ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Canard]

a curve that is out by a few millimetres would cause too much wear on the bogies, make a lot of squealing noise or cause a train to derail.

A few millimetres absolutely won't cause a derailment.  The distance between the flanges on our trains is 10 mm less than the nominal distance between rail heads (1425 vs. 1435 mm).  The width of the running surfaces of the wheels on trams is much wider than conventional rail vehicles, because of what happens when you put a set of axles on a long fixed wheelbase through a sharp curve.  The issue is simply one of contractual agreement and paperwork, and nothing more.

   

   
From the Project Agreement, Schedule 15-2, Section 12.5, paragraph a)

Tolerances are given in Schedule 15-2, Section 12.8, paragraph b), and show a -0/+3.0 mm tolerance for gauge of rails at construction:

   

Why the lack of urgency throughout this entire project? This part isn’t Bombardier’s fault.

This is my thoughts, this substantially weakens the claim that if we only had trains, we'd have been running them.  There seems to be a lack of hurrying to get this train on the tracks as it were.

I've had the same thoughts, and feel the same way, for what its worth.    I keep trying to put my thoughts together - everyone's so livid with Bombardier, but redirecting anger (even when it's unfairly aimed) doesn't solve anything.

Was it that the rail out of position because of the position it was embedded in or out of position because the pre-curving wasn't done properly to specifications?

We don't know.

Apologies for the lack of construction knowledge, but exactly what is the fix here?

It would depend on if it's too close or too far out, I think, and by how much.  Now that the tent is up, it's not easy to see what technique they're using.  Best bet is to talk with one of them and ask.

Aren't all the tracks welded together now?

Yes!

How do you just fix one section of track without affecting the two end points of where everything is in alignment?

I've had the same thought.  They've exposed the rail through the curve, but it's still fixed at both ends.  Forcing it winder in one part will force it narrower in the adjacent parts.

Won't they have to cut the troubled section out, remove the entire curve, and put it or a new piece back in the right position?

I doubt it, for a few millimetres.

Do they just heat it up and bang in to position?

I suspect so, or they might cut it somewhere, and either:

• use the blade thickness of the saw for that single cut to pull the rails tighter
  
• make a second cut and remove a small segment to pull the rails tighter
  
• force the rails further apart, and fill the gap with weld, to push the rails further apart
  

It interesting that this was not caught before. I know I saw them checking that curve before. It was right around the time the had to shave off and re-pour some of the platform edges. Is it even possible with all the reinforcing that something simply heaved in the cold weather?

This is plausible.  I also can't help but wonder if it's two different people who were operating the gauging cart at different times, with different interpretations of what is within tolerance or out of.

I work in the automation industry, and we build massive machines from raw materials.  I design (and chase) my projects through from start to finish.  When we have to do something out-of-house (like big weldment frames), a supplier will sometimes call me up and say "I welded this pad 5 mm out of position.  Can you live with that, or do I need to grind the weld off and move it?"  I take a look at what's critical, if it actually matters or not... and most of the time, it doesn't.  Even though it's technically out of tolerance from my drawing, I'm not going to be a jerk and make the guy spend hours re-doing something that I know in the end really won't matter.

(I appreciate this is different, but I'm really curious just how far out of tolerance they are!)