Jump to content
 

New Albula Trainsets


backofanenvelope
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold
  • 5 months later...

The RhB data sheet on them (PDF) at

https://www.rhb.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/Ueber_die_RhB/Unternehmen/Dokumente/Projekte_und_Dossiers/Albula-Gliederzug_-_Faktenblatt.pdf 

 

says that the end coach (nearest the loco) has a "Fotoabteil mit Senkfenster" - literally a photo compartment with drop windows !

and this compartment has "Dachfenster mit elektrischen Sonnenrollos" - roof window with electric sunblinds.

 

So the regular traveller gets all the benefits of air conditioning and sealed windows, and the enthusiast can open the windows in the depths of winter. Nice touch.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
  • 2 weeks later...

Saw a set of the new carriages today at Samedan on their way to Scuol in revenue earning service, camera was not on me at the time unfortunately. I thought these were due to be a fixed articulated set, but the ones I saw today weren't and the picture in the leaflet (below) isn't articulated either. The set I saw was just the 6 carriages without the 7th driving carriage yet.

 

post-9147-0-02104400-1466261360_thumb.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

It may be referring to the very large gangways between carriages rather than the normal small coaching stock that can only just squeeze the drinks trolley through. Having just travelled on similar looking Zentral Bahn stock* I don't think I've ever been on a more spacious feeling train!

 

*which were articulated but not in the conventional shared bogie style either, one end of a carriage had no bogie and was supported by the next carriage instead.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I suppose we'd call it semi permanently coupled. It does leave the flexibility though to drop out a coach fairly quickly if damaged and still run the rest of the set. The RhB has to consider the hazards of a mountain railway in that respect. Considering some of the rebuilds they've done after accidents it makes a lot of sense.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

For some reason (the leaflet pictured above is probably to blame) I imagined the new sets would be running with Ge4/4 iii, not Allegra. A few pass in this video:

 

 

This also raises the question of what are they going to do when extra coaches are needed to boost capacity, tacking them on the back when the driving trailers are in use defeats the point of not shunting so much.

Edited by Satan's Goldfish
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

For some reason (the leaflet pictured above is probably to blame) I imagined the new sets would be running with Ge4/4 Wii, not Allegra.

 

This also raises the question of what are they going to do when extra coaches are needed to boost capacity, tacking them on the back when the driving trailers are in use defeats the point of not shunting so much.

The first batch of 4/4ii are going to be phased out over the next few years so the RhB will increasingly move towards units with the next batch already announced although no final designs I've seen yet.

I guess with capacity they will still add extra coaches using the station shunters waiting to remove incoming ones fast and add to outgoing trains if needed. I suppose that's faster than a runround plus the shunt too. Or they may add another unit?

Edited by PaulRhB
Link to post
Share on other sites

the new stock is nice and modern....very comfortable especially in 1st class, but they are a bit sterile.  When I was there at the end of August all the trains we travelled on over the Albula consisted of new stock, though there were some Ge 4/4 IIIs running around with older stock

Link to post
Share on other sites

We rode in the new stock when we were staying at Filisur at the end of August. The 'Photo Compartment' is a great place to sit, especially if you are on a train heading away from St Moritz as you will be at the end of the train with a glass door facing up the track - a great place to get some different photos. We also saw the new driving trailers. Initially in the yard at Landquart, however, at the end of the week, one of them was out on a test train, full of RhB engineering staff with their laptops hooked up to various sensors within the train.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Answering some of the train 'capacity' ponderings, there is currently a picture on Instagram of a ge4/4iii with one of the sets on the Landwasser viaduct. But, it has additional coaches added too, 1 at the front and a few at the rear! So, it may not be so 'dull' with every train looking the same after all.

 

If I could work out how to share a link to it I would, but I can't, sorry! Mrs SG and I are due back to Filisur in the summer so we'll see what's running.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Also on the web are videos of the new sets being hauled by 3-car Allegra sets. Looks like they're quite flexible.

 

Separately, on the "articulation" thing discussed further back, they new sets are described in German as "Gliederzug" which does normally translate to "articulated train", and indeed that phrase is used on the RhB's English page describing them:

https://www.rhb.ch/en/company/projects-dossiers/the-articulated-alvra-trains

 

Literally Glied is a limb, member, link of a chain, section or segment. (Mitglied is a member of a club etc). So Gliederzug is really more about the indivisibility of the set. Any better translation suggestions than "fixed-formation trainset"?

The PDF diagram at

https://www.rhb.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/Ueber_die_RhB/Medien/Dokumente/Medienmitteilungen/Medienmitteilungen_2016/2016.06.11_Alvra-Gliederzug_-_Infoflyer.pdf

clearly shows two bogies per car, and it describes the individual cars as "Gliedwagen", and the ones adjacent to the control car or loco as "Endgliedwagen", i.e. they designate the end cars of the fixed formation differently. The control car itself is a "Steuerwagen".

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Also on the web are videos of the new sets being hauled by 3-car Allegra sets. Looks like they're quite flexible.

 

Separately, on the "articulation" thing discussed further back, they new sets are described in German as "Gliederzug" which does normally translate to "articulated train", and indeed that phrase is used on the RhB's English page describing them:

https://www.rhb.ch/en/company/projects-dossiers/the-articulated-alvra-trains

 

Literally Glied is a limb, member, link of a chain, section or segment. (Mitglied is a member of a club etc). So Gliederzug is really more about the indivisibility of the set. Any better translation suggestions than "fixed-formation trainset"?

The PDF diagram at

https://www.rhb.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/Ueber_die_RhB/Medien/Dokumente/Medienmitteilungen/Medienmitteilungen_2016/2016.06.11_Alvra-Gliederzug_-_Infoflyer.pdf

clearly shows two bogies per car, and it describes the individual cars as "Gliedwagen", and the ones adjacent to the control car or loco as "Endgliedwagen", i.e. they designate the end cars of the fixed formation differently. The control car itself is a "Steuerwagen".

 

 

 

The Alvra sets have been hauled by Allegra sets since the start of the 2017 timetable in December 2016 as a stop gap while Ge4/4II are rebuilt.

 

The Alvra trans are not articulated in the normal sense of the word - English or otherwise, as they ride on individual bogies, so could be split, and each coach is numbered separately . However it is clear from the design that they are not intended to be split in service, only for heavy maintenance, however they appear more 'splittable'  latest London Underground trains for example.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...