[PRCo] Re: Lisbon in the 1990s

[Bill Robb]

Lisbon is 900mm which is 2 feet 11 7/16 inches.  As a horse car system Lisbon 
was 1435mm (standard gauge) which was fine for the horse cars, but it was also 
fine for omnibus operators who rode along the tracks, delayed the horse cars and 
wore the rails.  So the gauge was changed.
Some photos from June-July 1983 that might make you cry.

http://philteu-trams.fotopic.net/c217595.html

A track map from December 1971.

http://www.encarnado.com/ssc/ssc_rede_carris_1971.jpg

Bill


I think its meter gauge.  But I have trouble separating meter from 900 mm.  The 
difference is only about 4 inches.

Counter-balance Bob ... cable in the street connecting both cars ... it wraps 
around a huge wheel at the top of the hill ... same as the Fillmore Hill line in 
San Francisco years ago.  Yes, I think it is three phase AC.  That is the only 
case where I have ever seen two poles or two pantographs ... three phase give 
two running speeds ... fast and slow ... either is constant.  


I have been accused more than once of trying to educate.  You should have seen 
the item I created for my high school class that began, in Spanish, Press 1 for 
Spanish, 2 for English .... and went on and on about how there are far more 
Spanish speaking people in the hemisphere than English speaking people.  One of 
the brighter stars in the class said that next I would be charging tuition.  
No.  Just try to raise the bar a little.

In the case of railways, I would like to get people to realize that, like 
automobiles, it is a worldwide industry and we are part of a world.  That the 
industry started here and in Germany and moved outward.  No place can you see 
that movement better than in Britain where all the early cars had GE or 
Westinghouse equipment, Peckham and Brill trucks.  J G Brill of Philadelphia, 
with sales offices in London and Paris, outfitted the world.  Amazing that you 
can still see that today in Portugal.  And today you see how the equipment is 
coming back to the USA from elsewhere in the world. 


So when Peter jumped on this, I wanted to expand the subject.  I try to answer 
what I can.  



On Feb 24, 2011, at 11:47 PM, robert netzlof wrote:

> --- On Thu, 2/24/11, Bill Robb <bill937ca at yahoo.ca> wrote:
> 
> What is the track gauge? Looks to me to be rather narrow, maybe 1 meter?
> 
>> Lisboa may be the only remaining place in the world (not
>> sure ... welcome the 
>> correction) where you can ride a counter-balance trolley
>> line.  They are called 
>> Elvador or Elvadoros in Portuguese.  There are three in
>> Lisboa, the Gloria, the 
>> Lavra and the Bica. 
> 
> I'm puzzled. I see two overhead wires and two pantographs. But there also seems 
>to be a slot in the pavement between the rails. Is this some sort of 3-phase 
>system with two phases on the overhead and the third picked up by a plow? 
>
> 
> Bob Netzlof a/k/a Sweet Old Bob
> 
> 
> 
>