Lisbon Route 12: Castelo Circulaca

545 at the Praça da Figueira terminus of routes 12 and 15

Route 12 is Lisbon's shortest - a single direction circular from Praça da Figueira via Martim Moniz, Sao Tomé, Rue. Conceição and back to Praça da Figueira. It is a long established service, for many years running as a single tram shuttle up the hill from Martim Moniz to Sao Tomé and back. In 1999 it was extended to operate as a circular providing better links to the main city centre.

Martin Moniz - 563 arrives at the 12 loading stop with a route 28 car behind

Two cars are provided daily, operating every 13 minutes, or every 12 at peak times. Round trip time is 21 minutes though morning peak journeys are timed as every 19 minutes and early evening journeys at 18 minutes. With a route mileage of 2.5 this gives an average speed of 4.5mph!


The service runs from 0800 to 2045. On departing Praça da Figueira the car runs to Martin Moniz along a single track alignment shared with the tourist tram - the return link via different roads is only used by route 28 cars returning to depot. After Martin Moniz the car turns onto Rue dos Cavaleiros and climbs the steep hill. The tram track is single line though several disconnected passing loops show the legacy of a busier bi-directional service on this route. Parked cars make this road narrower than it should be an progress is often halted while cars travelling in the opposite direction make dramatic avoiding moves.

The Narrow Streets and poor road user discipline cause problems for route 12. Here the second car on the route - supposedly 13 minutes behind has caught up with its sister!

Here Rue dos Cavaleiros  becomes Calçada de Santo André and a disconnect passing loop is visible

Further along Calçada de Santo André where the road becomes R. de São Tomé is the famous 'three wheel corner' where a the track gradient changes on a curve where one wheel often leaves the track as the car deals with the change in track geometry 

In 1984, like a startled horse, car 725 crests the summit at 3 wheel corner before coming down to earth with a bump and running down the hill to the then terminus.

In October 2010 car 543 approaches Three Wheel Corner on a diverted 28 service

543 crests the summit and starts the decent to São Tomé

At São Tomé the 12 meets the 28 route at an interesting junction illustrated later on the route 28 post. The 12 now follows the 28 route to Rue do Conceição then turns up Rue da Prata back to Praça da Figueira.

566 on Rue do Conceição

The turn from Rue do Conceição into Rue da Prata is so sharp that the track eats into the pavement. Here is 548 on another diverted route 28 working cutting the corner.

Lost Lisbon: Arco De Cego Depot

Lisbon's main depot in its heyday was Arco De Cego near Saldanha. This opened in 1902 and closed around 1995 having witnessed many of its routes closed in the 1990s. The depot remains standing having been a coach station until 2004 and a car park since. These before and after shots show the situation in 1984 and 2010.

In 1984 Bogie Car 342 terminates at the Depot on route 19



2010: The car park in Arco De Cego Depot building



1984: Bogie car 810 leaves the depot yard on route 3

2010: The palm tree in the centre shows the new public park on the site of part of the tram depot

Metro Transportes do Sul

To the south of the Portugese city of Lisbon, across the river Tagus, lies the Almada and Seixal municipalities, which since 2007 have been served by a brand new light rail network – Metro Transportes do Sul.


The system is of standard gauge (1435mm), contrasting with the narrow gauge rails of the neighbouring Lisbon city system, and features 24 Siemens Combino Plus trams of a wide bodied four section design which taper at each end of the individual modules to a standard width articulation unit.

The present three line operation has evolved from a short single route between Corroios and Cova da Piedade which opened in May 2007, and has been extended to Universidade in November 2007, and to the waterfront at Cacilhas in December 2008. Extensions are planned in the future with the longest of these stretching beyond Corroios, where the depot is located, to Lavradio. The terminus at Cacilhas is adjacent to the ferry terminal which allows connection to Cais de Sodre in Lisbon in as little as ten minutes. A ticket office at Cacilhas provides information on tickets and services, ticketing being within the umbrella of the regional authority who’s ‘Viva’ ticket is valid on Lisbon’s trams, buses, local railways and ferries, although different zones apply if crossing the river Tagus.

The system runs a very proactive publicity campaign highlighting the tram priority schemes in operation, and each tram (as well as having a smiling face!) has the word ‘Obrigado’ on the windscreen, which translates at ‘Thank You’ [for allowing priority].

For further information visit the Metro Transportes do Sul website at www.mts.pt

Written and Illustrated by James Millington

Lisbon's Last Standards

Standard 732 at Belem on route 15 on October 12 2010

As noted in the post about the Remodelados Carris built its own four wheel bodies to Brill design until 1940. Its last 'Standards' were 701-735 built from 1935 to 1940 on Maley & Taunton 4 wheel trucks with English Electric DB1 controllers. In 1947 Carris built ten more four wheelers, but to a new boxy design as cars 736-745. In 1987 737, 738, 741-745 were rebodied with Standard bodies from 200 series cars. These cars were equipped for the hilly routes and were double ended, though were converted for one person operation in their latter years.

