Lovely Liepaja Part 3

 Clean, Tidy but Flat Ride

Above is the tuning circle at Mirdzas, the northern terminus of Lierpaja's only tram route. The greenery is dominated by an industrial bridge (not for public use) linking two parts of the Intersteel factory site.

It is a bit scary, but the tram sets off enthusiastically on its reserved track.

... before making a sharp right hand turn to get to the railway station.

The station is almost unchanged since the 1900s ...

... although the front view always was a little grander than the platform side.

The route then continues ...

... southbound to the town centre.

We pass the turnoff to the depot and enjoy some road works (track works?)  ...

...nwhere cobbles are being replaced by cobbles. Nice!

Like the rest of the environment, the central area is clean and devoid of the clutter and graffiti that we seem to have become used to in the UK. And there is that white-spired church we met in Wednesday's blog.

We cross the cut-through from sea to Liapaja Lake ...

... and continue southbound; where the ambiance, although not totally rural, is very much small town in character ...

... with lots of greenery.

There is even a little bit of tram only track, where road traffic has been sent round two sides of a grassy triangle.

More semi-rural progress ...

... unil a community of low rise and bigger blocks of flats is encountered

Next comes the point at which the 2013 extension turns left leaving that former stub unserved and trackless.

We are now on the first extension to Ezerkrats, the only extension of the system since 1899 ...

... which must he some kind of record.

Here the blocks of apartments are much bigger and buses join the tram route.

The terminal loop (above) is almost on the shore of the Liepaya Lake; althogh the "waterfront" has a touch of the shanty town about it!

Note the buses parked in the tram loop!

As the transport network map shows, Ezerkrats is also the terminus of several bus routes.

Note also that the bus map does not show the tram - that would never do!

The tram is the most frequent public transport service in the town, running every seven minutes Monday to Friday and drastically reduced to every eight minutes on Saturday and Sunday.

You only get departure lists from the outer terminus of all the routes, tram or bus.

Most bus routes are relatively infrequent ...

...  although the 2 excels itself by reaching the dizzy heights of every 12 minutes at peak times.

Fares are, as you would expect, ludicrously cheap.

Tickets for specific number of trips

Ticket for a single purchased in advance

   0,90 EUR

Ticket for a single the driver of the vehicle

   1,50 EUR

Ticket for ten trips

    8,50 EUR

Long-term tickets

One day long-term ticket

   3,00 EUR

Three day long-term ticket

   6,00 EUR

Five day long-term ticket

   9,00 EUR

One month long-term ticket

   30,00 EUR

A lticket valid for three months

    75,00 EUR

Wow! £5 for a three day ticket. As they say in the shopping centres of Liepaja:-

Pat lētāk nekā frī kartupeļi

 Next Stagecoach mini blog : Saturday 19 Oct 

Clever Cornering Contrivances (mini blog)

Real Railway Has Gentle Curves

The above is an aerial view of a bit of the west coast main line (the thin bit on the above map) as it approaches Penrith and where it crosses the M6 (the broader bit). Ironically, the railway is more curved than the motorway.

But when you zoom in, the railway looks almost straight!

Even so, it was necessary to devise a technology that would help the wheels go round corners. This little video explains how clever it is.

Even with the more gentle curves of a fast main line, those wheels shaped like a slice of a cone are necessary to provide a smooth ride and prevent derailments.

Whilst model railway wheels are a good sliced-cone reproduction of the real thing ...

... corners are much, much sharper.

We see the problem with fbb's Greater Manchester liveried Pacer.

Look what happens when you plonk ot on the track. 

Here is a view (plus Mr Tubbles' discarded hair?) from beneath.

The wheels would sit diagonally on the rail and the video showed what would happen! So the clever people at Hornby make one set of wheels pivot ...

... and that's just enough to help it round the corners.

Which brings us to fbb's six wheel coaches. In theory the same applies ...

... but the solution is different. If all three axles were two wheel pony trucks, the carriage would be liable to wobble when trundling along. It needs some stability.

In the Hornby six wheeler ...

... you will find the OO gauge version of a Cartazzi axle on the middle pair of wheels. The wheels slide from side to side in a central tube holding the axle.

Buit on the Hattons Genesis carriage ...

... the wheels, axles and axle boxes are on a subframe, the whole of which slides.

Hattons have even cut a little nibble in the lower step board so the sliding axle box will fit in.

But, of course, if your layout has more gentle curves, they include a step board without a nibble neatly wrapped and in the box as delivered.

Clever eh?

Who would have thought such a simple model in concept would have needed such complex technology. 

Maybe that's why railway modelling is now so very expensive?

These mini blogs are getting longer! More self discipline needed, fbb!

 Next Liepaja blog Friday 18th Oct 

Lovely Liepaja Part 2

One Network, One Line, 125 Years!

Tram No 1 started its long life in Liepaja in September 1899.  There are several postcards on-line showing the system in its early days.

It is worthy of note that the early route was single track with (presumably?) passing places. The church below will appear in Friday's blog.

Note also that the city centre was busy wth shoppers who would have travelled there using the one tram route in 1899 and following.

fbb is not sure whether the above picture really is of Liepaja as there were no sidings or junctions in the city. But the bridge below was real enough and, much widened, still stands today.

By the time the above photo was snapped, double track running in the city centre was apparent. The double tracking had begun in 1904 not long after the system opened. The assumption is that the line was successful and an increased frequency necessitated the extra track. Extra trams were added to the fleet in 1903.

In 1941 the first woman driver, Anna Cejusa, joined the company then, as the clouds of war dissipated, new trams similar to those below took to the rails.

The next intake of new rolling stick was in 1957 when more substantial "Gotha" trams arrived.

fbb should have mentioned that the track is metre gauge, not "standard" gauge as in UK railways and in the curremnt UK tram systems.

The Tatra trams began arriving in 1962.

Messily they tended to wear all over advertsing livery.

In 1974, the company's on-line history summary reports that total passengers carried reached 12 million annually which is quite an achievement for a one-line system in a town with a popukation of only 77,000. That is in the same order as Kettering, Paisley and Peterborough, none of which has trams! Blackpool's count is 142,000 and it, like Liepaja has one tram route.

In 2007 discussions started about an extension to Ezerkrasis - shock horror - only 108 years after the first section opened. This was at the southern end of the line and  involved a short piece of tram abandonment shown in slightly paler blue, lower left!

The new piece of tramway opened in 2013.

Delivery of new low floor trams began in 2021 and, this time, they all wear the same livery.

These are very smart,  although fbb does wonder about the practicality of the white plastic finish in the interior.

The four (uncomfortable?) seats right at the back do give some idea of the constraints of metre gauge bodywork!

The trams are unidirectional with turning circles at both ends of the route ...

... and doors on the right hand side only ...

... ergo, none on the left hand side!

Just a video snippet of trams passing squeakily where a temporary single track section is in operation.

On Friday, we take a virtual ride along the system, look at fares and glimpse the Liepaja bus netwrok.

≈================

to a  blog near you

Thurs 17 Oct

(mini) Clever cornering cheats

Fri 18 Oct

(maxi) Liepaja route and info

Sat 19 Oct

(mini) Stagecoach Succumbs in Sussex

Sun 20 Oct

(mlini) Traumatic Travels in Torquay

e & o e

================

 Next corner cheating mini blog : Thurs 17th Oct