Timiș 2

Last updated

Eltim TM 69E/TR 69E
(Electrometal) Timiș 2
Podul Traian Timisoara 1987.JPG
Timiș 2 motor car number 252 with an unknown trailer car over Trajan's Bridge in Timișoara, 1987
In service1971–2011
Manufacturer Timișoara Transport and Tram Carriage Construction Company (1969–1977)
Electrometal Timișoara (1977–1990)
Constructed1969, 1972–1990 (standard gauge)
1981–1987 (narrow gauge)
Scrapped1994–2011
Number built541 motor cars
531 trailer cars
Number preserveduncertain, under 10
PredecessorT1-62 or Timiș 1
Successornone (Electrometal stopped production of tramcars after the fall of communism)
Operator(s)RATT Timișoara, CTP Arad, OTL Oradea, Brăicar, Transurb Galați, RATP Iași, Tursib, R.A.T. Craiova, Prescom Reșița, RATP Ploiești, RATUC Cluj
Specifications
Car body constructionwelded metal body
Train length14,000 mm or 14,100 mm
Width2,303 mm
Height3,460 mm (with lowered pantograph)
Doorsfolding doors, 3 doors per motor/trailer car
Wheel diameter686 mm
Maximum speed70 km/h (43 mph)
Weight21,000 kg (motor car)
14,000 kg (trailer car)
Traction motors 2
Power output2x120 kW (at 750 V DC)
2x95 kW (at 600 V DC)
Train heating heating: yes
ventilation: sliding windows
Electric system(s) 600 or 750 V DC
Current collection method pantograph, via OHLE
UIC classification B'B' (motor car) + 2'-2' (trailer car)
Braking system(s) dynamic, pneumatic and bogie brakes
Track gauge 1,000 or 1,435 mm

Timiș 2 were a series of tram vehicles built in Timișoara, Romania, initially by the Timișoara Transport Company, and later by Electrometal Timișoara (also known as Eltim). [1]

Contents

Trams

The tramcars appeared in the late 1960s as part of the desire of the Timisoara Transport Executive (Intreprinderea de Transport Timisoara) to locally produce and buy trams. Previously the transport company acquired Electroputere Craiova's V54 type trams in 1955 and Bucharest Transport Executive (Intreprinderea de Transport Bucuresti) Main Workshops' V56 and V58. These were only imported vehicles, however, and were not great in number, as Timisoara still operated trams made from the pre-WW2 era. The first attempt at producing a tram locally was the Gb 2/2 in 1948 and 1954, but only 7 units were made. The next attempt was the Timiș 1 tramcars (official classification was T1-62), which were built only in a limited series in 1962. Between 1965 and 1967 the transport executive considered introducing a series of articulated tramcars, named TA-65, but this plan was soon abandoned due to engineering challenges related to the radius of the curves. The planners then turned to an easier alternative: a motor car-trailer car solution. Thus in 1969 the TM 69E prototype, the "pioneer" of the Timis 2 was made. Trials with this unit led to the production of a trailer car as well starting from July 1970, being officially tested on 1 December 1970, and in 1971 the project was approved for mass production. Mass production started in 1972.

Over the years the tramcar underwent modifications. In 1974 the manufacturing passed from using Kiepe Electric combined power handles to locally made Eltim ones. In 1975 the tram was used for the first time outside Timisoara, examples reaching Oradea, Braila and Galați. In 1977 production was transferred to Electrometal Timișoara after the Transport Executive's ownership of the tramcar factory was revoked. Starting with 1981, production for metre gauge tram networks commences. In 1982 a major facelift is added to the base model and at around the same time, an articulated prototype, named Eltim V2(C) was produced. Starting with 1985 it entered in severe competition with the articulated V2A and V3A trams made by the Bucharest Transport Executive's Main Workshops. Production of the model stopped in 1990, with 541 motor cars and 531 trailer cars produced, at the same time when the V2A and V3A production stopped.

Soon after the downfall of communism in Romania, these tram cars began to be retired. Sibiu was the first city to phase them out in 1994, even though the fleet was only 7 years old at the time. More cities followed, and in Timișoara these trams were retired in 2005. The last town that retired these passenger cars was Cluj, in August 2011, thus ending the era of Romanian-made tramcars from the communist times.

Technicalities

The project was led by engineer Gheorghe Bihoi. The construction of this tram is simple, being parallelepipedical-shaped and made out of welded metal. It had 2 simple headlights and the destination display varied by city and year of manufacture. It had 3 doors, the middle one being double folding and the 1st and 3rd door being simple folding.