The cab of a Standard with  DB1 controller with air brake interlock, air brake and hand brakes.

The interior, showing how the traditional layout has been retained on the Remodelados, albeit the Standards have 2+2 seating giving a total of 24

Several of these 700 cars have survived the modernisation of the fleet with 13 still in stock in October 2010:

• 723 and 726 are Tourist cars 3 and 4, though these were not noticed in use during an October visit - both were at the back of the depot
• 722 and rebodied 745 are 'Christmas Trams' decorated with lights and lettering for Christmas tours - again both were noted at the back of the depot
• 713, 717, 720, 732, 733, 735 and rebodied 741, 742 and 744 are still in service.

717 leaves depot for a Private Hire

During an October visit the following observations were made:

• Thursday 7th- 1030 732 on private hire at Graca
• 1300 732, 741 and 717 left depot on Private hire with tourist car 7. 744 shunted in Depot
• 1605 717 and 735 noted at Estrela
• 1605 732 and 741 noted on route 25 at Estrela for Prazeres
• 1625 733 operated on service 25 from Estrela to City

735 and 733 at Prazeres 12 Oct.

• Monday 11th - 732 operated on service 25 during the morning; 733 during the afternoon
• Tuesday 12th 732 and 735 both on service 25 but swapped for Remodelados; 741 operated route 18 in the afternoon peak and 732 worked to Belem on route 15 before being replaced by 506.
• Wednesday 13th 735 operated on service 25.

The Standards, such as 735 here, have not been equipped with Pantographs, but still have a full run of the network, despite the preference for Pantographs on the 15, 18 and 25. Note the more style of doors compared to Remodelados 548 in front - and the full complement of lights at the rear end of these double ended cars.

With their traditional DB1 controllers and air brakes, plus two hand wheel-brakes for the hilly routes these cars seem less popular with drivers - perhaps explaining several switches to more modern cars and some questionable driving standards - that said some drivers drove them with gusto and skill.

Will the Real 741 Please Stand Up

The rebodying of the 1947 cars with older bodies in the 1980s has resulted in the existence of two car 741s. The body removed from 741 was selected for the museum and placed on a spare truck while its equipment was fitted with an older Standard body that makes up the current 741! 

741's original body on a spare truck in the museum

The 'new' 741 amongst the Palms at Rua da Alfândega

Lisbon - The Remodelados

Pioneer Remodelado 541 at Commercio

Lisbon is associated with the Brill style American cars. Its initial electric cars were crossbench cars built by Brill along with some enclosed cars built by the St Louis Company, both from America. These were followed by enclosed Brill bogie cars in 1906 and the first four wheelers in 1909. These were semi convertible with windows that could be raised to be fully open providing the ventilation of a crossbench car in the summer and the comfort of an enclosed car in the winter.

In 1924 Carris - the Lisbon operator - commenced constructing its own bodies to the same style in its workshops and built 200 to the Brill design on 4 wheel trucks by 1940. Cars 203-246, 248-282 used the trucks from the 1901 crossbench cars, 415, 455, 467 & 468 on the trucks of St Louis cars and 483 was a rebody of a Brill built car.

Front and rear views - the revised light clusters being the main giveaway. Note the doors on both sides and the dual pantograph and trolley collectors

In 1995 with a contracted system of coastal route 15 for which new cars arrived and the remaining hilly routes, Carris decided to upgrade 45 of its four wheel cars, recognising their iconic status and tourist appeal. 39 of these were taken from the 200 series (including the 415 and 483) and six from the later 700 series. All 45 were completed in 1995/6.

The cab features a modern driver's seat, Kiepe controller on the left and hand brake on the right. An air brake for parking is located just below the ticket machine.

The rear platform has a shunt controller

The interior shows the traditional layout with wooden panelling - though only the lower half of the windows open and fluorescent lights are now fitted behind the shades

Body overhauls were undertaken, retaining the traditional appearance but the cars became single ended, though doors are retained on both sides, albeit with the offside ones not used. Ferrostaal provided new trucks with 2x 50 kw Skoda motors allowing a top speed of 50km/h (31mph) and Kiepe controllers. With 17 power and 15 brake notches the new controllers give a much smoother acceleration and braking than the old DB1s. The brakes are a mix of air and electric with air track brakes and air parking brakes to cope with the challenging hills. The cars were numbered 541-585 with the 579, 581-585 being the six former 700 series cars. The bodies, dating from 1932 to 1937 were fitted onto new underframes and being constructed from wood do suffer from the significant stresses placed on them by the equipment and terrain. Fortunately Carris have a skilled bodyshop and keep overhauling the bodies with 541-544 showing evidence of recent works attention.

