[PRCo] Fwd: Caen

[Schneider Fred]

There is another set of Caen photos that are similar.   Tell me if  
you want them.
Caen is a great jumping off point to explore Normandy.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Jack May" <jack.may at americomm.net>
> Date: July 31, 2009 6:14:50 PM EDT
> To: "Schneider Fred" <fwschneider at comcast.net>, "Skip Gatermann"  
> <biker4 at sbcglobal.net>, "Craig Phil"  
> <philgcraig204 at yahoo.com>,	"Bente Bruce" <bbente at bellsouth.net>,  
> <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Subject: Caen
>
> Caen is in Normandy and is a popular jumping-off point for touring the
> beaches and battle sites of post D-Day World War II.  It was the  
> center of
> major wartime activity and was captured by the Allies a week after the
> Normandy invasion.  It also is the location of another proprietary
> rubber-tired fixed-guideway surface operation, this one the GLT  
> system from
> Bombardier.  Like Translohr in Clermont-Ferrand, the GLT system uses a
> single rail for guidance and for returning the 750-volt DC current  
> picked up
> from the overhead wire by the pantographs.  The system, which  
> opened in
> 2002, consists of a trunk line with two branches on either end.  Thus
> Twisto, Caen's urban transit agency, operates two GLT routes.
>
> 5:  The principal attraction of Caen is its 17th century Chateau.  The
> medieval castle is the site of a number of museums, although others  
> are
> scattered about the city.  The Bombardier vehicles look more like  
> buses than
> the corresponding rolling stock built by Lohr for Clermont- 
> Ferrand.  One of
> the 24 low-floor vehicles (I hesitate to call them trams) passes  
> the castle,
> near the center of the city.  Note the rear-view mirror and the  
> license
> plate.  The interior of each unit is equipped with a steering wheel  
> for
> operation off the route using a diesel engine.
>
> 6:  The rolling stock is single-ended, and the four terminals have  
> loops.
> Each has a tight radius, as the relatively short 100-percent low-floor
> vehicles can navigate sharp turns.
>
> 8:  The Jean Villar terminal of Line A, at the southern end of  
> Caen, is
> covered by an attractive looking tubular structure.  Note the track
> structure on the inbound side.  It allows the vehicles to attach  
> themselves
> to the guideway after arriving from the garage under diesel power.
>
> 10:  This view in the city center contrasts the front and the rear  
> of the
> single-ended rolling stock.  The vehicles are equipped with soft  
> two-and two
> seating and do not ride quite as roughly as the Clermont-Ferrand  
> trams, but
> they are still noisier than similar-style light rail lines in other  
> French
> cities.  The portions of the concrete under the tires are already  
> beginning
> to show ruts, and will eventually have to be repaved to avoid the ride
> becoming as bumpy and uncomfortable as what I experienced on a similar
> trolleybus application in Nancy a few years ago.
>
> 12:  A view from a pedestrian overpass in the suburb of
> Herouville-Saint-Clair.  This area is a "new city," and the  
> guideway is an
> integral part of the amenities that have been built to attract  
> residents.
> Line B has four stops here, and is an important element of the area's
> pedestrian-friendly circulation plan.
>
>
> I recently heard that Caen's system was shut down for a few days  
> before my
> visit due to a derailment (from the August issue of T&UT) 
>