ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[trainspotter139]

[Viewfromthe42]

There was a moment last night when I was riding home, waiting for a light downtown. I'd been fishtailing anxiously on the downtown street without any cycling facilities and with parked cars on either side. The guy who passed me to get to the red light thankfully gave me some space, but also struggled. And then, at the red light as we were both stopped and waiting, an LRV glided smoothly through the intersection seemingly without a care in the world.

[Canard]

Love it!!

[Spokes]

Is there any amount of snow that would be problematic for the LRV to drive in?

[Canard]

For sure, at some point it would become impassable, like any vehicle.

[clasher]

I got the pleasure of watching an LRV climb up Charles toward Benton this evening... pretty neat how it looked with the blowing snow.

[Canard]

Trains in the snow look awesome!

0:34

[ijmorlan]

Is there any amount of snow that would be problematic for the LRV to drive in?

I suspect not an amount that we’re likely to see here.

But no, LRVs cannot tunnel through snow any more than any other train can

[Spokes]

hahah well of course.

Is there a snowplow add on that's available to strap on the front??

[KevinL]

I suspect the plow would be attached to a maintenance vehicle in that scenario, not an LRV.

[robdrimmie]

Maybe they'll store a bunch of shovels on whichever train is the "snow train" and ask the passengers to get out and shovel.

[Canard]

They use trucks with a shovel to remove excess snow from the tracks.

And yes, they do ask the LRV operators to carry a shovel and broom on board, and they get out and shovel off the switches when they go by!

On that note, I noticed that they've "black bagged" the aspects (signals) at the Cameron crossover (and I presume they've done the same at the Green crossover). My guess? It's a legal thing, just like when they bag a stoplight, if the signal can't be trusted to indicate a valid state.

[Bob_McBob]

Another huge backup at the University Ave crossing this morning. Are they doing some special testing today or is it more of the usual?

[Canard]

Not sure. What did you observe?

[clasher]

Here's how railways still plow. Back when the Grand River Railway ran electric motors on what is now the Iron Horse I assume they used the same kind of plow, these things have been around forever. This plow would take care of anyone parked on the tracks too.