Rail Photo of the Month: October 2021

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MPI MP36PH-3C 102

Location: Santa Fe Depot, Santa Fe, NM
Operator of Vehicle: Herzog Transit Services (under contract to the New Mexico Department of Transportation and Rio Metro)
Date of Photo: August 3, 2018

Staying in New Mexico for the rail photo of the month, we head up to the state capitol of Santa Fe.  This is the terminal of the state’s lone commuter rail line, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, which connects Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  Service began in 2006 on a portion of the route from Albuquerque to Sandoval County, and reached Santa Fe in 2008.  The Santa Fe Depot serves as the northern terminal of the line.  The depot building was the namesake of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, founded in 1880, but was only connected to the mainline railway by a spur due to steep grades making it difficult to connect the mainline to Santa Fe itself.  The station was little used for many years, housing the offices of the short line Santa Fe Southern Railway until 2008.  This past July, it was announced that the depot building will be overhauled and restored in accordance with the historical preservation guidelines that the station falls under.

The area around the Santa Fe Depot, known as the Railyard, has been a focus of urban renewal since 2002.  A “Viewfinder” post about that development will be coming later this week.

For more photos of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: October 2021

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New Flyer DE40LFR 976

Location: 1st Street at Gold Avenue, Albuquerque, NM
Operator of Vehicle: ABQ RIDE
Date of Photo: August 6, 2018

As transit agencies attempt to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, some of them are turning to fare free operations to create an incentive for riders to return.  The pros and cons of fare free transit are many, and won’t be discussed here.  However, back on September 20, Albuquerque became one of the largest cities in the United States to pilot a fare free program when the city council voted on the issue.  The buses in New Mexico’s largest city will be fare free throughout all of 2022.

Although I took this picture back in 2018 when fares had to be paid to ride ABQ RIDE, it is likely that the agency is still looking to hire bus operators, as many transit agencies are currently short staffed.  I don’t think I’ve seen many agencies using their bus headsigns has a recruitment tool, but maybe I just haven’t been to the right places to see that.

What do you think of fare free pilots and/or using the bus destination sign to announce operator job openings?  Leave a comment with your opinion!

For more photos of ABQ RIDE buses, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: September 2021

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Flxible Metro-E 6177

Location: Madison Street at Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL
Operator of Vehicle: Chicago Transit Authority
Date of Photo: July 30, 2007

It has been over ten years since my last proper visit to Chicago.  I’m not sure when my next one will be, but one thing that won’t be there is a Flxible Metro-E such as this one.  The CTA retired its last Flxible Metro buses in 2010, and the fleet now consists solely of New Flyer and NovaBUS models.  

For more photos of CTA buses, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: September 2021

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Class 7200 locomotive 7273

Location: Gare d’Austerlitz, Paris, France
Operator of Vehicle: SNCF
Date of Photo: March 22, 2008

When one thinks of the national railroads of Europe, people often think of high speed trains such as the TGV.  However, there are other types of trains in Europe.  For example, the French national railroad company, SNCF, operates electric locomotives such as this one on a variety of non-TGV passenger services, as well as freight services.  Although slower than their high speed counterparts, the Class 7200 locomotives are capable of reaching speeds of 120 MPH (200 KPH) on long distance express services.  This particular locomotive was photographed at the Gare d’Austerlitz, which is currently undergoing major construction work to accommodate TGV services.

For more photos of SNCF locomotives, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: August 2021

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R46 5994

Location: Broad Channel Station, Queens, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: September 3, 2019

In late June, the first of the new R211 cars was delivered for acceptance testing, While they probably won’t enter revenue service until some time in 2022, their delivery does mark the beginning of the end for what are currently the oldest subway cars in New York, the R46s. The R46s certainly reflect the 1970s when they were built in terms of interior color scheme and other features such as transverse seating, wood paneled windscreens, and a lack of traditional straps for commuters to hold while standing. Fittingly, the R211s that will replace the R46s are also meant to revolutionize subway car design with new LED front end signage, open gangways, interior LED lighting and wider doors.

For more photos of the R46s, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: August 2021

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Orion V 69

Location: King Street Station, Alexandria, VA
Operator of Vehicle: Alexandria Transit Company
Date of Photo: June 17, 2009

The DC transit scene used to be dominated by the Orion V.  They made up a sizeable portion of WMATA’s bus fleet, and also had a significant presence at Ride On and Fairfax Connector.  Now, the only local agency to operate the bus type is DASH, and even those days are numbered.  DASH, the local bus system in the City of Alexandria, is about to undergo other changes, too.  In addition to the imminent retirement of what remains of the Orion V fleet, starting next month, DASH will be launching its redesigned bus network and going fare-free.  Along with new articulated buses from New Flyer and electric buses manufactured by Proterra, transit in Alexandria is not going to look like this come next month.  

For more photos of DASH buses, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: July 2021

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Gillig Advantage 6200

Location: Lincoln Street at Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO
Operator of Vehicle: Regional Transportation District (RTD)
Date of Photo: January 24, 2020

I typically try to post the photos of the month on the first two days of each month.  The calendar flipped to July 2021 while I was in the middle of nearly three consecutive weeks of travel (for a mix of business and pleasure), and I wasn’t able to queue up a bus photo to run ahead of time.  So here is a photo from my last pre-pandemic travels, which included a weekend in Denver to celebrate a friend’s wedding.  No other stories to share on this one, just enjoy the photo (and that I/we are back to traveling again)!

