Jack May
January 18, 2019
Kiev, Ukraine
A parade of Tatra T3 PCCs serving five routes operates along Kostiantynivska Street near the Kontrktova stop of Metro Line 2 just north of the city center.
Jack May (Wednesday, June 21, 2018)
Kiev, Ukraine
A T3 operating outbound along some verdant side-of-the-road trackage on Mykoly Vasylenka Street. The line continues on reserved track along a boulevard as it approaches the express tramway.
Jack May (Wednesday, June 21, 2018)
Kiev, Ukraine
Tatra T6 001 was built in 1985 and recently was turned into a party car (or a cafe car), to be chartered for special occasions, which clearly included visits of tramway enthusiasts from Germany and other countries. It is shown at a photo stop along Mykoly Yunkerova Street near the end of line 12 in Pushcha-Vodtsya.
Jack May (Wednesday, June 21, 2018)
Kiev, Ukraine
I then walked back to the stop and continued outward along the center reservation, eventually finding this tree-lined segment of Mykoly Yunkerova Street (which roughly translates to Rhode Island Avenue).
Jack May (Wednesday, June 21, 2018)
Noted rail photographer Jack May will be the presenter of our January 2019 meeting. Jack will be showing slides from two trips to Europe in 2018. His visit to Paris and certain other cities in a triangle to the north and east begins the show. He will then take us to Poland and Ukraine, where tramway operations contrast sharply with those in the west.
The first part of Jack’s slideshow will mainly feature modern trams operating over new lines and extensions, but historic cars will also be included as Jack inspected several museum tram operations in Belgium. As we’ll see, it is amazing how light rail has caught on in the “City of Lights” with a series of nine lines now in operation (and more under construction), operating an impressive assortment of LRV equipment. Jack’s four-country journey to 12 different tramway cities also covers some areas visited by fellow electric traction buffs during ERA’s 2018 tour of southern Germany.
In Poland, Jack visited Warsaw, Olzstyn, Upper Silesia (Katowice), Poznan and Lodz. Older trams dating from the communist era have been modernized, with many replaced by low-floor units that are as up-to-date as any in the world.
In the Ukrainian cities Jack visited, though, the tramways can be characterized as a step back into a past where the PCC car still reigns supreme. Under constant threat from Russia, there has been little money to spend on new trams. Legacy systems in Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kamianske, Zaporizye, Kryvyi Rih, Mikolaiv and Odessa provide reliable service with well-maintained rolling stock over a network of lines whose infrastructure is constantly improving. Portions of the networks visited are still quaint, while single-track lines, some going through woods and forests, may bring back memories of long-gone American systems.
Two brand new tramways, Luxembourg and Olzstyn, will also be included. And if time permits, there may be slides of a spring trip to Scotland and Dublin. Please join us in the new year for a wonderful presentation!