Ivanovo tram: just another sad story

I came across these videos (by Trolleway) shot on the last day of tram service in Ivanovo, a Russian city that has closed down its last remaining tram line in june 2008. Sadly a story in  more Russian cities, unwilling/unable to invest in track maintenance and new stock: Arkhangelsk (july 2004), Astrakhan (may 2007) and Voronezh (april 2009).


Last day of Ivanovo tram - cabview
Tracks on closed lines and last two trams in service

T7B5 from Oslo: A unique prototype

On the Japanese Modelling & Japan Rail Enthousiasts Forum I read about Michal from the Czech Republic who has build an impressive collection of mainly Eastern-European and German trams in N scale. I think he has done a great job on his models, like various ČKD Tatra types as the T6A5 the KT4, the Polish Konstal 105N and the German KSW tram (which is also produced by Kato), all etched in 0.3 mm brass. He even sells most of them, both as a kit or build (some even motorized) on his website. Interesting for US modellers: Michal also does a Škoda 10 T, which runs in Portland, Oregon and Tacoma, Washington.
If you click on kolejiště, you see some pictures of Michals very cleverly designed tram layout.

My eyes fell on this little tram. It's a ČKD Tatra type T7B5, a uni-directional tram. The livery is quite unusual because it's that of Oslo Sporveier, the Norwegian capital's public transport authority. Only one was ever purchased for Oslo, which was actually the only Tatra ever to run in Scandinavia, or even the whole of Western Europe!

I like both Eastern-European and Scandinavian prototypes so I just had to place an order for one of these, which will be powered using a Tomix TM 03 chassis. Can't wait for it to arrive! :)

The Tatra T7B5 was never a successfull series. Only a handfull were build at the end of the 80's, mainly for Moscow. Oslo Sporveier, at that time, was looking for a replacement for its old Høka cars. One of the original two prototypes was shipped to Oslo for testing, after it got a new interior and paint job.
The order finally went to Ansaldo/Firema, who build 32 articulated low-floor trams, the SL95 series.

The T7B5 was used for a couple of years, after which it was converted into a party tram. The tram was shipped to the Swedish city of Göteborg in 1998, where it kept being a party tram in its blue Olso livery. It's believed to be still there, although not in service any more.

Bybanen (2)

When travelling through Norway for the past few weeks, I had a chance to visit Bergens recently opened Bybanen, a lightrail line linking the city center with its southern suburbs. The line's current terminus is Nesttun, but extensions as far as Flesland airport have been planned. Ticket selling is completely done on the stations, which means stopping time can be kept to a minimum, making the Bybanen an extremely efficient way to travel. The frequency is about every ten minutes, even on sundays.

203 at Nesttun terminus. Note the temporary platform.

Matching lines on seats and shelters

Clearly a lot of thought has been given to every detail. The 12 Variotrams from Stadler Rail have nice little features like artwork on the ceilings, for every station's announcement a different specially composed tune and matching stylized contour lines, both on the seats and engraved in the glass shelters. A spectacular return of the tram in Bergen!

There's an extensive Wikipedia article about the Bybanen.

A pretty picture

One of the most appealing tram types around, the PCC car from Ghent. If only these would be made in N scale one day...

Bybanen - Bergen Light Rail

The Norwegian city of Bergen is building it's completely new light rail system, sceduled to be opened on june 22nd. The new line will link the city center with it's suburbs, as far a Nesttun. Check this photo blog for the day-to-day progress of the project. Very inspirational!