Tram sim

[JasonM]

There is a new stand alone tram sim coming from ViewApp-

https://www.tram-sim.com/en/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1314140/TramSim/

You can view some more info via facebook even if you dont have an account-

https://www.facebook.com/tramsimulator

Looks very good, you get to drive in Vienna on a route that covers almost 25km.

As with everything the proof will be in the playing.

[metalangel]

Very excited, had no idea this was even coming. Growing up in Toronto, I have a lifelong affection for streetcars, and Vienna even uses a variant of the Flexity like we now have here. Will definitely be keeping an eye out, here's to it being better than the infamous tram DLC for OMSI 2.

[JasonM]

Yes I am really looking forward to this as well and hope it plays as good as it looks.
The Toronto streetcar system looks good, I hope to visit it one day.

[metalangel]

It's quite something how much of the system here is as it originally was when first laid in the 19th century, right down to walking across one lane from the curb to board (though in busier areas this is slowly changing with more and more dedicated platforms to try and mitigate against aggressive drivers and cyclists who try and pass a streetcar that is embarking passengers - illegal, by the way!)

[JasonM]

Thanks for the video, Toronto is definitely on the to do list.

Some more in game footage can be seen in this video-

https://youtu.be/d0-c3bMUO3o

[NorthernWarrior]

Nice find Jason. Definitely bookmarking this. Hopefully FS20 will have finished reinstalling by the time it comes out...

[seagoon]

......... Hopefully FS20 will have finished reinstalling by the time it comes out...

Hang in there, Vern.

This bit from the Steam advert has me a bit concerned...........

Steer unerringly through the traffic...

Brings back childhood memories of me thinking how clever train-drivers were to be able to keep all those wheels on the two rails.

[NorthernWarrior]

At 500kb/s throttle to prevent the dreaded Asobo Server File Loop it's going to take around 56 hours to grab 102Gb worth of files.

I remember my first ride on a DMU as a young child, looking through the glass partition into the cab and thinking the handbrake wheel was for steering!

[seagoon]

Nice find Jason. Definitely bookmarking this. ....

Ditto.

I loved riding on the Sydney trams when I visited from the country town in which I grew up. The city had a very extensive tram network, the largest in the Commonwealth outside of London and one of the largest in the world. At one time there were 1600 trams in service.
The following image has me wallowing in nostalgia - I recall catching trams across the Bridge back in the day.
coupled_hbr_br.jpg
Sadly, the short-sighted politicians got rid of Sydney's trams in the early 1960s; then started to reintroduce them in the city as "light rail" a few years ago.
Too little and too late.

[metalangel]

Ditto.
Sadly, the short-sighted politicians got rid of Sydney's trams in the early 1960s; then started to reintroduce them in the city as "light rail" a few years ago.
Too little and too late.

That happened everywhere, Bruce. LA got rid of the last of their streetcars in 1963 and within a decade realized what a mistake it had been and started work planning the Metro Rail network they have now (though there are other influences, the Great American Streetcar Conspiracy being among them).

Here in Toronto, the same thing - streetcars were seen as old and outdated, and the plan in the 1960s was to have dismantled the whole network by 1980. A citizens' advocate group presented a solid business case for their retention, and the TTC relented - except now they found themselves with aging PCC streetcars and no more domestic manufacturers of new vehicles. They kept the network going by buying up streetcars being sold by other cities who were still closing their own networks, and set to work designing a new, domestically produced vehicle (the CLRV seen in the thumbnail for my video above).

Jump forward a few decades and what was seen as a backwards decision in the 60s and 70s has proved to in fact be prescient, and it means the city has over 80km of routes still in situ where other cities are scrambling to try and build new ones at outrageous cost. I'm sure the other cities that retained some streetcars (like Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and SF) are glad they did, too.

[JasonM]

Yes it is very sad to think of the tram networks we had in the UK that are now gone, of course a lot of cities are putting them back in at a great cost but it will never be the same.

I am fascinated by the tram network in Praque(Czech Republic) though never been but it is also on the to do list, here is a link to a live feed from the lubrication Tram-

https://www.mall.tv/vlaky-a-tramvaje/mazacka-jizda-prahou

“ It is unique in Czech. Lubrication tram, officially named Tatra T3 with registration number 5572, nicknamed Mazačka by the inhabitants of Prague. On its way around the capital, its task is to lubricate the tracks to reduce noise and wear on the rails and tram wheels of other cars. During his never-ending work, he travels an average of over 200 kilometers a day. It is thus by far the busiest car not only in the fleet of Prague's special trams. You can meet it regularly on the streets since January 2015. However, the history of this tram is much longer.”

[NorthernWarrior]

If you want a scary tram system, find the YT video for the Kharkiv (Ukraine) system.

The track is in a state of collapse and the trams run with a massive coupling arm projecting out the front. If that doesn't get you, there's no lifeguard tray or deflector to stop you going under the wheels.

[seagoon]

Here it is.

[haverfordwest]

Bit of a drama queen.

That protruding coupling is for ramming Russian tanks.

[NorthernWarrior]

It's quite brilliant, isn't it!