Portland's first streetcars made in USA. Courtesy United Streetcar

Skoda is a legendary firm dating from 1859 that has made weapons, brewing equipment, bridge parts, airplanes, and automobiles (now a separate division owned by Volkswagen).  Today the Czech company makes steam turbines and condensers, but the few Americans who are aware of Skoda probably know the company because of its transit products.  Eyes popped in 2001 when the Portland Streetcar opened, powered by shiny, sleek, and quiet Skoda T-10 tram cars. 

Portland wanted a modern system like those in Istanbul, Prague, Helsinki and so many other Continental cities, but all the railcars used in those places were built in Europe.  The Buy America Act says, “All of the components of the [manufactured] product must be of U.S. origin” (661.5), except for buses and other rolling stock “if the cost of components produced in the United States is more than 60 percent of the cost of all components and final assembly takes place in the United States” (661.11). 

The German company Siemens Mobility has a plant in California to make light rail vehicles for the American market because of Buy America, but they do not make streetcars.  The Gomaco Trolley Company in Iowa makes heritage (reproduction) cars, but no one in the United States was building modern cars.  Portland requested, and FTA granted a waiver for non-availability and like so many Czech exports before—composer Antonin Dvorak, Pilsner Urquell beer, Semtex plastic explosives—Skoda came to America.

Twenty miles outside Portland in Clackamas, Oregon, Chandra Brown, vice president of Oregon Iron Works was surprised by the news. “I heard there were no modern streetcars being built in the United States and I thought this was ridiculous. Streetcars were invented here.  I thought: we could build this.”   In 2005 Oregon Iron Works decided to look into it. 

Oregon Iron Works is a diverse company, building boats, bridges, space launch complexes, and hydroelectric machinery, among other things, but is always looking for new opportunities, the next generation of products.  Renewable energy is a new product market and wave energy devices, for instance, are one product OIW is looking into; streetcar too fits into that green revolution in manufacturing.

It can be difficult for a foreign manufacturer to break into the American transit market; because of Buy America the transition is most effective with a U.S. manufacturing plant like Siemens’ noted above or Canadian New Flyer’s bus factory in Minnesota.  By teaming up with an established American company, Skoda could eliminate headaches, expenses, and a steep learning curve.  For their part, OIW had the capabilities to build a streetcar, but not to design one. 

Through a new subsidiary called United Streetcar, OIW inked a deal with Skoda whereby the Czech company licensed its already well-known—“beloved” is Chandra Brown’s word for it—streetcar design to United Streetcar but the Americans would use the Skoda-built propulsion system.  This way the streetcar meets Buy America and Skoda Electric sells more units. 

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was on hand for the unveiling of the first car in Portland on July 1, 2009, a red and blue number that is indistinguishable to the average passenger from the wholly Czech-made predecessors (testing continued until October when the car went in active service).  In fact, it is quite different because of the supply chain. The first car was a prototype, an imperfect word because it was delivered and used rather than relegated to a showroom somewhere.  But it was an experiment. 

The frame, the boggie, the bodies, and the roof were made by United Streetcar, and they handle final assembly as well.  The propulsion system comes from the Czech Republic, but because of Buy America “most of the [other] components had to be replaced with American-made components so we were really building a new industry,” Ms. Brown says.  “Those products were not here.  This is a whole new product line for tons of other companies across the U.S.”  In the past, seats might have come from European companies, but that would not work now.  United Streetcar had to find American suppliers to send seats, windshield wipers, headlight covers, handrails, etc. 

The rise of United Streetcar means the U.S. market will be seeing more modern streetcars.  “People are so excited to see a [modern] streetcar built in the U.S.” says Ms. Brown.  “We have cities coming out to see the factory in addition to going to Portland to see them in operation.”  Portland is expanding its streetcar service with an Eastside loop in the works.  United Streetcar has an order for six cars for that portion and is building seven units for the Westside loop. They also won an RFP for seven streetcars for Tucson, “and we are looking to Charlotte, Miami, and others for selling cars.” 

The maiden voyage of that first modern American streetcar is a homecoming of sorts.  Unlike the automobile, the streetcar is an American invention.  The prodigal son returns and as the market expands, we can expect modern streetcars to be coming home to places it has never been before.

Even when a pole is the only thing at a stop it should still make a good presentation.  Or maybe especially when it is the only thing . . .  Reno, Nevada presents us with a nice example.

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From horse-drawn to recent hurricanes, here is the short history of the streetcar.

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At the Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA, the money saved on overhead wires could be spent on lavish appointments for the streetcars themselves. Photo Gomaco Trolley Company.

We tend to think of streetcars as operating on a fixed guideway.  The majority of the world’s streetcar systems, however, move between two of them, the unobtrusive rails in the ground and the power lines that run overhead and always in sight.  The streetcar movement is founded on simplicity and minimizing costs, on blending transit with existing and new neighborhoods. Negative impacts to utilities and street infrastructure are minimized, and projects are designed for ease of construction. Stops are simple, spaced relatively closely together in support of the streetcar’s role as a pedestrian accelerator.  Yet for all of this melding the catenaries remain, for some part of a majestic whole, for others simply blight.

