ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[belmont]

Concrete is now laid at the Bearinger road intersection. Looks like it's going to be only 2 sets rails as discussed (rather than 3 as some of us had assumed).

[Waterlooer]

Concrete is now laid at the Bearinger road intersection. Looks like it's going to be only 2 sets rails as discussed (rather than 3 as some of us had assumed).

So exciting. Did you happen to take any photos of it?

[Canard]

It was always going to be 2 sets of tracks. The freight trains will use gauntlet tracks at the stations that they pass through for the required clearance (loading gauge).

[belmont]

So exciting. Did you happen to take any photos of it?

Sadly, no. There's trucks and heavy machinery everywhere which makes it difficult to get close enough to get a decent picture.

[timio]

Concrete is now laid at the Bearinger road intersection. Looks like it's going to be only 2 sets rails as discussed (rather than 3 as some of us had assumed).

So exciting. Did you happen to take any photos of it?

From @HAL8950 on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/HAL8950/status/603357661892112384

[Square]

I wonder if they will still have 3 set of tracks at Northfield? Page 23 of this PDF link. http://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca/..._Part1.pdf

[Canard]

I'm a bit late to the game, despite driving up to Bearanger half a dozen times over the last few days, but here are some more photos of the trackwork.

   

   

   

I parked at the apartment building off Parkside on the North side of Bearanger, and walked behind it along the trail (this is the same trail that terminates at Quiet Place), but I'm still not convinced we're supposed to be up that close to the construction. The pedestrian signs clearly point away from the area that everybody's been taking photos from.

[Pheidippides]

Are those short sections of tracks placeholders while the concrete cures? I thought the longer sections of track were to be used to limit the number of seams for a smoother ride.

[Canard]

Most of the rail sections will be very long (couple hundred metres each), but where they are joined they will be welded and ground so the seam is not visible or felt.

It kind of makes sense from a construction standpoint to only move around small sections that are just wider than the roadway for these intersections.

These rails will be permanent with a weld seam just beyond the roadway on either side.  Right now they are semi-temporarily bolted to the existing CN track.  I noticed the rail profile isn't the same (obviously things have changed over time) and there's a special fish plate that bolts the two different rail profiles together - sort of like this.

I was surprised to see how the concrete slabs are placed for the road surface - I guess I had always (incorrectly) assumed that road crossings were just giant concrete blocks with two grooves in them for the rails. I didn't realize there were actually ties under there (wider ones, though) and the concrete slabs just sat on top of them - on top of ballast!

[isUsername]

I was surprised to see how the concrete slabs are placed for the road surface - I guess I had always (incorrectly) assumed that road crossings were just giant concrete blocks with two grooves in them for the rails.  I didn't realize there were actually ties under there (wider ones, though) and the concrete slabs just sat on top of them - on top of ballast!

Don't drop your keys.

[Drake]

Surprised this has not come up here, I will save the long repost: LINK

Kitchener has essentially changed the name of King Central (station) to Central Station -- Innovation District. With the polar opposites of imaginative names, they could have settled for dichotomy station.

[Markster]

It did come up, but got buried under Hamilton LRT news and pictures of the first track
http://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/s...12#pid7912

The dislike of the name continues on twitter:
https://twitter.com/mikeboos/status/603941815209832448

[panamaniac]

The station names seem like a pretty small concern. Personally, I don't mind "Central Station - Innovation District" (although I regret the lost opportunity of "King Victoria"!). I don't care for "Kitchener Market" (Market), Kitchener City Hall (City Hall), or "Waterloo Public Square" (Waterloo Square).

[timio]

The Columbia street closure has been postponed until June 8 for up to 3 weeks.  GRT routes 201, 31, and 7 are back on their regular routes until then after at least 2 days on the detour.  [Communication makes things happen.]

Source:  GRT's Long-term detours

[Canard]

The first FLEXITY Freedom LFLRV's will undergo low-speed tests in Thunder Bay, and then head to Kingston (Millhaven) for high-speed tests. I had hoped that our first stretch of track might be powered up early (late 2016) and testing would be done here.