NIAGARA FRONTIER TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY VEHICLE TESTS

A prototype single car, intended for use on revenue (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authorit-NFTA) line in Buffalo, New York, was tested over a twelve-week period by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Testing at the Transportation Test Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado, was sponsored by the Office of Systems Engineering of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA). The car was manufactured by the Tokyu Car Corporation of Japan, and utilized a Westinghouse propulsion system and Knorr friction brakes. Through the combined efforts of personnel from the Tokyo Car Corporation, the AAR/TTC, and additional subcontractors and consultants, the car was fitted with comprehensive instrumentation and prepared for testing in areas of acceleration/deceleration, power consumption, noise, ride quality, and overall performance under simulated revenue service profiles (duty cycle). Data reduction was performed by the staff of the TTC resulting in the following conclusions: Generally, the car satisfied specification criteria outlined in the test requirements-with some minor exceptions. Reliability was excellent for all systems. One instance of propulsion motor flash-over occurred during a duty cycle run, but could not be duplicated subsequently. Friction braking, though criteria were met, evidenced low thermal capacity. Generally, system adjustments and alignments allowed for obtaining optimum performance. However, some settings were observed to be quite critical, thus indicating a need to carefully follow setup and adjustment procedures in preparation for revenue service.

• Record URL:
  • https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/niagara-frontier-transportation-authority-vehicle-tests
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Association of American Railroads

  Transportation Technology Center, P. O. Box 11130
  Pueblo, CO  United States  81001

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Arnold, G
  • Blume, N
  • Heisey, E
  • Swearingen, B
  • Walker, G M
• Publication Date: 1983-11

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 301 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Braking performance; Light rail vehicles; Motors; Prototypes; Reliability; Technology; Testing; Traction; Traction drives
• Identifier Terms: Transportation Technology Center; Urban Mass Transportation Act
• Geographic Terms: Buffalo (New York); Japan
• Old TRIS Terms: Umta section 6
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00390701
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-CO-06-0009-84-1Final Rpt., TTC-002(UMTA-FR84)
• Contract Numbers: DTFR-83-C-00282, TO8
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 30 1984 12:00AM