[greg_christine]

It's too bad that with the low-floor light rail trains there is no way to string low-floor sections together to make a longer train. The wheels under the central low-floor segment are not powered. Some of the European low-floor street cars have multiple low-floor segments strung together; however, they are designed for lower speeds. The solution used in Portland will provide more room for passengers by eliminating half the cabs; however, it won't be possible to walk between cars.

Dallas lengthened some high-floor trains by adding middle low-floor segments that bridge between the high-floor segments. This type of arrangement could be used to string segments together to make a much longer train; however, there would be high-floor segments in way of each of the bogies.

For more information on the Dallas system, see the following link:

http://world.nycsubway.org/us/dallas/dallas-dart.html

 

[dougall5505]

Portland Oregon Aerial tram

I'm not sure how many of you are aware of the portland tram so let me tell you about it. It is tram that connects the OHSU (oregon health and science university upper campus to the growing lower campus at the south waterfront. It is a catlyst to the growing south waterfront neighborhood that has grown from unused industrial land to a highrise residential area with towers as high as 325 feet. Despite a rising price tag that has gone up from around 30 million to 57 mil it looks like portland is getting a well-deserved icon in the mold of the space needle of seattle, or the golden-gate bridge in san franscico.
rout:

upper station

central tower

lower station:

future expansion includes a pedestrian bridge over I-5

progress photos (i tried to give everyone credit for their photos if you want credit pm me all the pictures were taken by me unless otherwise noted)
first part of intermediate tower installed

second part

how it looks now

lower station
crow's

pdxstreetcar's

the streetcar is going right between the OHSU building and the lower station crow's

upper station
pdxstreetcar's

pdxstreetcar's

two river's

tram cars

video(pdxman's): http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p...t=MOV00654.flv
cool pictures i found on flickr
pic of tower lit up at night (not mine)

jarsehgal's

ae's

JandK's

you know its cool if it has a myspace: www.myspace.com/pdxtram
sowa proximity to downtown:

for more on the tram go to the thread in the northwest forum: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=82240
for more on the south waterfront go to: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=90344
or: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=81718

 

[kub86]

Is this more of a tourist thing (like seattle monorail?) or is this supposed to be a real transport system? I rode the one in Palm Springs and that was pretty fun!!

 

[dougall5505]

the whole point of the project was to transport employees from the oregon health and science university's upper campus to there lower campus at south waterfront. some tourists will probably use it since it will have a awesome view of downtown from the tram and the upper station. but its mainly for OHSU employees

 

[MarkDaMan]

OHSU is Portland's largest employer that ran out of room on their campus on the hill for new buildings. The city enticed them to expand on an industrial brownfield at the base of their hill instead of the hundred plus acres they own in the suburbs. OHSU said okay, if the city would help them build a mode of tranportation linking the two campuses, with a maximum travel time, preferably no more than 5 minutes. The city bit, OHSU built their last building on the hill, and than a second building in the South Waterfront district. That in turn has lead OHSU to create 1,000 jobs in their first South Waterfront tower. The hospital and most research space is up on the hill, so when a doc, who has his practice in the SoWa building needed to get up to the hospital, he was looking at a minimum of a 15 minute shuttle ride. The Aerial Tram will have him to the hospital in under 3 minutes.

The streetcar extension to the district, and right next to the tram's lower station, also ties together Portland State Univesity and OHSU allowing better collaboration between the two universities.

 

[thecarlost]

What's the passenger capacity for each of those capsules?

 

[dougall5505]

its no more than 20 i can't remeber the exact number though

 

[MarkDaMan]

What are you smoking Dougall Where'd you come up with 20?

From OHSU's website:

Cars: Two 79-passenger cars, both ADA-compatible

Capacity: 980 people/hour in each direction

Speed & ride time: 22 miles/hour; 3 minutes

Frequency: Departs every 5 minutes during peak hours
http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/about/transformation/tram/about.cfm

 

[JoshYent]

i havent been down there for a few months looks like its comming along!

 

[dougall5505]

i was about to say that for some reason 70 popped into my head but that didn't make any sense they just seemed to small so i just guessed and came up with seventy. i must have been smoking

 

[MarkDaMan]

not sure I'd like to be on one of those things at full capacity though, unless you are into the whole touchy grabby thing like a full MAX train...

 

[Dick H]

From OHSU's website:
Cars: Two 79-passenger cars, both ADA-compatible

That's 78 passengers and 1 attendant. (either those are very thin people or they sit on each other's shoulders.)

Anyway, this may be of interest.

The tram system has 2 backup power sources, but if they should
all fail, Portland Fire & Rescue has developed a rescue procedure
to lower the passengers from the stalled cars.

The tramcar attendant drops a pilot rope to the waiting rescue crew below.

Using the pilot rope, the main rescue ropes are raised and attached
to the Davit Arm that is extended from the cabin and locked into place.

Two firefighters are hauled up to the car to assist passengers into
a harness (we call it a diaper) and they are lowered, one by one.

Lowering a "victim". The white car is used as a pivot point to
change the direction of the ropes back to the hauling team.

The lines are directed back to the hauling team who use a
pulley system with a 4 to 1 mechanical advantage.

 

[sequoias]

I saw it on the news when they finally opened it for revenue service. It looks cool. It reminds me of Heavenly aerial tram from Lake Tahoe to the ski resort on the top of the mountains. I rode on it few times.

 

[MarkDaMan]

dat's pimp Dick!!! Glad to know in the worst of worst cases, we can count on y'all to come to our rescue!

 

[dougall5505]

good morning tram

tram hug

im going to bed

 

[JoshYent]

nice pix!

 

[dougall5505]

the tram opened to the public this weekend and I was lucky enough to reserve a spot

i like this reflection it looks like god is looking over the city

the cars are so reflective

so reflective

and i'll close with some more reflection

 

[Inkdaub]

Great pics...I love the tram.

St Helens looks massive in that one pic from...I assume...the upper station.

 

[thecarlost]

Well, finally the pictures i wanted to see.

Oregon people, keep posting pictures of the constructive details; like platforms, pulleys, cables, panels. I'm fascinated with this thing.

 

[LosAngelesMetroBoy]

Great pics...I love the tram.

St Helens looks massive in that one pic from...I assume...the upper station.

For future refrence, St. Helens is in washington, portland is in oregon.