La Brugeoise cars (Buenos Aires Metro)
Encyclopedia
The La Brugeoise cars are the Buenos Aires Metro
(Subte) Line A rolling stock
since its inauguration in 1913. They were built by Belgian railway rolling stock
manufacturer La Brugeoise, et Nicaise, et Delcuve between 1911 and 1919 for the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company's (Compañía de Tranvías Anglo-Argentina, CTAA in Spanish) first metro line. They were originally designed to run both as metro
and tramway
cars, but they were refurbished in 1927 for underground use only. They are the oldest metro rolling stock in commercial service in the world as well as a tourist attraction and part of Buenos Aires
cultural heritage.
did until the system was eradicated in 1962- or 1,100 VDC in the tunnel. Traction is controlled through a 9-power run (originally 11-power run) handle, known as the "controller", the motorman spins anticlockwise to increase acceleration. Its loose end is fitted with the dead man's switch
, a button-shaped mechanism that allows the motorman to enable or cut current flow to the motors in normal conditions. This system was also meant to serve as an emergency train stop: if anything should prevent the motorman from keeping this button pressed, the train will automatically stop accelerating.
In normal driving conditions, braking is entirely achieved by means of a traditional air brake system. Because of their long life-span, La Brugeoise trains use custom-made brake shoes made of hard wood embedded with creosote
for additional resistance. Friction between the steel wheels and the brake shoes releases a peculiar fragrance Line A is known for among porteños (as Buenos Aires inhabitants call themselves) and tourists. The emergency brakes operation is entirely mechanical: the motorman applies them by spinning a wheel located on the right-hand side of the driving cab, tensing up a chain connected to the brake mechanism. If emergency brakes are engaged for more than 10 seconds, current flow to traction motors and auxiliary equipment is interrupted by the main fuse.
The trains were equipped with mechanical ATS
at the CTAA's workshops. Initially, train traffic in Line A was controlled using manually-operated signalling. In the mid 1920's this system was automated by Siemens
, including also the installation of mechanical ATS and traffic lights. Each train was fitted with two levers -called anthennas- on top of each driving cab, which are lowered by train stops fixed to the tunnel's wall in case a train passes by a red light, thus applying the brakes and cutting off traction current flow. By 2010, train stops are automatically controlled by digital signal system ATP (Automatic Train Protection
) developed and installed by Alstom
.
. Commissioned by the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company Ltd. for their first metro line, they were prepared to run either on surface as regular tramways or as metro cars. Thanks to a ramp
built after Primera Junta station, Line A's terminus from 1914 to 2008, two cars were decoupled from arriving trains and continued service as tramways until the intersection of avenida Rivadavia and avenida Lacarra. Thus, each car had a tramway-like platform on both ends used by passengers to board and leave the train when on surface. When on duty in the tunnel, passengers used the pair of sliding doors on each side of the car body.
The CTAA bought 115 cars, all of them with the same technical characteristics but with two different car body layout (or "series"). The first series cars -numbered 5 to 50-, together with four English Electric luxury cars -numbered 1 to 4 and forming a special train-, began service on December 1, 1913.
Their seats, with capacity for two passengers, were upholstered in scarlet leather and arranged in two groups of two seats facing each other. On both sides of each sliding door, a seat was placed longitudinally to allow for extra room for standing passengers to travel comfortably.
The second series cars had the same decoration, number and distribution of seats and lights as those of the first series, but they also had some easily recognizable differences. For instance, the second series cars had their tramway-like platform roof at the same level as the salon roof. They also had two smaller windows at the end of the salon instead of the wider ones seen in the first series. This shape and size of windows was later adopted as a model to reform all of the wide windows due to serious structure torsion and stress caused by the tunnel's sharp curves.
On December 31, 1926, the CTAA cancelled the mixed "tramway-metro" service as growing surface traffic caused delays to trains circulating through Rivadavia avenue. Thus, a major reform was decided: 116 units lost their tramway-style platforms, which were replaced by the curved fronts that can be seen nowadays. Also, a third sliding door was added and the seats scarlet-leather upholstery was replaced with wooden bars. Later, minor reforms were undertaken: the windows next to the doors were blinded, with mirrors taking their place on the inside. Also, most cars lost their air takes except for car 81, which keeps them on its sides.
cars running in lines C, D and E while others were entirely new designs. Besides, units 124 and 125 were completely manufactured at Polvorín workshop in 1944 to enhance Subte services during World War II
as a lack of imported spare pieces for tramways and buses left most of the surface transport out of order.
In 1987, fifteen cars were taken to EMEPA, a workshop established in the city of Chascomús
(Buenos Aires province) specialized in rolling stock refurbishing, where a new car body made of metal was built upon the original 1913 chassis and mechanics. These cars are still in service as of 2010.
