Comments on: Unveiled: First American-Made Streetcar In 60 Years

By: TheCityFix.com: Exploring Sustainable Solutions to the Problems of Urban Mobility » Blog Archive » Streetcars Made in the U.S.A.

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:16:06 +0000

[...] Portland attempts to reinvigorate the urban transit industry in Oregon, I’m reminded of another idea about “how to fix the world,” proposed in The [...]

By: Lamont Cranston

Lamont Cranston — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:19:40 +0000

I hate to burst your bubble, but while it wasn’t very memorable (in fact it caused them to permanently leave the public transport industry) the Boeing Standard Light Rail Vehicle was manufactured in the USA between 1976 and 1979.
But aside from that little quibble, this is a good step.
Australia could learn a thing from this. After manufacturing Melbournes trams and trains for decades at the Commonwealth Engineering Plant on the outskirts of the city, the facility was privatised in the early 1990s and since then our rail vehicles have been bought from overseas.
They have consistently proved woeful, in particular those purchased from Siemens. Their train model has chronically faulty breaks requiring speed restrictions and a limit to only three carriage operation, while the chassis of their tram model has been found to be riddled with stress fractures which will severely reduce its life span – they certainly wont be lasting anywhere near as long as our famous W-class tram.
Market efficiency indeed.

By: Oakland Streetcar Network « 21st Century Urban Solutions

Oakland Streetcar Network « 21st Century Urban Solutions — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:06:00 +0000

[...] streetcar systems expand throughout the country, America is finally getting back into the streetcar manufacturing business. An American-made fleet of streetcars for Oakland could bring jobs to struggling automobile [...]

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:41:40 +0000

Chris - Siemens does build buy american compliant LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES. Light rail vehicles and Streetcars are NOT the same vehicles. They have different standards, different sizes, different uses. The Oregon company has built the first modern buy america STREETCAR which is a good thing.

By: Chris Miles

Chris Miles — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:07:35 +0000

Actually, according to the link below Siemens has been making Streetcars in Sacramento for a while now.

Perhaps this article should be amended to First US OWNED?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,536892,00.html

Here is the Sacramento plant.

Last I checked Sacramento was in the US!

http://www.mobility.siemens.com/usa/en/pub/home.htm

(no I don’t work for Siemens- it’s just that this company has ben making and shipping LRVs to US Cities FROM the US for some time now.

By: Mike Moskos

Mike Moskos — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:00:47 +0000

Well, glad to hear it was made here.

You know this type of “rail” is the best because it is at street level and therefore it is easier to construct the infrastructure and makes you more likely to use it (no hunting for a station that’s a good walk away on a hot sidewalk). It will be nicer when those trees grow to shade the sidewalk and make walking enjoyable too.

When we begin to really feel peak oil (which almost certainly has already occurred), the masses who suddenly won’t be able to drive, will discover just how poorly government has maintained its streets and how unfriendly they are to walkers/public transit users. And those voters will not be happy.

Beautiful walkable streets (which will soon become full of life) are absolutely the more efficient way for local government to attract new taxpayers and new revenue through increased sales taxes.

Now, maybe they can find a way to engineer an electric street car without the ugly wires.

By: Portwes

Portwes — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:51:55 +0000

Guys like Eric need to get used to the fact that as petroleum products become more scarce and more expensive, cars will be the dinosaurs of the modern era (or should I say, horses?!) Soon there will be billions of tons of useless hunks of metal, and those who get on the mass transit future will be the ones who win the prize of liveability and attractive urban environments. By manufacturing streetcars (and what’s so evil about asking the experienced Czechs for advice??) here in Portland, we’ve got a huge head start in the renaissance of heavy industry for this new mass transit paradigm. Or would you rather we buy all our streetcars from China?

By: Robby

Robby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:08:30 +0000

Whoopie! We made a streetcar. And in a few years, the USA will return to the moon. Oh, the progress we’ve made in 60 years…

By: Manufacture This » Blog Archive » Stimulus Helps U.S. Build New Streetcars

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:02:17 +0000

[...] out: thanks to federal stimulus funds, the U.S. has built its first streetcar in 60 years. The Infrastructurist reports that the new streetcar is partof $75 million in stimulus funds supplied to Portland, Orgeon: Local [...]

By: Jarrett at HumanTransit.org

Jarrett at HumanTransit.org — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:30:27 +0000

Bravo. On the question of streetcars as mobility improvements, however, see here:

http://www.humantransit.org/2009/07/streetcars-an-inconvenient-truth.html

By: Helen Highwater

Helen Highwater — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:19:38 +0000

This is an American industry with a future, because the price of oil and gasoline is going to skyrocket in coming years, and not just in its ordinary summer prise rise. And cars, of course, are deadly cancer-spewing earthkillers on four wheels.

By: KC Light Rail » Round-up: Buy American edition

KC Light Rail » Round-up: Buy American edition — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:48:10 +0000

[...] First US-made streetcar goes into service (Infrastructurist) [...]

By: Portland Studies Streetcar Expansion Citywide « the transport politic

Portland Studies Streetcar Expansion Citywide « the transport politic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:43:02 +0000

[...] document was released a day after Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood came to the city to praise its transportation investments and the construction of the first American-made streetcar [...]

By: Don

Don — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:26:50 +0000

It’s nothing but a CKD Czech product that the company bolted together. I remember when American companies used to be the ones sending CKD kits to third world countries to be assembled. Now we are third world.

By: Stop the presses! Breaking News! OMG! etc. - Travel

Stop the presses! Breaking News! OMG! etc. - Travel — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:04:06 +0000

[...] Earl the Pearl in a normal tie. No tags for this [...]

By: octopushead

octopushead — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:31:16 +0000

Awesome! I lived in Japan for four and half years, where just about every city has some sort of light urban rail. The whole time I lived over there I never drove a car. Hey Eric, How many times have you sat in traffic in your car for thrity five minutes to go an mile and half? Which is more efficient, moving twenty people in one street car or moving twenty people in twenty different automobiles? This will create manufacturing jobs, save people money, reduce our trade deficits, improve public health and perhaps increase efficiency and productivity.

By: Erste Tram "made in USA" fährt wieder! | www.reset.to

Erste Tram "made in USA" fährt wieder! | www.reset.to — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:26:02 +0000

[...] Christoph Claudius ( Alle Beiträge )Veröffentlicht: 2. Juli 2009 - 18:25Quelle: http://www.infrastructurist.com Portland/Oregon hat heute die erste Tram/Strassenbahn “made in USA” in Betrieb [...]

By: Eric F

Eric F — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:56:48 +0000

It looks like the train takes about 35 minutes to go a mile and a half. That kind of speed is what will propel the U.S. economy into the future, in much the same way as it has delivered low unemployment and high population growth to Oregon.

By: David Gadd

David Gadd — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:14:56 +0000

Having lived in San Francisco, with its busy MUNI rail lines and historic trolleys (plus, of course the cable cars), I am a huge fan of urban light rail. And now, a block from my apartment in Hollywood, is the expanded intersection of Argyle Avenue and Yucca Street, where L.A.’s old Red Car lines used to turn around.

The most gemütlich street cars I ever rode, however, were those of Vienna, which ply their way around the Ringstrasse and elsewhere with the elegance and tempo of a Strauss waltz.

Thankfully, America is waking up to the importance of this mode of transportation.