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CTrain - U2 cars Retirement Watch


LRT

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Just now, LRT said:

Ok this isn't really a Ctrain U2 retirement related but I thought it would be interesting for some to know that the Frankfurt U2s have been retired (some as old as 48 years old!) as of April 3rd 2016. The Frankfurt U2s are the original U2s built until they ventured out to Edmonton in 1977 Calgary and San Diego in 1980. 

Calgary and Edmonton are the last remaining city's to still have there original fleet still in service.

Here's a poor old U2 heading to its final fate...

 

c3dg4x7xifue8le3v.jpg

Ah yes I remember. I believe that a few were kept for historical purposes. 2 or 3 are in the original Frankfurt U Bahn livery.

There is some interesting information about them. Apparently there are two variants of the U2 that operated in Frankfurt. The U2h and U2e. Though they were not really different mechanically or visually, the only difference was the height of the floor. The Frankfurt system is old and platform levels are different on some lines (by height, about a few cms higher/lower) thus two different U2s operated to match platform heights. The system is divided into different sections based on when they were built, the A-side, B side, and C side. Also the traction motors on the U2s in Frankfurt are different from the ones operated here and in Edmonton.

So as of now, Calgary and Edmonton are the only operators of the original U2 high floor variant. Metro Tranvia Mendoza in Argentina operate second hand U2 low floor trains purchased from San Diego which has also retired their entire fleet. Although Edmonton has refurbished their U2s, we can't really say they are original as they have been modified from their original form. So in truth, Calgary is the last city to have original, unrefurbished U2s,

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2 hours ago, CanadianTransitTycoon said:

Ah yes I remember. I believe that a few were kept for historical purposes. 2 or 3 are in the original Frankfurt U Bahn livery.

There is some interesting information about them. Apparently there are two variants of the U2 that operated in Frankfurt. The U2h and U2e. Though they were not really different mechanically or visually, the only difference was the height of the floor. The Frankfurt system is old and platform levels are different on some lines (by height, about a few cms higher/lower) thus two different U2s operated to match platform heights. The system is divided into different sections based on when they were built, the A-side, B side, and C side. Also the traction motors on the U2s in Frankfurt are different from the ones operated here and in Edmonton.

So as of now, Calgary and Edmonton are the only operators of the original U2 high floor variant. Metro Tranvia Mendoza in Argentina operate second hand U2 low floor trains purchased from San Diego which has also retired their entire fleet. Although Edmonton has refurbished their U2s, we can't really say they are original as they have been modified from their original form. So in truth, Calgary is the last city to have original, unrefurbished U2s,

I thought I read somewhere that the U2s in Frankfurt were built with different floor Heights and then later retrofitted

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

http://www.calgarysun.com/2016/11/17/end-of-the-line-for-calgary-transit-lrv-car-2001

 

After 36 years of service, more than 2.5 million kilometres, and too many passengers to count, Calgary Transit's very first Light Rail Vehicle is retiring.



With the windows and doors already gone, crews removed seats from the car at a northeast maintenance facility on Thursday, as part of a decommissioning process that began in September.

"It's bittersweet, there's no doubt about it. They've done a lot for the City of Calgary," said Calgary Transit Fleet Manager Russell Davies.

"Two-point-five million kilometres on one vehicle is a huge, huge amount of services delivered."

When Car 2001 arrived in Calgary from a Germany Siemens factory on April 18, 1980, less than 600,000 people called the city home.

An engineering crew sent from the factory abroad spent up to four months assembling the city's first C-Train, as construction crews built the brand new CTrain system.

The $770,000 shiny white train car, with trendy blue and purple stripes, began operating on May 25, 1981, when the new 10.9 km CTrain route from Anderson Road to 7 Avenue S.W. officially opened.

Then Mayor Ralph Klein, who was less than eight months into his role, drove the first CTrain on opening day.

For the next 35 years and four months, as both the city, and the transit system expanded, Car 2001 transported Calgarians over and over and over again.

Calgary Transit's very first LRV car clocked 2,591,230 km during its lifetime.

While the car was certainly capable of clocking a few more kilometres, Davies said it makes financial sense to take older cars, including Calgary's very oldest, off the tracks.

"Our newer trains, they're running about three to four more times reliable than the old ones," he said.

"From a passenger perspective, you've got a far higher probability of getting to your destination in a newer train than an older one. The sooner we can get our new ones up and running, the better."

The decommissioning process involves stripping the train and reusing, recycling or storing parts in case they're needed to keep other older cars running.

Davies said while some are sad to see Calgary's first LRV car go, others much prefer the newer trains, which have features that certainly didn't exist when Car 2001 landed in Calgary in 1980.

Think air conditioning, passenger information via video displays, technical improvements and a smoother, less jerky ride.

"If you speak to any of the guys on the shop floor who've been maintaining these things for the last 35 years, there are some of the guys that just absolutely love them," he said.

"There's no doubt we've got members of the public that love them as well, actually. And then we've got other people that just can't wait to get them out the door."

 

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Love that old CTrain promo poster!

Figured this was worth sharing. Here is an early photo of #2001 leading a train into Olympic Plaza station sporting quite an interesting livery variant, posted by Rick Thompson in the "You Know You Grew Up In Calgary When..." Facebook group. 

15042019_10154563786611368_7575069860928962034_o.jpg

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1 hour ago, Nick B said:

Love that old CTrain promo poster!

Figured this was worth sharing. Here is an early photo of #2001 leading a train into Olympic Plaza station sporting quite an interesting livery variant, posted by Rick Thompson in the "You Know You Grew Up In Calgary When..." Facebook group. 

15042019_10154563786611368_7575069860928962034_o.jpg

It probably wasn't even called Olympic Plaza Station when that photo was taken!  Nice!

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2 hours ago, Nick B said:

Love that old CTrain promo poster!

Figured this was worth sharing. Here is an early photo of #2001 leading a train into Olympic Plaza station sporting quite an interesting livery variant, posted by Rick Thompson in the "You Know You Grew Up In Calgary When..." Facebook group. 

Look at that brand new Fishbowl too!  Looks like one of the 1000's so either one of the later 1979's or from the 1980 batch.

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58 minutes ago, thager said:

Soundslike they are planning on keeping  one U2 .

Screenshot_2016-11-18-12-14-01.png

The City's Facebook post states that this is a mere consideration. Nothing is confirmed yet and the decision will be made "down the road if funding becomes available."

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/6/2016 at 9:20 PM, Jon Calon said:

What are the odds that 2102 will be that one saved?  It's the newest of the U2's, and likely to be orphaned sooner than the other U2's owing to the Series 5-6-7 rebuilds.

It already is out of service and may end up doing similar work as  2101 is...  Check the threads that discuss those two particular cars here: 

 

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  • 1 month later...
5 minutes ago, Alexander Aulenbach said:

Does this apply to car 1090 or the AC cars 2101 and 2102?

I'm assuming you mean car 2090. This thread should cover all the U2 cars any special sightings with the AC cars can go in the AC thread.

Car 2090 is still in service. 

I hope I answered you question. Welcome to the board!

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Just now, M. Parsons said:

Would CT charter LRV's? 

It's a rare occurrence in Edmonton, but, there have been the occasional instance when chartered trains have been used. Usually related to transit-related conferences.

That's a good question. I'm sure there's someone on this board that can answer that. It would probably have to be on a Sunday when there's no maintenance scheduled...

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  • 1 month later...

Car 2001 has been split up and put in the dirt at OBMF. It's visible from the mainline. It's near the south end of the shop tracks near the staff parking lot.

Looks like it may sit there for a while.

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