For more photos of Denver RTD buses, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: July 2021

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Type 12G 820

Location: Dam Square, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Operator of Vehicle: Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf Amsterdam (GVB)
Date of Photo: June 3, 2008

Last week, I saw an article about the retirement of two tram types in Amsterdam.  The first tram type, the Type 12G, is seen here.  These were among the first low floor trams to operate in Amsterdam, although only the middle section of the tram was actually low floor.  They were also notable for having pedal controls, due to their design being derived from the HTM 3000 Series trams in The Hauge where pedal controls are used widely.  Like most Amsterdam trams, the Type 12G Trams were single ended and required a loop at each end of the line to turn around.  The Type 12G trams were retired without fanfare on January 2, 2021.

The Type 11G trams were much more unique.  They were double ended trams assigned exclusively to Line 5, which did not have a loop at its southern end for trams to turn around.  Line 5 shared the southern portion of its route with Route 51, a hybrid Metro and tram line, at which stations would have two platforms.  A high level platform would serve Route 51, and a low level platform adjacent to the high level platform would serve Route 5.  Due to construction projects in the vicinity of the Amsterdam Zuid railway station (where routes 5 and 51 merged), the connection between Line 51 and the hybrid route to the south was severed in 2019.  Therefore, it was decided to convert this line to one that would only serve low floor trams.  As part of this conversion project, new Type 15G trams were ordered from CAF to operate on both Route 5 and new Route 25 (the replacement for Route 51) that will replace the Type 11G trams.  Although the plan had been for these cars to be retired as of early 2021, some remain in service as of this writing.

A local museum, the Elektrische Museumtramlijn Amsterdam, is acquiring one Type 11G and one Type 12G tram for preservation.  The Type 11G car that they are acquiring is #919, and the Type 12G car that will become a part of their collection is #820, seen here in 2008 at Dam Square in the center of the city.  I have a photo of 919 in my collection as well, which can be seen below.

For more photos of the Amsterdam Type 12G trams, please click here. 

For more photos of the Amsterdam Type 11G trams, please click here. 

Rail Photo of the Month: June 2021

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R62A 1750R62A 1750

Location: Grand Central-42nd Street Station, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: March 24, 2017

Last week, I had a business trip to New York City.  Despite not having been on public transit for over 400 days due to the Covid-19 pandemic, being back on the rails didn’t feel all that different, until I descended in to the subway to take the 6 train to where I was having dinner.  I consider the 6 train to be my “home route” in New York, but after about 15 years of R142As exclusively serving the line, I’m still not used to seeing R62As, such as the one pictured here, on this route.  One might think that this would be an easy adjustment to make, as R62As were the predominant car type from the late 1980s until the introduction of the R142A in 2000.  However, for some reason, I just haven’t gotten used to their reintroduction along the Lexington Avenue Line.  Is there any vehicle assignment and line pairing that just seems out of place to you, no matter how hard you try getting used to it?

Although the sight of an R62A on the 6 still seems unusual to me, I really like this picture because of how the curved platform creates a “snaking effect” for the yellow platform edge and makes it possible to see the front part of the train from the location where I took the photo near the rear end of the platform.   Curved platforms are definitely a relic of older systems such as New York’s and while they pose a variety of accessibility and safety concerns, they can also make for some interesting photography vantage points.

For more photos of the R62A Subway Cars, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: June 2021

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Marcopolo DL036Marcopolo DL036

Location: Tv. Nestor de Castro, Curitiba, Brazil
Operator of Vehicle: URBS – Urbanização de Curitiba S.A.
Date of Photo: July 18, 2010

On May 27, Jaime Lerner, the former mayor of Curitiba in southern Brazil, passed away at the age of 83.  Lerner was considered to be one of the most influential urban planners.  If you’ve used a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that features level boarding, fare payment prior to boarding, and exclusive right of ways for the buses to travel, that system’s design was influenced by the network in Curitba that Lerner was critical in creating in the 1970s.  

Lerner’s professional training was as an architect and urban planner.  Prior to becoming mayor, Lerner proposed the closing of a major street in the center of Curitiba because of the high pedestrian volumes on that street.  Once appointed as mayor (Brazil was a military dictatorship at the time), Lerner worked to implement the BRT system, as he believed it would be able to improve transportation within the entire city at a larger scale than a more expensive subway system serving fewer areas.  Considering that daily ridership is about 2.3 million people per day in a metropolitan area of 3.4 million people, Lerner was undoubtedly successful in his goals.  By comparison, the Sao Paolo Metro carries about 5.3 million people per day in a city of 12.3 million residents.  BRT systems that take inspiration from Curitiba include the TransMilenio in Bogota, Colombia, Metropolitanio in Lima, Peru, Emerald Express in Eugene, Oregon, the Orange Line in Los Angeles, California, and the Strip and Downtown Express in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Curitiba is also known for its many parks, public forests, and other cultural institutions.  

While traveling in Brazil in 2010, I visited Curitiba, although I did not ride the BRT system.  Given the risks that come with being a solo traveler who did not (and still does not) speak Portuguese, taking a joyride on the transit system in Curitiba was out of the question.  However, I unexpectedly had the opportunity to meet Lerner for a one-on-one conversation lasting about an hour while I was in Curitiba.  I will attempt to share some of the highlights of that discussion as well as a talk I heard him give at the Jerusalem Municipality in 2009 in the next week or so.

For more photos of Curitiba’s Rede Integrada de Transporte, please click here.