Most streetcars operating in the U.S., whether vintage (original authentic vehicles), heritage (built to resemble

On most streetcar systems the wires are always overhead and in sight. Photo Quim Berenguer

original vehicles) or modern state-of-the-art vehicles, are powered by an electric overhead wire, also know as a trolley wire that carries between 600 and 750 volts of direct current (DC), versus alternating current (AC) most people are familiar with in their everyday lives. Examples of these three types of vehicles include the Pearly Thomas Company vintage streetcars used on the St. Charles line in New Orleans, the Birney replica streetcars produced by Gomaco Trolley Company for Tampa’s system, and the modern streetcar or European tram style vehicle built by Skoda for Portland.

To transfer the power from the wire to the vehicle, a spring loaded pole or a panagraph extends from the vehicle and makes contact with the trolley wire, a piece of bare copper approximately one-half inch in diameter. Although this power distribution system is much simpler than one typically associated with light rail systems, the cost off installing such a power distribution system is still significant as it also requires substations to convert commercial AC power to DC power and poles with mast arms to support the wire. Other considerations include the visual impact of the many poles and the spider web of wires needed to support and suspend the system, and the need to protect metal utilities from the corrosive effects of stray DC current associated with these types of systems. 

To avoid these impacts and reduce the cost of implementation, one well-establish system in Galveston and one recent new start in Savannah have chosen to use streetcars with an onboard electric generator powered by either a diesel or gasoline engine similar to current hybrid cars. Alternative wireless solutions are rapidly gaining attention. Two battery-powered-vehicle systems are operating in California: at The Grove in Los Angeles and the Americana at Brand in Glendale. Both of these complexes are large shopping, dining, and entertainment destinations. Streetcar and light rail vehicle suppliers around the world, similar to bus and automobile companies are exploring alternative ways to power their vehicles and reduce environmental impacts and visual blight.

Three categories of alternative technologies are either in operation, research and development or the testing phase: wayside, on-board energy storage, and on-board power source technologies.

Wayside technologies require external infrastructure to provide power to the vehicle. The one wayside example currently in use is a surface-mounted contact rail—a third rail, if you will— which utilizes a rail between the running rails that is energized only when the vehicle is above it; the remainder of the time there is no power to the rail.  This system requires a significant wayside investment in addition to the cost of the on-board vehicle technology and is only in revenue service in Bordeaux, France for a short segment in an historic district.

Within the on-board energy storage technology category, there are three types of devices: batteries, ultra capacitors and flywheels.  In addition to the two examples in the U.S., two historic districts in Nice, France are using battery technology. This system is combined with an overhead wire for the remainder of the line and the batteries are charged from the overhead wire.  This system has been in revenue service since November of 2007. Kawasaki also has a similar technology under development and in demonstration in Japan.  In the U.S., the Gomaco Trolley Company received a contract in August 2009 from a client in Kingston, New York to supply a vintage streetcar purchased from Melbourne, Australia using its battery technology.  Two other U.S. cities, St. Louis and Rock Hill, South Carolina are also considering this technology for use in replica Birney vehicles similar to those built for Tampa and Little Rock. Similar to the system in Nice, the system proposed for St. Louis will use a combination of battery and overhead wire segments. Rock Hill is still in the planning stage and could choose to go with just a battery or a combination similar to St. Louis.

Ultra capacitors are another form of on-board device capable of storing energy generated during braking. This device is not intended for use as an off-wire power source, but it has been demonstrated off-wire for a distance of approximately 0.3 miles. There are several suppliers and a four-year trial has been completed in Mannheim, Germany.  Flywheels, similar to ultra capacitors, store energy generated during breaking.  This technology is not in revenue service, but is in demonstration in Rotterdam, Netherlands and has operated off-wire for approximately one mile.

In the on-board power source category, there are only two systems in use: fuel cells and fuel/electric hybrids. Fuel cells charge batteries, which drive electric motors.  This technology is still in research and development, and currently only being demonstrated with buses at Alameda County Transit in Oakland.  Fuel/electric hybrids utilize a diesel engine attached to a generator that powers electric motors.  There are a number of examples of these types of vehicles in revenue service including the Galveston and Savannah systems.

So, if you want a streetcar, but you are not sure you want or can afford an overhead power distribution system, there are a number of alternative technologies being evaluated and demonstrated. However, current proven options are generally limited to on-board storage and on-board power source technologies or a combination of the two. Another key factor is supplier interest. Before suppliers will make the investment in research and development, they have to feel there is a large enough market for the technology. With the high level of interest in alternative energy sources and green technology, wireless may be the future of rail technology.

Steven Carroll is  a Vice President of Rail Transit for HDR, Inc. with over 32 years of experience planning, engineering, construction, and operation of rail freight and rail transit projects.  HDR is a multidisciplinary planning and engineering firm with over 8,000 employee-owners and 158 offices in the U.S. and Canada.  HDR is a recognized leader in the field of streetcar planning and engineering and has led or supported over two dozen streetcar projects in recent years.

This article first appeared in the Fall 2009 Streetcar Issue of Trip Planner Magazine.