582 is one of the shabbier cars - note the rotten pillar by the doors

552 demonstrates the application of advertising - which is now by no means universal compared to a few years ago

Tourist car 7 (ex 584 and originally 707) shows the change from trolley to pantograph at Estrela

Today all 45 remain in use, though six have become tourist cars 5-9 and 11 (ex 585, 585, 546, 584, 570 and 569 resp). These are used on the "Colinas" Hills Tram Tour in a red livery, whereas the remainder are in yellow and white, several with side and end adverts. All feature both trolleys and pantographs. Trolleys are required on route 12 and 28 but the cars use pantographs on the 15, 18 and 25. Unusually the tourist route changes collector twice (at Praça da Figueira to a trolley and at Estrela) to a pantograph to comply with the trolley requirement on route 28.  

During a visit in early October, 39 of the 45 cars were noticed in service 541-545, 548, 550-558, 560/1, 563-568, 571-576, 578, 580-582 and Tourist cars 5-9 and 11. Cars 559, 562 and 577 were observed in the depot but not in service while 547, 549 and 579 were not noted, though one unidentified car was stripped down in the works.

These trams are an excellent compromise between a desire to retain the traditional trams and a need to modernise their equipment. At just 20 seats, but 38 standing, they can be slow loading and heavily loaded but their equipment is well suited to the routes, with appropriate acceleration and braking, doing away with the need to use handbrakes to help descend the hills.

Accidents happen in Lisbon's narrow streets and on 11 October car 567 was in collision with a lorry which caused several window pillars to be torn out, fortunately with only apparently minor injuries to its passengers.

A closer look at 567. Route 28 was badly disrupted by this incident between L Camoes and Estrela. Some cars turned at Camoes and others were diverted via route 25 to reach Estrela and Prazeres, while others shuttled between the latter two points

Portugal

The famous Lisbon route 28

The two main tramway cities of Portugal are Lisbon and Porto. Sadly both systems are shadows of their former selves, indeed Porto's is just a token tourist service though a modern light rail system is also in operation.

Two of the 1995 vintage Artics on route 15

Lisbon has five routes and has mooted the reopening of a sixth for many years - all on an unusual 90cm gauge. They have 10 low floor articulated cars for route 15 and 39 'Remodelados" which are reequipped versions of the traditional Brill inspired four wheel cars for the 12, 15, 18, 25 and 28. Eleven unmodified "700 series" traditional cars remain in stock and see intermittent use when Remodelados are not available - though two are dedicated as Christmas Trams.

Remodelados 541 at Commercio

Car 717 leaves Lisbon Santa Amaro Depot

A tourist tram route operates and six more Remodelados are dedicated to this. Two earlier cars renumbered from the 700 series remain in stock as do the two original tourist cars which are now museum fleet cars.

Tourist Tram 8 leaves Commercio

Porto has three routes - which connect with each other and need four cars at any one time. Most are four wheelers, the odd bogie car is active and there are three dedicated tour cars and several private hire cars.

Porto Tourist Tram 203 and Main fleet 216

Metro Do Porto Eurotram

Further posts will explore the different routes and trams of Lisbon and Portugal. In the meantime photogalleries can be found here: 

The last day in the life of...

The previous posting reported on the end of the Brussels PCC and noted that the oldest car provided the last working. Car 7008 was one of the first batch of PCCs and arrived in January 1952. It has had a lengthy working life, celebrating its 58th birthday a few weeks ago. Retirement then beckoned, but it was not the traditional quiet last day for the time served veteran but an arduous duty of about 214 miles and over 20 hours. Route 39 and 44 beckoned - as they had done since PCC operation on the city network ceased in 2007.

The day started at Ixelles depot and the car used the depot access only track along Avenue de l'Hippodrome to take up service on route 81 at Flagey at 0522. This journey took the car to Montgomery to take up the 0537 departure on route 44 to Tervuren. Service 81 terminates on the street, unloading at Boulevard Brand Whitlock and while the 39/44 normally use the subway terminus, cars coming from Ixelles start at the 81 terminus.

 

Two further round trips on the 44 followed at 0630 and 0722 from Montgomery Subway. In the morning peak a six minute frequency is provided on both the 39 and 44 and cars swap routes at Montgomery - 7008 working the 0820 39 to Ban Eik and back and the 0926 44 departure. The off peak service varies between 7 and 10 minutes and 7008 settled down to operate on service 39 with six round trips to Ban Eik starting with the 1040 from Montgomery and finishing with the 1712 from Ban Eik.

The evening peak was now in full flow and the full allocation of 21 trams was in place. 7008 was due into Montgomery at 1735 to operate the 1740 service 44 trip. Two early evening trips on the 39 followed before the later evening 20 minute frequencies started.

