TRAMS TRAVERSING THE PORTABLE SHUNT - Yarra Trams Melbourne

[@thomasburke2683]

I usually think outside the box, but never imagined this.

[@Schony747]

It's pretty cool. Ever since it's been in use, it's given a lot more flexibility to Tramway construction and bus replacements.

[@TheFinalMinutes]

I walk past this daily and it's really interesting to see it in use.

[@Schony747]

Yeah it's great to see and a pretty cool piece of infrastructure

[@paulmccormick5042]

Once a common place technique in the mining and narrow gauge worlds but unusual to see it's undoubted valuable work in such an application.

[@Schony747]

Invaluable due to it's flexibility. The shunt can be placed anywhere that's practical. So in this case without this shunt, replacement buses would have started a few kilometres further down the road where the nearest shunt is.

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

When I lived in San Francisco on the K they were redoing Balboa Park station and had a similar setup to let the tram change ends and head back. Really clever!

[@Schony747]

Really clever and has the potential for many uses

[@dustojnikhummer]

I remember seeing this for the first time years ago and was fascinated with it for a bit. No need for an actual track switch or nothing. From the outside the bump is very noticeable, weirdly you feel almost nothing inside of the tram itself.

[@Schony747]

Yes it's really smooth when you ride over it. It's very impressive!

[@drivingottawa]

Great video, certainly interesting infrastructure.

[@Schony747]

Very interesting and well worth documenting. Thanks for looking.

[@bruceboatwright7488]

You're right, that is a cool piece of equipment. Love your light rail, very jealous.

[@Schony747]

Both light rails and the 75 reserve track are my favourite pieces of track to drive on.

[@slycat1939]

ty for posting as alaways love it.

[@Schony747]

Always great to see it in operation as well mate! Fortunately I can get up nice and close and not get into trouble.

[@Sir_Rheilffordd]

I didn't even knew Melbourne used Combino trams just like my hometown Erfurt, Germany

[@Schony747]

Yes mate. They've been around for nearly 20 years.

[@mariejuku]

we have several different types of rolling stock (I think 9?) we use Alstom citadis too

[@benjamingoldman2594]

Really interesting ! Thanks !

[@Schony747]

Thanks 😀😀. People have found this piece of infrastructure very interesting. That's the general consensus

[@brianbuzzen]

Quite a structure. Many cars run into it ? Thank you , I have never seen one of those before.

[@Schony747]

It's actually blocked off to cars so it's pretty safe 😀😀

You may make arrangements to allow cars to drive over it (we've done that in Brussels when we had no other choice), by putting tarmac all around the thing. However it's then pain in the a** to remove all the tarmac afterwards. To be avoided at all cost. Please note that usually there is a temporary terminus for the tramways just next to it, with a tramway blocking the whole road when turning back. This is usually not compatible with car traffic in the same road.

[@AndrewCastlemaine]

Useful bit of kit 👍

[@Schony747]

Yea mate. And it's provided so much flexibility when organising shunts and bus replacements as well.

[@Bobrogers99]

As expected, very informative!

[@Schony747]

Thanks Bob! 😀😀

[@ChannelReuploads9451]

Saw a pic of this on Reddit a few days ago (Cant find the thread) and i thought "Oh boy Schony is gonna post a vid of this !". I am not worthy Your excellence ! .

[@Schony747]

The shunt isn't out very often mate so yes of course I was coming out to get it!

[@ArtStoneUS]

Another type of rarely seen temporary track involves firefighting. If there is a structure fire next to the track and there's no alternate route to use as a detour, there can be temporary tracks pu down that have holes in them that the fire hoses can go through under the rail so the tram doesn't cut the fire hoses and can keep running.

[@Schony747]

That's really cool! I've seen something similar for roads where hoses are placed under something to stop damage to the hoses.

[@spencer4732]

awesome video! melbourne trams are the best

[@Schony747]

Trams are the best mate 😀😀

[@rayjackson5280]

That type of trackwork has been around way back in the W2 days

[@Schony747]

Well before my time driving trams but I do recall track Reconstruction with temporary track beside the line that was being relaid.

[@peterhall3746]

Yes the temporary track was called a shoe fly. There was all this temporary track stacked up at the civil branch alongside South Melbourne Depot.

In Brussels (STIB) they are called "Californian Switch" (aiguillage californien). I have no idea if and when they were imported from California in the 150+ years of history of Brussels tramways. A well trained crew of 2 man with a road crane (one crane pilot and one man on the road) can install such a switch in about 1 hour including the few drilled plugs & bolts to keep everything aligned. Add 1 more hour to to get the full set of plugs drilled, bolts installed and torqued and return current straps welded in place. Removing is twice faster.

[@Schony747]

It looks like the infrastructure while not common is used in many parts of the world. I'm not sure how long it takes to install and dismantle the crossover here in Melbourne

[@tomashavlicek3434]

In Czechia it is also called Californian Switch

[@andrewpalm2103]

Thank you very much indeed for this very detailed look at this piece of tram infrastructure! Such a temporary crossover must be a fairly rare item. Does the company engineering department design and build it themselves, or is there an external supplier? Cheers from your loyal subscriber in Wisconsin!

[@Schony747]

From what I can gather from comments on tram groups, while it's not particularly common, there seem to be a number of these scattered around the globe!

