[PRCo] Re: PCC Question

[Bill Robb]

You can get four axle cars from Japan like the new Toden 8800s built by Nippon 
Sharyo.  Its a high floor car, but still a streetcar. These will replace the 
7500s by 2012. If you wanted those cars built by Kawasaki it would probably be 
no problem.  Things work very different in Japan.  Usually car designs are not 
owned by a single builder.
Its a place of numerous privately owed railways with three peak periods a day 
and a partial six day workweek to generate traffic.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toden8801tail-20090426-Otsuka.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toden8801Asukayama1.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toden8801-20090426-Otsuka.jpg

Most Japanese trams,  even articulated cars are still four axle. 

Bill


________________________________
 Fred Schneider wrote:

Will we have more four-axle cars?  Throughout history the general theme for rail 
cars has been to reduce labor costs.  That has been true everywhere in the 
world.  It has simply been accomplished by different means.  In the United 
States we lengthened cars from 18 feet to 20 to 22 to 24 to 30 to 40 to 45 and 
in some cases even to 50-foot-city-cars. 

I think we can always assume that some component of whatever we build will 
become dated and cause the public to point to that archaic conveyance and 
therefore we will need to build something new to replace the relic no matter how 
reliable the relic still is. 


End of editorial.  




On Oct 20, 2010, at 12:25 PM, Ken and Tracie wrote:

> My guess (and it is only a guess) is politics.
> 
> K.
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Derrick Brashear" <shadow at gmail.com>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 7:45 AM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: PCC Question
> 
> 
>>> The PCC was, in general, a pretty good car. Compared to the Philly 
>>> Kawasaki car, not nearly as good. The Kawasakis have run 30 years with 
>>> virtually no maintenance. No PCC ever did that but we did not build for 
>>> no maintenance in 1935 or 1945; we need to do that today because we can't 
>>> find mechanics in our cities.
>> 
>> So why are more Kawasakis not being built?
>> 
>> 
> 
>