As retirement beckoned, 7008 worked the 2058 44 to Tervuren with a generous 27 minutes layover before leaving at 2144 back to Montgomery. The 2008 39 to Ban Eik followed, photographers enjoying the 24 minutes lay-over it had there to capture its last hours.

Its final trip to Tervuren started at 2318 from Montgomery with a 0004 from Tervuren becoming the last PCC in the subway terminus for the 0031 39 to Ban Eik. Arriving there at 0052 it turned on the triangle and formed the 0106 back to Montgomery - eschewing the subway for Avenue Brand Whitlock. It duplicated by car 7036 which posed alongside it at the layover point in Montgomery Square - both showing 81 Flagey as the PCCs cannot display the correct 83 service number for the evening workings -7008 was due off at 0126. The ten minute run to Flagey was the end of 7008's scheduled working career but it was not the end of its long day. It carried along the 81 route to Janson, joining the 92 route via Louise, the Royal Palaces, Santa Maria, Shaarbeek Depot to Verboekhoven and then as service 55 to Bordet to turn into the new Haren depot and join its sisters in store.

A video of this last journey is at the end of the following film:
http://www.wat.tv/video/adieu7000-27q1p_1vm2n_.html

My photographic tribute to the PCCs can be found at
http://paul-turner.fotopic.net/c1814918.html

PCC Farewell

The oldest (7008 of Jan 1952) and the youngest (7171 of July 1971) at a cold Tervuren on 12 Feb

Friday 12 February was the last day in service for the single car PCCs of STIB in Brussels. Investment in new rolling stock had seen the fleet dwindle to just 21 from a peak of 171, however a number had fallen by the wayside in the final months such that only eight were available for the 21 workings on the final day - the remainder used two section articulated PCC derivatives including the prototype car 7500 - due to continue in use until the summer and the double ended 77xx and 78xx series cars. A ninth car - 7036 - appeared as a duplicate to the last journey. The service cars were:

7008 - duty 405 from Ixelles depot 0521 Flagey-0136 Flagey
7156 - duty 727 from Woluwe 0652 -0954 and duty 736 1406 -1832
7158 - duty 728 from Woluwe 0653 - 1847
7161 - duty 409 from Ixelles depot 1107 Flagey-0117 Flagey (this may have worked duty 407 in the morning peak)
7166 - duty 733 from Woluwe 1118-1823 (this may have worked another morning peak duty)
7168 - duty 722 from Woluwe 0607-0113 Flagey
7169 - duty 725 from Woluwe 0642-0944 and duty 738 1536 - 1835
7171 - duty 726 from Woluwe 0647-1835

This was a well thought out allocation is it meant:
7008 - the oldest car was the first into service (0521 service 81 from Flagey) and the operated the last journey (Service 39 0106 Ban Eik to Montgomery then 0126 81 to Flagey) and was the last to serve the underground terminus at Montgomery departing at 0031.

7008's penultimate round trip - the 44 2318 Montgomery to Tervuren packed with enthusiasts

7161 - the only car of the 1971 batch to retain its original frontal appearance with large headlamp provided the last departure from Tervuren

7169 and 7171 - both returned to depot at 1835 where they were handed over to the tram museum for preservation in a ceremony - with the museum's 7065, sister cars 7156, 7166 and (at the end) 7158 also in the depot yard for photos.

7169 stands in front of its new home at the Musee du Tram with sister car 7171 behind in the depot during the hand over ceremony.

7169 was the last to leave the depot on a scheduled service route - the 1536 service 44 to Tervuren 7158 was the last to return to Woluwe at 1847 - the depot routinely closes after the last evening run in car arrives c2015.

7169 leaves Woluwe Depot to as the last PCC to enter service for the afternoon peak - 1536 44 to Tervuren.

7158 was the last service car to return to Woluwe (three more remained in use after the depot closed for the night)

The withdrawn PCCs are moving to storage at Haren depot. 7008 - its duplicate 7036, 7161 and 7168 went straight to Haren from Flagey - the normal terminus for depot workings from Montgomery. Photographs on line show 7021, 7022, 7156, 7160, 7164, 7165, 7166 and 7170 at least also there. What the future holds for these cars is unknown.

Preserved 7065 has recently been repainted in its late 1980s/early 1990s version of the fleet livery and was displayed outside the museum before and during the hand-over ceremony for 7169 and 7171. The museum also has 7016 which was inside the depot, 7047 under major overhaul and 7093 currently under repaint.

7156 and 7166 stand outside the museum awaiting transfer to Haren depot for storage

7171's last working was the 1819 39 from Ban Eik to Woluwe and it was reversed into the museum running shed for handover to MTUB

Tervuren terminus has for many years been associated with the PCC - future appearances will be by the museum's preserved fleet. Here 7166 leaves for Montgomery.