdays.  A CobbLinc route from the Arts Center MARTA station stops about a 7 to 10 minute walk from the stadium, but does not operate on Sundays.  MARTA route 12 connects the Midtown Station to Cumberland Mall, but then one must transfer to the aforementioned Cumberland area circulator, which doesn’t operate on Sundays.  For all intents and purposes, the best way to get to the stadium is by car, which is why the Braves cited the lack sufficient parking at and the long drive for many fans to Turner Field as reasons they needed to move out to the suburbs.  

While you can’t easily take transit to see the Braves defend their title next season, fortunately, many other MLB stadiums are easily accessible by transit.  Truist Park has a “Transit Score” of 43, ahead of only the Tampa Bay Rays (41), Milwaukee Brewers (40), Kansas City Royals (32) and the Texas Rangers (0 due to playing in a city with no fixed route public transit at all).  

For more photos of MARTA Rolling Stock, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: November 2021

Posted on by

MAN NG-363F 44420

Location: David Remez at the Old Train Station, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Egged
Date of Photo: May 25, 2018

In many places, bus systems are operated on a tender basis by various companies.  In these systems, a transportation ministry or some other oversight entity puts out a call for bids from interested parties to operate the service.  The idea is that the cost of operating the service will be lower if it is operated by a transportation company rather than directly by the oversight agency.  Sometimes, a company is able to maintain its tender for many years, and it is notable when a change in operator occurs.  

Egged had a near monopoly on bus services within Israel for many years, though in the past twenty years or so, many other companies have won tenders that Egged historically operated.  However, Jerusalem intracity service remained with Egged, as it had dating back to some of Egged’s predecessor companies that merged when Egged was formed.  This Friday, the second phase of transitioning some of Jerusalem’s intracity service to other companies will take effect.  In July, Superbus took over four routes serving the Old City and started operating a new route to the Old City as well.  This Friday, three new routes will be established, and two routes, 74 and 75, will transfer from Egged to Superbus.  The 74 and 75 are not nearly as “historical” as some other transport routes in the city, but the 74 is notable for being the first “rapid” route to be launched in the city back in 2008.  Seeing Superbus vehicles on this route, rather than Egged vehicles, is certainly going to take some getting used to.

For more photos of Jerusalem MAN NG-363F Buses, please click here.

Sepia Vibes in Santa Fe’s Railyard

Posted on by

MPI MP36PH-3C 107 leaving Santa Fe Depot, August 3, 2018

Just south of the Santa Fe Depot in Santa Fe, NM is an area called the Railyard.  This area has been the terminal of a train line since the 1880s, and the Railyard area was in fact the rail yard serving the adjacent train depot.  As was the case in many places throughout the United States, after the construction of the Interstate Highway System, rail traffic diminished and eventually, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway discontinued service to one of its namesake destinations (though service was maintained via the short line Santa Fe Southern Railway until 2008, and then by the New Mexico Rail Runner Express).  The area became blighted due to the significant reduction in the railyard’s importance to the city.  Redevelopment plans were announced in 2002, when it was decided to make the 50 acre area an arts district owned by the City of Santa Fe that would retain the historical, industrial feel that the area had been associated with for so many years.  The area is now host to a Farmers Market, Hispanic cultural center, teen art center, restaurants, performance spaces, shops, art galleries, cinema, and residences.

Southbound New Mexico Rail Runner Express trains to Albuquerque pass through the Railyard immediately upon departure from the historic Santa Fe Depot.  When I was walking through this area in 2018 and saw the water tower adjacent to the tracks, I figured a photo of a train passing through this part of the development would be a stunning one.  Although I rarely do this, I applied a sepia tone to the photo for this post in order to give the photo a vibe that might be reminiscent of the area from a bygone era.

What do you think of the sepia tone photo?  You can compare it to the original version by clicking here.