Internally the drivers cabin was separated from the passenger compartment. In the drivers cabin, apart from the driving controls and door switches, a megaphone for the passenger compartment was included, so the tram driver could communicate to the passengers.

The passenger interior varied for the motor car and trailer car. At 5 passengers/m², 61 people could fit in the motor car and 76 in the trailer car. At 8 passengers/m², 98 people would fit in a motor car and 122 in a trailer car. Initially both the motor car and the trailer car had 24 seats. Illumination was provided by 6 tubes of neon lighting. Ventilation was done not only naturally, through hatches placed on the roof that could be opened, but also through "heaters" (aeroterme), where air from the outside would be introduced into the inside of the tramcars, with the help of 4 "heaters" placed under the seats. In the cold winters, they would recirculate air and heat it up.

The trucks/bogeys were made by the Grivița Auto Repair Works (I.R.A. Grivița), which at the time was producing axles for trams. The power was supplied by 2 axle-mounted traction motors, giving a combined output of 240 kW. In the case of networks that had 600 V DC electrification networks instead of the 750 V DC electrification network, the output of these motors was reduced to 190 kW, combined. Separated, these traction motors would have a power output of 120 kW and 95 kW, respectively.

Modifications brought over the years

The tram type suffered many modifications during the time whilst it was in production from 1972 to 1990. Below is a full list of modifications that were done along the years:

Service

The trams had a total lifespan of 42 years, starting in 1969 with the prototype that ran in Timișoara and ending in 2011 with the last examples that ran in Cluj-Napoca.

In Timișoara

The first examples that ran in Timișoara were introduced in revenue service in 1971, and introduction began slowly, starting with 1972 when the first series production cars were made, and by the end of that year they were already introduced on line 2. Due to technical problems, it was not until May 1974 when another new batch was introduced. Starting with the late 1970s and 1980s, these became the backbone of the Timișoara tram network. However once with the arrival of second-hand trams from Germany (from Bremen, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt a.M., Munich and Düsseldorf), withdrawnals began, being finalised around 2005.

Below is a list of all Timiș 2 trams that were delivered to the I.T.T (Timișoara Transport Executive):

Year of manufactureNumber of motor cars madeNumber of trailer cars madeAllocated circulation numbers of motor carsAllocated circulation numbers of trailer carsNotes
19691231Prototype, originally with neon lightning, before 1972 no allocated circulation number
197011Prototype, originally with neon lightning, before 1972 no allocated circulation number
197222232–2332–3
197355234–2384–8From sets 235-5 onwards, openable windows on both sides of tram. From sets 236-6 onwards, pneumatic doors
19741010239–2489–18Before car 245, Kiepe throttle and brake system, after car 245, Eltim throttle and brake system
19751717249–26519–35Production for other towns begins
19762424266–28936–59
19772222290–31160–81Production is moved to Electrometal Timișoara
197888312–31982–89
197966320–32590–95
198251326–33096With facelift. Number 230 went to an articulated prototype.
19833331–333
198573312II, 334–339107–109Car 312II was made in this year, to replace another one that was previously burnt out
198677340–346110–116from set 343-113 with a modified livery
198855347–351117–121with a modified livery
198988352–359122–129with a modified livery
199044361–364131–134with a modified livery

It is important to note that the numbering started from 230 because trams that were numbered 210 to 229 were Electroputere V54s.

In other cities

"Export" to other cities began in 1975, at first starting with Oradea and Brăila, followed by Galați in 1977. Because of import restrictions imposed once with the austerity measures that hit Romania in the 1980s, the import of Tatra T4R trams ended in 1981. Arad and Iași were the most affected by this decision, because they still needed a modern tram to replace the older ones (the towns were importing Tatras since 1974 and 1978 respectively). To come up with a solution, metre gauge versions were introduced in the affected towns in 1981, also including Sibiu in 1985 to 1987. Also in the 1980s, due to the "electrification" programme of the Romanian transport companies, more trams were introduced. Whilst the Timiș 2 trams were successful from the early years, they entered a fierce competition with Bucharest's V2A and V3A articulated tramcars. Below is a list of tramcars that were "exported" to other cities :

