Management of the snow clearing equipment operation on tram tracks

Objective: To develop recommendations for the management of snow clearing of street railways in urban settlements. Methods: The article analyzes the Russian regional climatic influence on the management of street railway traffic and the current maintenance of tram tracks, and the indicators to be monitored when planning the work of snow clearing equipment. The requirements for the maintenance of tram tracks in winter in heavy snowfalls and blizzards have been described. An overview of the snow clearing equipment available in the soviet and present times, as well as its application has been discussed. Results: Recommendations for the management of various types of snow clearing equipment for various types of tram tracks are given. The justifying calculations of the size of the snow clearing fleet in relation to regional climatic indicators are presented. Practical importance: The article demonstrates the preference of introduction of special rail snow clearing equipment for the tram track routine maintenance in winter, especially in snow heavy areas, both tram type based on tram dimensions and hybrid road-rail type. Practical recommendations for the conditions for the use of various types of snow clearing equipment have been developed

Who's Running the Road? Street Railway Strikes and the Problem of Constructing a Liberal Capitalist Order in Canada, 1886–1914

Street railway strikes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were frequently the occasion for large‐scale collective violence in North American cities and challenged the capacity of local authorities to maintain civic order. However, this was only the most visible manifestation of the challenge that street railway workers' collective action posed to the order of liberal capitalism, an order constructed on several intersecting dimensions. Using the example of Canadian street railway workers from 1886 to 1914, a period of rapid urbanization and industrialization, this article explores the ways the collective action by workers and their community sympathizers challenged the workplace, marketplace, and “streetplace” orders of liberal capitalism. It discusses how those challenges were met through political and legal processes of resistance and accommodation, taking into account the fragmentation of state power, hostile public opinion toward the street railways, and conflicting views over the legitimate scope for workers' collective action.

Light Rail in Britain and France

Great Britain and France have experienced a dramatic resurgence of light rail in the past two decades. Beginning in the early 1980s, following a 30-year abandonment of street railways in favor of motorbuses, cities in both countries developed new light rail transit systems as a response to declining transit ridership, faded downtowns in need of revitalization, and the high construction costs of heavy rail and metro. Britain and France have pursued greatly different approaches to the implementation of light rail. The purpose of this paper is to point out these differences and, through the use of case studies, draw conclusions as to the efficacy of each approach. A few cities in each country were studied with secondary sources. Commonality within each country was observed with great divergence between the two countries. In Britain, the requirements for light rail are onerous: a specific act of Parliament is needed for each new start. Each system must achieve full recovery of operating and maintenance costs and contribute toward capital investment while competing against unregulated buses. That some British systems have been built and successfully attract traffic is to the credit of their proponents. France has a more uniform approach published in government circulars. All French cities of substantial size must have a “versement transportes,” a 1% to 2% tax on salaries and wages dedicated to regulated and coordinated public transport. French new starts, which have no need to attain 100% cost recovery (the versement transportes covers operating losses), have been implemented in about half the time of those in Britain.

A Metropolitan Entrepreneur Par Excellence: Henry E. Huntington and the Growth of Southern California, 1898–1927

Henry E. Huntington, according to the following article, placed his imprint on the development of his region, the Los Angeles basin, to an extent unique among urban entrepreneurs. His great wealth and foresight, and especially his interests in street railways, real estate development, and hydroelectric power, enabled him to become a de facto city planner for one of the most important metropolitan regions in the United States.

Civil Wrongs: Personal Injury Law in the Late 19th Century

This is a report of data drawn from a study of personal injury actions in the Superior Court of Alameda County, California, and in the federal district court for Northern California, for the period 1880–1900. Tort actions, in this period, were relatively uncommon compared to the number of accidents. The most frequent type of action was against common carriers—railroads and street railways. Malpractice actions were rare. Most fired cases were settled or dropped out before full trial and jury verdict. Though plaintiffs won damages in most jury cases, the overall finding is that the system provided little compensation for most victims of accidents. Tort law and practice disfavored passengers less than employees or “trespassers.” Three types of barrier blocked the path to compensation: legal doctrines which made recovery difficult; an accident-compensation system which, especially for workers, discouraged enforcement of claims; and the legal culture, which was a culture of low expectations.