[PRCo] Re: 3800 Series LOST & streetcar economy etc.

[Jerry Matt Matsick]

Boris - you are saying that Seattle, Portland and Wash Dc have the Tatra T3
in storage:    They are nice and are there any others operating in the USA?
--
>From the River City by the Sea! 
Jerry "Matt" Matsick 
"Jacksonville" 


-------------- Original message from "Boris Cefer" <westinghouse at iol.cz>: -------------- 


> America has purchased several streetcars from CZ, but these are not PCC 
> based vehicles. Portland OR, Seattle and Washington DC. Actually, DC has no 
> tracks and the three cars they purchased remain in storage in CZ. Why did 
> these cities purchased articulated low floor cars? Because the manufacturers 
> showed them these and intentionally drove their representatives on these, 
> but they did not show them the best of the CZ streetcar fleets - Tatra T3! 
> 
> When the streetcar economy was mentioned......I know partly how it works and 
> guess the rest with which general public is never familiarized. Do not ask 
> how the transit works! 
> 
> B 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Herb Brannon" 
> To: 
> Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 7:57 PM 
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: 3800 Series LOST 
> 
> 
> That was a US based comment. The US transit authorities can buy from other 
> countries as long as assembly of the car is here in the US and a certain 
> percentage of the parts are US made. It is done with the NABI bus. 
> Ironically, NABI stands for North American Bus Industries. Cleveland's 400+ 
> fleet of NABI low-floors are actually a European product. Some of the parts 
> are US manufactured and the bus is assembled in the US. However, some of the 
> product is made in Europe and shipped to the US assembly plants to be 
> matched up with the the US manufactured parts and then assembled into 
> finished buses. Perhaps the European PCC manufacturers did not place bids on 
> any cars for US transit authorities. The European manufacturers would have a 
> "hard sell" to get US transit authorities to buy their cars, I believe. This 
> is do to the mindset, among US transit executives, which says we should have 
> over sized cars, utilizing over sized centenary systems and overbuilt 
> roadbed. This is not what 
> I would propose for a light rail system; it is what the "powers that be" 
> dictate. Simplicity of design, in my opinion, creates a more pleasing 
> product in the end which is easier to maintain, looks far better, and serves 
> it purpose with grace and ease. 
> 
>