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Description
Illustration of a VTA light rail vehicle about to come around a corner, with a light post on the left, and buildings on the right. Signed "Koski 86." Text on reverse, titled, "The North-South Link": Santa Clara County is known nationally as the Silicon Valley. Half the size of your fingernail and capable of moving mountains of infomraiton in microseconds, the silicon micro chip has become the foundation of an enormous industry and the hub of a vibrant community. With this capacity for moving information came the need to move people in Santa Clara -- from their south county homes to their north county jobs. The backbone of the new Santa Clara transportation plan is a 20 mile light rail transit system, the longest light rail line built in the U.S. in fifty years. Like the county they serve, the fifty UTDC articulated light rail vehicles have another important north-south link. From the drawing boards and shopfloor in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to final assembly in San Jose, California, these vehicles will have travelled almost 3,000 miles before they reach the end of the assembly line. Can-Car Rail, owned by RailTrans Industries, a UTDC company, has been building transit vehicles for over 20 years. The exterior shells of the Santa Clara vehicles are fabricated on large frames or jigs. Skilled metalworkers carefully align and splice the underframe, doorframes, sidepanels, endcaps and roof together to form both halves of the articulated light rail vehicle. Once the shell is assembled work begins on the vehicle's central nervous system, the 5 miles of electrical wiring that links the control console to the numerous subsystems. After installing and testing the wiring, pneumatic piping and conduits, the interior panels and windows are installed and the vehcile is ready for painting. Once the shell is assembled work begins on the vehicle's central nervous system, the 5 miles of electrical wiring that links the control console to the numerous subsystems. After installing and testing the wiring, pneumatic piping and conduits, the interior panels and windows are installed and the vehicle is ready for painting. The seals on the doors and windows are then tested by pumping hundreds of gallons of water through high pressure nozzles. When all tests are successfully completed the vehicle shells are readied for shipping. The first two shells were loaded onto a one-hundred-foot tractor trailer for the trip south to San Jose. Due to the size of its load, the trailer was only allowed to travel during the day. The whole trip took about 2 weeks to complete. The final assembly of the vehicle is completed in San Jose. Seats, windscreens and heaters are installed inside the vehicles. On the outside, couplers, trucks (that are assembled in Sacramento), the propulsion equipment, air-conditioners and the overhead pantograph are then carefully affixed. The two halves are then mated to the articulation unit which allows the light rail vehicle to negotiate extremely tight turns. Every system is rigorously tested and checked before final delivery and acceptance by the Santa Clara County Transit District. These articulated light rail vehicles are capable of operating in trains of up to four vehicles, with the entire train holding a crush load of over 1000 passengers. Completed on this north-south assembly line in under 30 weeks, these vehicles will continue their north-south journey on the Santa Clara County light rail system well into the 21st century. (Copyright 1986 Urban Transportation Development Corporation)
Type
Image
Identifier
1FD64D82-E4C1-4420-9139-434363354198 2017-47-22
Subject
Street railroads--California--Santa Clara County (LCSH) Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Electric railroads Nineteen eightees (LCSH)
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