Rail For The Valley Needs Your Help – Information Needed Please

Rail for the Valley has been asked to find some answers for a railway enthusiast overseas. First, he would like to get some information on the wheel profiles of CP & Southern Railway diesel locoA?ai??i??ai???s, e.g: GMDD GP/SD40 GMDD SD70/75 GMDD GP33 GMDD NF210 GE Dash 8/9 MLW RSDA?ai??i??ai???s Secondly, he would like: Any information […]

Last of the Interurbans #5 – Europe’s Coastal Interurban – The 68 km. De Lijn Tramway, Connecting Small Belgium Coastal Towns

The De Lijn or Coastal Tram offers a an unique journey, with the North Sea on one side and large tracts of open country on the other, offers a true interurban journey, connecting Belgium coastal towns from the French to Dutch boarders. The largest city the Coastal Tram passes through is Oostende, population 70,000 with […]

The Borkum Kleinbahn & Inselbahn Langeoog – from U-Tube

Borkum’s steam train in 2008. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE1ZlxehgEM] The Inselbahn Langeoog – note containers. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxofuN45CZA]

Getting Valley rail on track – From the Abby News

More positive news from the Fraser Valley Press. Getting Valley rail on track Published: October 28, 2009 2:00 PM A regular train service arrives in downtown Abbotsford from Surrey and Langley, collecting passengers and transporting them to other areas of the city or as far east as Chilliwack. It may sound like a long-term dream […]

The German East Frisian Islands Railways – Interurbans all the same.

The small German East Frisian Islands of Borkum, Langeoog,Ai??Ai??Wangeroog, and SpiekeroogAi??Ai??all operate narrow guage railways to help service tourist destinations on the almost car free ecologically sensitive islands. Even though the trains operated are steamAi??Ai??or diesel hauled, they preform the function of an interurban,Ai??Ai??conveying passengers fromAi??Ai??ferry piers to the main villages. Having rail transport means […]

Getting Valley rail on track – the South of the Fraser Rail Task Force

An article in the Abbotsford News about the South of the Fraser Rail Task Force, headed by Langley Township Mayor Rick Green. Letters to the Editor of the Abbotsford News are strongly encouraged! (Email newsroom@abbynews.com) Excerpt: A regular train service arrives in downtown Abbotsford from Surrey and Langley, collecting passengers and transporting them to other […]

STRASBOURG – Beautiful City – Beautiful Trams

The French city of Strasbourg (Ai??Ai??populationAi??Ai?? 276,867Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??in 2006),Ai??Ai??which its historic city centre was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, decided in the early 1990’s toAi??Ai??build a modern tramway system,Ai??Ai??using theAi??Ai??innovative and attractiveAi??Ai??ADTranz Eurotram rolling stock .Ai??Ai??In 1994 Line A opened, with a north-southAi??Ai??route running from Hautpierre-Maillon (north-west) to the city center (where […]

Alaskan Way Viaduct – Earthquake Simulation – from U-Tube. Could this be deja vu for SkyTrain?

The following video from theAi??Ai??Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), showing the effects of a 7.0 earthquake in Seattle is telling and is very much worth a watch. Even though Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct isAi??Ai??long past its primeAi??Ai??and not designed for catastrophic earthquakes, it’s collapseAi??Ai??plus theAi??Ai??failure of other aged infrastructure is chilling. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hos_uIKwC-c] The late […]

Let’s ride on the Clermont-Ferrand TransLohr GLT -Courtesy of U-Tube

This is an interesting U-Tube of the TransLohr GLT or guided bus. The centre rail is for guidance only as the tram like bus is propelled by standard rubber tires. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTJgh50vuuw]

Tram on Tires – Guided Light Transit (GLT), the ultimate BRT

Guided Light Transit or GLT is a hybrid bus/tram system, where rubber tired vehicles are guided by a single rail and the TransLohr GLT falls into this category. It has been long realized that for a bus to obtain higher performances to compete against LRT, it must be guided. The Achilles heel of BRT in […]