Trams of various types

Trams of various types
Trams of various types

Tramway and light railway society have been in use since the 19th century, and there have been many different purposes and designs for trams all across the world since then. This article discusses the various design types of trams, including articulated, double-decker, drop-centre, low-floor, single ended, double-ended, rubber-tired, and tram-train; and the historical and current uses of trams, including cargo trams, a dog car, hearse trams, maintenance trams, a mobile library service, a nursery tram, a restaurant tram, a tourist tram, and as mobile offices.

crich tramway museum 1940's weekend

Tram Design Types

Each pioneering example of twin-section articulated tram vehicle, created and originally utilized by the Boston Elevated Railway in 1912–13 with a total length of about twelve meters (40 feet), has two or more body sections, joined by flexible joints.A Jacobs bogie facilitates the articulation between the two or more carbody parts in the koda ForCity, the world's first 100 percent low floor tram using pivoting bogies. An articulated tram can have a low-floor or a high-floor (normal) floor. Newer trams can be up to 72 meters (236 feet) long and transport 510 people at a comfortable 4 passengers per square meter. This would be significantly higher with crush loadings.

Double Decker

A tram with two floors is known as a double-decker tram. The tops of certain double-decker trams are open. Horse-drawn trams were the first double-deck trams. The National Tramway Museum has one of the first electric double-deck trams, which was built for the Blackpool Tramway in 1885.Before most tramways were pulled down in the 1950s and 1960s, double decker trams were widespread in the United Kingdom and Dublin, Ireland. In 1912, the New York Railways tried out a Brill double deck Hedley-Doyle stepless centre entrance car, which was dubbed the "Broadway Battleship" and spread to other large streetcars. [4] Double-decker trams were widely used in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The most unique double-decker tram once ran between Leonora, a remote Western Australian outback town, and Gwalia, a nearby village.Alexandria, Blackpool, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Oranjestad still have double decker trams.

Drop-Centre (center section lowered)

Many trams in the early twentieth century had a lowered middle portion between the bogies (trucks). This simplified passenger access by lowering the number of steps required to enter the vehicle. "Drop-centres" was a common nickname for these vehicles. The design is thought to have begun in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1906, when Boon & Co Ltd. constructed twenty-six trams in three series. Several of these trams have been saved. They were a popular design.

Low ceilings

A "low-floor" tram (left) and a "high-floor" tram (right) (right). Tram producers have been attempting to lower the tram's floor level since the 1990s.Since the 1990s, light rail cars that aren't designed for a high platform light rail system have had a partial or full low-floor design, with the floor 300 to 360 mm (11. 8 to 14. 2 in) above the rail, a capacity not present in older vehicles. This permits them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that are little more than raised footpaths/sidewalks, including people in wheelchairs or using perambulators. This addresses the criteria to offer impaired travelers with access without the use of costly wheelchair lifts while also making boarding faster and easier for other passengers. Passengers like how easy it is to board and disembark from low-floor trams, as well as how easy it is to move around inside 100% low-floor trams. Low-floor trams have a high level of passenger satisfaction. Since the 1990s, in some jurisdictions, such as, this has been made required.Various companies have developed low-floor designs, ranging from part-low-floor (with internal steps between the low-floor section and the high-floor sections over the bogies) to full-low-floor (with internal steps between the low-floor section and the high-floor sections over the bogies), such as Citytram. Prior to the advent of the koda ForCity, this had the mechanical disadvantage of having bogies to be fixed and unable to swivel (except in some trams for less than 5 degrees), decreasing curve negotiation. This causes the tracks and wheels to wear out prematurely.Many cities throughout the world currently have low-floor trams, including Adelaide, Amsterdam, Bratislava, Dublin, Gold Coast, Helsinki, Hiroshima, Houston, Istanbul, Melbourne, Milan, Prague, Sydney, Lviv, and many more.The Ultra-Low Floor or (ULF) tram is a low-floor tram that has been operating since 1997 in Vienna, Austria, and Oradea, Romania, having the lowest floor-height of any such vehicle. Unlike other low-floor trams, the ULF's interior floor is at sidewalk height (approximately 18 cm or 7 inches above the road surface), making it easy for passengers in wheelchairs or with baby carriages to board the tram. A new undercarriage was required for this setup. The traction motors' axles had to be replaced with a sophisticated electronic steering system. Under the car's top, auxiliary gadgets are fitted.The mechanical disadvantage of most low-floor trams is that bogies must be fixed and unable to pivot. This causes excessive wear on the rails and wheels, as well as a reduction in the speed at which a tram can navigate a curve.

National Tram Museum
Trams of various types
History of tramway
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