At STIB (Brussels) we have about 5 of each in stock (5 diverging left, 5 diverging right) and we use them all the time as we are almost permanently rebuilding something on our 120 km double track network. I'm surprised Yarra Trams discovers that thing now but their network (the largest tramway network in the world) is also quite well networked allowing to re-route around track sections closed for renewal, which is less our case.

[@RJM56]

@ Hi Stéphane. Re-routing trams for the section featured and for the duration that the works were taking place would have been infeasible. To go around by tram would have meant trams diverting via a route up to 3km east and another 1.5km west on lines that wouldn't have coped with the extra capacity. Buses are being used for through transport of passengers instead. This particular event it is not a simple track renewal. It is a major track and road realignment (in fact an almost-reinstatement of the original alignment) along the single busiest section of the whole network (a section of track shared by eight routes) which commenced on 27 November 2022 and is due for completion tomorrow, 19 December, that also includes the relocation of a platform tram stop. The track and road works span 300m. The tram replacement buses which cover either side of the works run a distance of around 2.5km. It is taking place around the site of the interchange between the tram stop platforms and the surface level entrances for an underground train station being built on a line, the work on which started in 2018 and due for completion in 2025. I travelled through the section today on a tram replacement bus as planned. Unfortunately something went wrong at the site of the shunt and a line of trams waiting to reverse and pick up passengers banked up with passengers unable to board for at least an hour. In my case it just meant an unplanned but lovely summer's day walk along a beautiful boulevard.

[@trainsimulatordriver]

They are cool. A slight correction they're bolted to the concrete the normal track is fixed to not the track itself.

Yes they are bolted but in addition there are a few welds on the ends otherwise you have the end blade which lifts up when the 1st axle of a bogie passes over it and then that blade end collides with every 2nd axle of the bogie (or magnetic track brake or wathever else hanging low down there).

[@trainsimulatordriver]

@ I don't think they are welded to the track at all. If it was welded they would not need the electrical bond wires. I looked really close at the ends and they just sit there on top of the track. The long plate that is bolted to the concrete is welded to the temporary ramp section

[@ArtStoneUS]

Another slang term for a similar concept is a "shoofly" - a temporary track to relocate the rail traffic off of the piece of track under construction. It's important to remember that the rails make the return circuit for the electricity, so the temporary track must be electrically connected to the normal rails.

[@Schony747]

Correct. There must be some earth connection to complete the circuit.

[@194bus3]

Thank you for the video. how are you?

[@Schony747]

Great mate. Thanks for looking.

[@davidperrott4502]

More likely used as a temporary crossover due to track reconstruction, not trams lol

[@Schony747]

The trams roll up and think what's this?? 😀😀

[@VicSpotters]

I filmed this too! I’m just too lazy to upload it.

[@Schony747]

Well get onto it mate!

[@roblox-xp5tr]

Same switch we have in czech republic And we Called Californian switch

[@Schony747]

Looks like every different country or continent has a name for this piece of infrastructure!

[@xymaryai8283]

do any Melbourne trams have even the tiniest battery backup or do all of them need to be connected at all times to accelerate? i'm sure theres at least a capacitor to smooth out any split second disconnections, but i mean enough to start from a stop, even if it can't go much further

Continuity of power supply is ensured on such a switch. You can spot the straps welded between each module of the switch and also the straps welded on the running rails on each end. These are of a capital importance and their presence and integrity has to be checked each day. Lack of these straps would create an extremely dangerous hazard.

[@Schony747]

No batter backup mate and the tram needs to be connected to the overhead to move unless the tram can be rolled

[@therealsammyvee888]

Will you be doing any more tram driver's view videos? I love those and it's been quite a while so was wondering.

[@Schony747]

I've got a few videos on the hard drive that I plan to upload. I won't be filming anything new for the time being as YT would prefer I stop for a while.

[@spencer4732]

@@Schony747 YT like youtube or yarra trams

[@therealsammyvee888]

@@Schony747 Ok then, thanks for letting me know. Looking forward to seeing them soon hopefully.

[@therealsammyvee888]

@@spencer4732 Good question, that confused me as well.

[@top40researcher31]

@4:33 whats that spinning with the wheel ?

[@Schony747]

That's an earthing strap. Bogeys have them to stop the tram insulating.

[@top40researcher31]

@@Schony747 ahhh ok thanks for the information 😃

[@johnnugent899]

Tram 153 The windscreen ?

[@Schony747]

That was taken through the perspex which is behind the driver. Easily scratched by passengers as you can see.

[@donotwantahandle1111]

6:04 I think you can buy those nuts from Bunnings.

[@Schony747]

You can buy most of your house at Bunnings so it wouldn't surprise me 😀😀

[@CattoRayTube]

02:40 I assume there isn't a marker for the C class as they're not expected to complete the crossing on track ;)

[@CattoRayTube]

ps: yes, I know, not every class travels every route haha

[@Schony747]

C1 uses the double lines and C2 uses the 3 lines.

[@hans2406]

How much simpler if trolleybuses are used

[@Schony747]

If we had trolley buses. There is still the problem with turning the buses as well

[@Drew_TheRoadLessTraveled]

Wow that is very practical. Now watch some boffin make a 5G version.

[@Schony747]

Where a drone will lift it in and out and self install 😆😅🤣😂

[@botmes4044]

This has got to be some ancient railroading tech first invented in like 1840 or something. Very cool.

[@Schony747]

Yes very cool mate and used around the world as I'm finding out

[@sw6188]

in like ?

[@botmes4044]

@@sw6188 I'm from California