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A comment on Jumbo Stay. Parent comment

Re:Jumbo Stay by xattt on Saturday May 28, 2022 @04:58AM (#31538766)
Toronto faced a similar issue of antiquated electronics with its last set of retired street cars which used (1970s) state-of-the-art silicon-controlled rectifiers for propulsion. However, replacement parts stopped being made into the 1990s and 2000s. In the last days of operation, some units were cannibilized to get other broken down units going as replacement electronics were simply not available and could not be jerry-rigged from other off-the-shelf parts.

(1) https://stevemunro.ca/2018/06/07/will-toronto-get-more-new-s...

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Re:Jumbo Stay by Tijdreiziger on Saturday May 28, 2022 @05:26AM (#31538887)
The Hague purchased old trams from Marseille for parts, as they had this exact problem with the old (red) GTL-8 trams. [1]

Some GTL-8s are actually still in service to this day, though they're being replaced by new Siemens Avenios as time goes on.

[1] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelede_Tram_Lang

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Re:Jumbo Stay by amelius on Saturday May 28, 2022 @06:35AM (#31539175)
Do most cities design and build their own buses and trams?
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Re:Jumbo Stay by xattt on Saturday May 28, 2022 @08:07AM (#31539665)
In the face of the mid-century GM streetcar conspiracy in North America, there were very few options for off-the-shelf streetcars. Toronto ended up working with a provincial agency (UTDC) to develop a design that would meet contemporary needs. It was really a world-class effort: the prototypes were built in Switzerland, adjusted for Toronto track gauge and marketed to Boston (who ended up going with a Boeing design).

In a very oversimplified explanation, most major rail manufacturers now offer something that’s like a kit: cities pick length, types of operation (street running or separate grade), front-end and back-end design and that’s it.

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Re:Jumbo Stay by jsrcout on Saturday May 28, 2022 @10:46AM (#31540741)
Had no idea such a thing had ever happened. Interesting article.

General Motors streetcar conspiracy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...

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Re:Jumbo Stay by Tijdreiziger on Saturday May 28, 2022 @07:54AM (#31539593)
At least with rail vehicles (trams, metros and trains), I think custom designs used to be more common in the past. Perhaps the consolidation of all sorts of independent rolling stock manufacturers into Alstom has played a part in making it less common these days.
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