Monday, May 12, 2014

The New Old Gardens Curve Is Now Open

Metropolis, BR March 13th 2014
A 56 Trolley enters Old Garden Stn at 20 MPH, double the speed of the old curve. 


After two crippling weekend closures of the Trees Avenue Elevated, the new Old Gardens Curve is finally open to trolleys. The 7, 16 & 56 have been impacted greatly by the amount of construction and reroutes trolley had to face the past few weekends but it's not over yet! More construction is set this weekend to add a solid support and remove the remains of the old curve. This construction will once again divert Route 56 over Central Avenue and the 7 trolley to Waves Loop but the kicker this time is Route 16 service will run to Waves - Bl of Bays instead of Parkside Loop. The past two weekends, conflicts has arisen abot the 16 & 5 sharing the underground loop. The station can only hold one trolley at a time due to how small the platform and signal block before it is.

The new curve as seen from the parking lot of Central Stn.
 The new curve is larger, nicer, easier to maintain and now letting trolley pass a double the speed then before. The old curve was built in a S formation due to Eastwick Avenue's dramatic change in width before Trees Avenue. This meant all trolley has to slow down to 10 MPH to clear the curve with almost no space for trolleys to swing without dangling dangerously over the intersection. The new curve is a much more opened J formation allowing a wider base to turn at faster speeds. Trolley can now swing around at 20 MPH and quickly jump to 27 MPH between the Old Gardens Curve and the Central Ave Curve & Interlocking. While time impact is only reduced 1 minute it still play a vital part in making the trolleys in Metropolis run better and faster.

Faster trolleys mean less of a wait. 

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