Old tram type vehicle on approach to Derby?

[brick60000]

Hi there,

On the way into Derby I have just seen what looked like an old tram vehicle in what looks like an old rail freight terminal on the approach to Derby from Burton on Trent. Does anybody know what this is?

Many thanks,

Brick60000

 

[northwichcat]

Was it this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/abandonment/2453641571/ ?

 

[Hyphen]

Fantastic, thank you jcollins.

I used to go past that twice a week for over a year, and never thought to question what it was doing there!

 

[northwichcat]

I used to go past that twice a week for over a year, and never thought to question what it was doing there!

The reason why it was brought over was for the Metrolink line that originally should have been built between Piccadilly and the the City of Manchester stadium in time the 2002 Commonwealth Games. It was apparently cheaper to ship the vehicle over here then to send a team of experts to San Francisco and when the vehicle was shipped over it was found it wasn't compatible with the Metrolink system and couldn't easily be made compatible. In the end it finished up being a bus service that operated to/from the City of Manchester stadium during the Commonwealth Games.

 

[starrymarkb]

Its one of the abysmal Boeing Light Rail Vehicles that were imposed on San Francisco and Boston. The Federal Government decided that it would specify a standard all American tram that cities would be forced to use. They then awarded the contract to Boeing (the Aircraft manufacturer) who had no experience in building trams.

The results were unreliable and unsuitable for both cities as they were built as a compromise between the requirements of Boston and San Francisco. For example needing tapered ends for Boston's tight curves meant they couldn't dock properly with SFs high level platforms in the tunnel sections so only the inner doors could be opened.

As soon as the cities were free to order vehicles to their own spec from any manufacturer both cities ordered from Ansaldo Breda with the aim of getting rid of the Boeing LRVs as quickly as possible. The resulting vehicles were actually an improvement on the Boeings despite having the usual Ansaldo Breda build quality and reliability issues!

 

[WatcherZero]

A test fleet of retired T68's and T69's is also being assembled for technology trials at the rail test centres.

 

[507 001]

I thought that this had been scrapped a long time ago!

 

[starrymarkb]

IIRC two were shipped over. One went to Manchester and the other Derby

 

[northwichcat]

IIRC two were shipped over. One went to Manchester and the other Derby

According to an old news article GMPTE (as they were known) purchased 2 x 15 year old Boeing Vertol vehicles for the purpose of a trial and after it was unsuccessful there were talks about cascading high floor trams from Bonn to Manchester (which had been replaced by low floor trams.)

 

[brick60000]

Was it this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/abandonment/2453641571/ ?

Indeed it was! Thanks for the link and for everyone's replies

 

[edwin_m]

The location in Derby is or was the premises of a company that was or is developing hub motors for independent wheel drives. I imagine they intended to use this as some kind of demonstrator.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

According to an old news article GMPTE (as they were known) purchased 2 x 15 year old Boeing Vertol vehicles for the purpose of a trial and after it was unsuccessful there were talks about cascading high floor trams from Bonn to Manchester (which had been replaced by low floor trams.)

So the "Second-Hand Rose" paranoia syndrome that is often seen upon this website when anywhere in the North of England is mentioned in the same breath as cascadation is not totally unjustified...

 

[starrymarkb]

Paul, these were to provide a temporary boost in capacity during the Commonwealth games. They were not intended as a long term purchase (at the time the current extensions were not funded so the extra trams would have been stored/scrapped after the games)

 

[theshillito]

So it's not used? Just sitting there? Can I have it?

 

[northwichcat]

So it's not used? Just sitting there? Can I have it?

Well I'm sure Disney have had their money's worth out of the advertising on it by now: https://www.flickr.com/photos/abandonment/2454466492/in/photostream/ :roll:

 

[theshillito]

Well I'm sure Disney have had their money's worth out of the advertising on it by now: https://www.flickr.com/photos/abandonment/2454466492/in/photostream/ :roll:

Graffiti'd front window, eh? Yep, looks like nobody would miss it if I took it. I wonder who owns the land and/or the vehicle now though...

 

[duffield]

Looks ideal for a shed/summer house in a larger Garden. Who knows, you might even be able to get it running at low speed on a short line via a battery conversion!