Transport authorities plan to replace them with new rolling stock as soon as Line A reaches its new terminus, San Pedrito station. Nevertheless, financial problems affecting the network's expansion since late 2008 might make it possible for these trains to reach a century in service. The Buenos Aires City Legislature passed a law indicating that two trains should be restored and preserved operational. They will be formed by cars 24 - 107 - 121 - 124 - 125 and 100 - 86 - 22 - 89 - 48 respectively. It also ordered that cars 27, 81 and 114 should also be preserved due to certain unique details in their decoration and structure that distinguish them from the rest. In January 2010, national transport authorities announced that an agreement for the provision of 279 cars had been reached with Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CITIC. Forty-five of these cars are supposed to be operational by late 2011 in Line A, thus gradually replacing the La Brugeoise units. Nevertheless, nothing prevents these units from being allocated to other lines, except of course that they run on different voltage...
Buenos Aires Metro
The Buenos Aires Metro , locally known as Subte is a mass-transit system that serves the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first station of this network opened in 1913, the first of its kind in South America, the Southern Hemisphere and the entire Spanish-speaking world...
(Subte) Line A rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
since its inauguration in 1913. They were built by Belgian railway rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
manufacturer La Brugeoise, et Nicaise, et Delcuve between 1911 and 1919 for the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company's (Compañía de Tranvías Anglo-Argentina, CTAA in Spanish) first metro line. They were originally designed to run both as metro
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
and tramway
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
cars, but they were refurbished in 1927 for underground use only. They are the oldest metro rolling stock in commercial service in the world as well as a tourist attraction and part of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
cultural heritage.
Technical information
The La Brugeoise trains were designed to run using either 550 VDC - as surface tramwaysTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
did until the system was eradicated in 1962- or 1,100 VDC in the tunnel. Traction is controlled through a 9-power run (originally 11-power run) handle, known as the "controller", the motorman spins anticlockwise to increase acceleration. Its loose end is fitted with the dead man's switch
Dead man's switch
A dead man's switch is a switch that is automatically operated in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death or loss of consciousness....
, a button-shaped mechanism that allows the motorman to enable or cut current flow to the motors in normal conditions. This system was also meant to serve as an emergency train stop: if anything should prevent the motorman from keeping this button pressed, the train will automatically stop accelerating.
In normal driving conditions, braking is entirely achieved by means of a traditional air brake system. Because of their long life-span, La Brugeoise trains use custom-made brake shoes made of hard wood embedded with creosote
Creosote
Creosote is the portion of chemical products obtained by the distillation of a tar that remains heavier than water, notably useful for its anti-septic and preservative properties...
for additional resistance. Friction between the steel wheels and the brake shoes releases a peculiar fragrance Line A is known for among porteños (as Buenos Aires inhabitants call themselves) and tourists. The emergency brakes operation is entirely mechanical: the motorman applies them by spinning a wheel located on the right-hand side of the driving cab, tensing up a chain connected to the brake mechanism. If emergency brakes are engaged for more than 10 seconds, current flow to traction motors and auxiliary equipment is interrupted by the main fuse.
The trains were equipped with mechanical ATS
Automatic Train Stop
An automatic train stop is a system on a train that will automatically stop a train if certain situations happened to prevent accidents from happening....
at the CTAA's workshops. Initially, train traffic in Line A was controlled using manually-operated signalling. In the mid 1920's this system was automated by Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, including also the installation of mechanical ATS and traffic lights. Each train was fitted with two levers -called anthennas- on top of each driving cab, which are lowered by train stops fixed to the tunnel's wall in case a train passes by a red light, thus applying the brakes and cutting off traction current flow. By 2010, train stops are automatically controlled by digital signal system ATP (Automatic Train Protection
Automatic Train Protection
Automatic Train Protection in Great Britain refers to either of two implementations of a train protection system installed in some trains in order to help prevent collisions through a driver's failure to observe a signal or speed restriction...
) developed and installed by Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
.
History
La Brugeoise trains were the first electric multiple units (EMU) to run in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Commissioned by the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company Ltd. for their first metro line, they were prepared to run either on surface as regular tramways or as metro cars. Thanks to a ramp
Inclined plane
The inclined plane is one of the original six simple machines; as the name suggests, it is a flat surface whose endpoints are at different heights. By moving an object up an inclined plane rather than completely vertical, the amount of force required is reduced, at the expense of increasing the...
built after Primera Junta station, Line A's terminus from 1914 to 2008, two cars were decoupled from arriving trains and continued service as tramways until the intersection of avenida Rivadavia and avenida Lacarra. Thus, each car had a tramway-like platform on both ends used by passengers to board and leave the train when on surface. When on duty in the tunnel, passengers used the pair of sliding doors on each side of the car body.
