From: adrian@ntmtv.UUCP (Adrian Brandt)
Subject: Re: We need an FAQ list
Keywords: FAQ frequently answered question proposed
Organization: Northern Telecom Inc, Mountain View, CA
Distribution: ba
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 18:32:14 GMT

In article <17e1adINNlsi@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>, fuzzface@cats.ucsc.edu (Aaron Priven) writes:
|> CalTrain -- A diesel-powered railroad on standard gauge rail from 
|>    Santa Clara County to San Francisco.  Operated by a Joint Powers 
|>    Board consisting of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties and the City 
|>    and County of San Francisco. 

CalTrain seems more like a "service" than a "railroad" to me.  I'd
start the entry: "A diesel-powered commuter rail *service* ..."


|> Fixed guideway system -- a transit system with an exclusive passageway 
|>    and vehicles which cannot operate off the passageway (passageway 
|>    may be elevated track or subway, or grade separated road). 

This definition suggests that street-running light rail system is not
a "fixed guideway system".   The term "fixed guideway" suggests only
that the guideway is fixed, and says nothing about exclusivity of the
passageway.


|> Gauge -- the width between two rails of the same track.  Standard 
|>    gauge (56 1/2 inch) [right?] is what most railroads in North 
|>    America use, allowing them to share cars and engines.  Broad gauge 
|>    is wider.  Narrow gauge is narrower. 

Right, 56.5 inches = 4 ft. + 8.5 inches.   You could say standard
gauge is what most railroads in the *world* use (vs. just N. America).


|> Guideway -- a supporting physical structure in or upon which transit 
|>    vehicles travel. 

A guideway is that which "guides" the transit vehicle.  So a road is
more of a guideline than a guideway since a bus driver can always veer
off the road if he/she likes :-).  I suppose if the road has good crash
railings and/or highway/sound walls, you could argue it is a guideway!
Guideways are almost always tracks, but could be other things like a
mono-rail guideway or the guideway that pulls your car through a car wash.


|> Heavy rail -- rail with big cars. (I think I need a better definition 
|>    here...) 
|>
|> Light rail -- "electrically powered transit vehicles running on rails 
|>    for guidance and traction, i.e., the modern streetcar."  [That's 
|>    MTC's 1977 definition.  I'm not fond of it.] 

The light/heavy distinction is tricky and somewhat blurry in the middle.
First of all light/heavy is really a characterization of the rolling
stock--not the rails that it rolls on.  (The type and specification of
the rails & track structures generally follow from what the rolling
stock requires.)  The light/heavy distinction should not have anything
to do with how the vehicle is propelled (electric, diesel) or its
track gauge.  Heavy rail, to me is that equipment which is designed
and constructed to a standard (ignoring track gauge, couplers, and
motive power) that would allow it to use and inter-change/connect
with standard U.S. freight railroad equipment and track structures.
This means safely traversing at-grade crossings at speed without risk
of catastrophic damage when colliding with motor vehicles.  This means
that it can safely negotiate standard freight railroad track switches,
curvatures, etc. 

Light rail is a fairly new term that was used to describe the new-
generation of streetcars.  Probably coined by those that wanted to
disassociate from the word "streetcar" and everything that conjures
up.  The term "light rail" is probably what gave birth to the term
"heavy rail".  Light rail is usually of much lighter construction,
is generally not run as trains (but can be), is never loco-pulled
(but could be in theory), is generally designed to handle sharper
curves and steeper grades than heavy rail, and is well-suited for
street running. 

There's this big debate whether BART is light rail or not.  Most
people (and I agree with them) say that BART is heavy rail.  It
may fail some of the tests (like collision survivability), but
it's more heavy rail-like, than light rail-like.

I give up!  This is like trying to define pornography, it's kind of
a "I know it when I see it" thing.  (I don't think the folks in
rec.railroad ever came up with good definitions either.)  I'm not
sure it really matters all that much anyway...

You're probably best off as thinking of light rail as streetcars
like Muni Metro or SJ LRT.  Everything else is probably heavy rail
since when people say light rail, they almost always really mean
streetcars.


|> Off peak period -- the period in the day when the demand for transit 
|>    and highway space is the least (non-commute hours). 
                           ^^^^^^^^^

Not necessarily when demand is the least, but when demand is less than
the "peak".  Otherwise, only 1am-5am would be considered off-peak, since
that is when demand is the least.  Off-peak is everything other than
peak.

|> Park and ride -- an auto parking facility for the transit user at 
|>    transit stops or terminals, to pick-up or drop off passengers. 
                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Pick-up/drop-off is increasingly being refered to as "kiss-and-ride".
This is different from park and ride in that only short-term parking
is required for these folks, since they don't park a car there all
day (their significant other drives it away after the kiss).


|> Rapid transit -- passenger trains propelled by on-board electric 
|>    motors drawing power from a third rail or other external power 
|>    source.  Has exclusive grade-separated right-of-way and platform 
|>    loading at stations. 

The only thing rapid transit has to be is rapid and transit.  I'll
conceed that it almost always refers to rail of some kind (sorry
Jeremy), but the rest of the requirements given in the above
definition are questionable.  If BART were nuclear, or if BART had
some at-grade crossings (it does, they're just not public) it wouldn't
be rapid transit?



|> SPTCo -- Southern Pacific Transportation Company.  Same as "SP", 
|>    "SPT". 

Same as SPRR too.  Isn't it known as a railroad by most people?


-- 

Adrian Brandt (415) 940-2379
UUCP: ...!ames!ntmtv!adrian
ARPA: ntmtv!adrian@ames.arc.nasa.gov