TownCompanyGaugeElectric currentNumbers deliveredCirculation numbersYears of manufactureWithdrawnal date
Oradea O.T.L. 1435 mm600 Volts54Motor car: 64–76
Trailer car: 136–148
1975by spring 1998
Motor car: 77–84
Trailer car: 149–156
1976
Motor car: 85–89
Trailer car: 157–161
1977
Motor car: 90–97
Trailer car: 162–169
1978
Motor car: 98–100, 1–4
Trailer car: 170–172, 101–104
1979
Motor car: 5–7
Trailer car: 105–107
1980
Motor car: 8–11
Trailer car: 108–111
1982
Motor car: 12–17
Trailer car: 112–117
1990, delivered 1991
Brăila Braicar 1435 mm600 Volts58Tw: 29–33
Bw: 39–43
1975bis August 2005
Motor car: 34–39
Trailer car: 44–49
1976
Motor car: 40–44
Trailer car: 50–54
1977
Motor car: 45–54
Trailer car: 55–64
1978
Motor car: 55–64
Trailer car: 65–74
1979
Motor car: 65–72
Trailer car: 75–82
1980
Motor car: 73–79
Trailer car: 83–89
1982
Motor car: 80, 81 and five others with unknown numbers
Trailer car: 36, 37, 38 and four others with unknown numbers
1990
Galați Transurb Galați 1435 mm750 Volts71Tw: 51–60
Bw: 101–110, later renumbered 301-310
1977until 1998
Motor car: 71–90
Trailer car: 311–330
1978
Motor car: 91–115
Trailer car: 331–355
1979
Motor car: 116–129
Trailer car: 356–369
1980
Motor car: 130+131
Trailer car: 370+371
1982
Iași RATP Iași 1000 mm600 Volts47Motor car: 301–330
Trailer car: 301–330
1981until 2003
Motor car: 331–347
Trailer car: 331–347
1982
Arad C.T.P. Arad 1000 mm750 Volts44Motor car: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15
Trailer car: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16
1981until 2008
Motor car: 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35
Trailer car: 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36
1982
Motor car: 180, 182, 184
Trailer car: 181, 183, 185
1984
Motor car: 186, 188, 190, 192, 194
Trailer car: 187, 189, 191, 193, 195
1984 or 1985
Motor car: 196, 198, 200, 202, 204, 206, 208
Trailer car: 197, 199, 201, 203, 205, 207, 209
1985
Motor car: 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230
Trailer car: 211, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223, 225, 227, 229, 231
1986
Sibiu Tursib 1000 mm600 Volts4Motor car: 5
Trailer car: 5
1985 or 1986bis 1994
Motor car: 6–8
Trailer car: 6–8
1987
Craiova R.A.T. Craiova 1435 mm600 Volts49Motor car: 001–021
Trailer car: 001–021
1987by the end of 2007
Motor car: 022–037
Trailer car: 022–037
1988
Motor car: 038–049
Trailer car: 038–049
1989
Cluj-Napoca R.A.T.U.C. 1435 mm750 Volts39Motor car: 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25
Trailer car: 02, 04, 06, 08, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26
1987until August 2011
Motor car: 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61
Trailer car: 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62
1988
Motor car: 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77
Trailer car: 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78
1989
Ploiești R.A.T.P. Ploiești 1435 mm600 VoltsMotor car: 7006, 7009, 7011–7012, 7015–7017, 7020
Trailer car: 7106, 7109, 7111+7112, 7115–7117, 7120
1987until 2002
Motor car: 7021+7022, 7025–7027, 7038–7040, 7043+7044, 7046, 7049
Trailer car: 7121+7122, 7125–7127, 7138–7140, 7143+7144, 7146, 7149
1988
Reșița Prescom 1435 mm750 Volts22Motor car: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21
Trailer car: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22
1988until 1998
Motor car: 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35
Trailer car: 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36
1989
Motor car: 37, 39, 41, 43
Trailer car: 38, 40, 42, 44
1990

Notes:

Liveries

The livery carried by these trams initially was the standard Timișoara livery, in white and yellow. This was the same on initial "export" models, but by the 1980s some liveries started to vary. Here is the list of liveries:

Preservation

After retirement, many units were scrapped, but some escaped the way leading to the cutting torch and old metal, being turned into work trams. Timişoara has preserved a few examples, although only 2 units are in full preservation, one of them being used as a party tram and another one being used as a museum tram. Various other towns still have a one or more lying around, but they are in a state of decay, put into storage, hoping that one day they shall be restored.

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References

  1. "Trams and Tramways in Romania - Timisoara, Arad, Bucharest". www.beyondtheforest.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.