Motorists traveling 6400 South were not seeing things when flaggers escorted a 44-ton TRAX car out of the Utah Transit Authority's light-rail maintenance facility recently.
While the March 2000 start-up date for the Salt Lake Valley's light-rail mass-transit system is still a long way off, 12 of the $1.85 million vehicles have been making regular 55 mph runs on the eight-block section of track between 6400 South and 7200 South as crews ready the fleet for passenger use."I think the first couple of weeks, we were a real novelty," said Jim Price, who left Baltimore's light-rail system three months ago to become UTA's vehicle maintenance manager.
Motorists, pedestrians and shoppers at nearby Costco still take long glances as the empty, box-like electric trains zoom along. But after nearly three months of active testing, they are a mainstay along the test track that was the first part of the 15-mile Sandy-to-Salt Lake City line to be completed, although only the southbound side is in operation. It is a good location for the lengthy testing process because the tracks don't cross a street for the entire eight-block distance.
The test track also is close to the half-mile spur that connects the Lovendahl Center, the maintenance facility, with the main line. The cars must cross 6400 South and two side streets to reach the test track, but typically disrupt traffic only twice a day - if that. Because contractors are finishing their work on the overhead power lines, on-track testing is done just three or four days a week.
Current testing is focused on two cars. Within a few weeks, Price expects the first of the 23 cars UTA has ordered will be fine-tuned and ready to go. The brake settings, software and hardware adjustments and other specifications will be recorded and transferred to the rest of the fleet, reducing the time engineers will have to spend on each remaining vehicle.
"The first car always takes the longest time because you want to catch as many things as you can catch on the first car," said Paul O'Brien, UTA's director of rail operations. "We've basically worked on all of the cars, but we haven't really completed the testing on the first car yet."
Once it does, UTA will assume ownership of its first light-rail vehicle, manufactured in two California plants by Siemens Trans-por-ta-tion Systems. The last of the cars should be delivered by early February.
Price and O'Brien hope the entire fleet will be operational by June of next year. By then, the test track could be expanded from 5300 South all the way to 10000 South. It's important for the cars to get some mileage on them before the system opens, O'Brien said, and that could include a series of demonstrations for the public beginning next summer.
Price, two Siemens employees and a consultant spent Tuesday morning using a laptop computer and printer to analyze the braking ability of one TRAX vehicle. But some tests aren't so technical. The car had already passed the "can of water" test - not a drop of water from a one-quarter-full can spilled when the vehicle was brought to a stop.
"We're concerning ourselves now with rider comfort," Price said. "When a person stands up and is exiting, we don't want any jolt" as the car comes to a complete stop.
Some tests must be performed when the car is carrying weight equivalent to a full load of passengers - 64 seated, another 30 or so standing. To simulate those conditions, the engineers pack the car with boxes of rock salt.
Price, O'Brien and consultant Will Smith said testing has gone well with no major delays. Minor difficulties with the cars' air conditioning systems have been fixed, Price said.
"All the problems we've had were the types of problems we were expecting - problems that are normal commissioning problems," he said.
The 82-foot-long cars, similar to Siemens vehicles now being used in Denver and San Diego, are visible most weekdays on the test track.