The CTAA bought 115 cars, all of them with the same technical characteristics but with two different car body layout (or "series"). The first series cars -numbered 5 to 50-, together with four English Electric luxury cars -numbered 1 to 4 and forming a special train-, began service on December 1, 1913.
First series (5 to 50)
They arrived at Buenos Aires in mid 1913, in time to run preliminary tests. They had six wide windows per side with rolling curtains to protect passengers from sunlight when running on surface. The interior was entirely made of finely carved wood, lit with 38 solid bronze artifacts using incandescent light bulbs.Their seats, with capacity for two passengers, were upholstered in scarlet leather and arranged in two groups of two seats facing each other. On both sides of each sliding door, a seat was placed longitudinally to allow for extra room for standing passengers to travel comfortably.
Second series (51 to 120)
They arrived at Buenos Aires in two separate groups. Those numbered from 51 to 84 arrived by mid December 1913, when the line was already operating. The remaining, numbered 85 to 120, arrived in 1919 after the end of the First World War.The second series cars had the same decoration, number and distribution of seats and lights as those of the first series, but they also had some easily recognizable differences. For instance, the second series cars had their tramway-like platform roof at the same level as the salon roof. They also had two smaller windows at the end of the salon instead of the wider ones seen in the first series. This shape and size of windows was later adopted as a model to reform all of the wide windows due to serious structure torsion and stress caused by the tunnel's sharp curves.
Refurbishing
After a few years in service, the CTAA began reforming the cars after some problems were detected during service. As mentioned above, the windows were gradually narrowed and, since 1923, one pantograph was removed from each car.On December 31, 1926, the CTAA cancelled the mixed "tramway-metro" service as growing surface traffic caused delays to trains circulating through Rivadavia avenue. Thus, a major reform was decided: 116 units lost their tramway-style platforms, which were replaced by the curved fronts that can be seen nowadays. Also, a third sliding door was added and the seats scarlet-leather upholstery was replaced with wooden bars. Later, minor reforms were undertaken: the windows next to the doors were blinded, with mirrors taking their place on the inside. Also, most cars lost their air takes except for car 81, which keeps them on its sides.
Modernisation
From 1921, several attempts were made to modernise them, so prototypes were built upon working and scrapped units. Some of them, such as units 90 and 121, were imitations of SiemensSiemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
cars running in lines C, D and E while others were entirely new designs. Besides, units 124 and 125 were completely manufactured at Polvorín workshop in 1944 to enhance Subte services during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a lack of imported spare pieces for tramways and buses left most of the surface transport out of order.
In 1987, fifteen cars were taken to EMEPA, a workshop established in the city of Chascomús
Chascomús
Chascomús, is the principal city in Chascomús Partido in eastern Buenos Aires Province in eastern Argentina, located south of the capital Buenos Aires. As of 2001, the city had a population of 30,670 people.-History:...
(Buenos Aires province) specialized in rolling stock refurbishing, where a new car body made of metal was built upon the original 1913 chassis and mechanics. These cars are still in service as of 2010.
Maintenance
Spare pieces for these trains are no longer available in the market so they have to be custom-made by request at Polvorín workshop, where La Brugeoise trains and other Buenos Aires metro rolling stock is repaired by highly skilled and qualified personnel. According to Metrovías, Buenos Aires Metro private operator, every 20 days units undergo a routine check-up, while every four years heavy maintenance is performed. Despite their 96 years of uninterrupted service, La Brugeoise trains have one of the lowest mechanical failure averages in the network: 19 every 100,000 km.Transport authorities plan to replace them with new rolling stock as soon as Line A reaches its new terminus, San Pedrito station. Nevertheless, financial problems affecting the network's expansion since late 2008 might make it possible for these trains to reach a century in service. The Buenos Aires City Legislature passed a law indicating that two trains should be restored and preserved operational. They will be formed by cars 24 - 107 - 121 - 124 - 125 and 100 - 86 - 22 - 89 - 48 respectively. It also ordered that cars 27, 81 and 114 should also be preserved due to certain unique details in their decoration and structure that distinguish them from the rest. In January 2010, national transport authorities announced that an agreement for the provision of 279 cars had been reached with Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CITIC. Forty-five of these cars are supposed to be operational by late 2011 in Line A, thus gradually replacing the La Brugeoise units. Nevertheless, nothing prevents these units from being allocated to other lines, except of course that they run on different voltage...
See also
- Line A (Buenos Aires Metro)
- Heritage streetcarHeritage streetcarHeritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...