From: johnl@iecc.com   
      
   >>> I've been looking at pictures of the HBLR equipment, and I don't   
   >>> see any way you could fit them in the tunnel.  The cars are 12.27'   
   >>> high and the tunnel's only 13" high.  You can't fit a catenary   
   >>> system in eight inches of clearance.  I doubt you could even squash   
   >>> the pantographs that flat.   
   >   
   >It still might work with some kind of roadway-embedded conduit system   
   >for current collection and equipment that could handle both catenary and   
   >the conduit system. Collection arms would need to be retractable.   
      
   You could certainly build streetcars that could fit through the   
   Lincoln Tunnel, but now you're creating a whole new set of HBLR   
   rolling stock.  You might, for example, have some sort of third rail   
   on the side wall near the ceiling with a pickup shoe sticking out of   
   the side of the car, but that's a lot of custom design.   
      
   >FWIW, Manhattan's trams all used conduits anyway because overhead wires   
   >were illegal in Manhattan (still the case?).   
      
   Interesting question. How long has it been since there's been street   
   railways in Manhattan?  I'd expect the technology to have changed so   
   much the rules wouldn't make sense.  Conduit power has been obsolete   
   since the 1950s and all systems were shut down or converted by the   
   early 1970s.  New systems that don't use overhead such as the ones in   
   Bordeaux and Reims use a third rail between the tracks with short   
   sections that are energized only when there is a train above them.   
   That system has never been used in North America, so expect the   
   development and permitting would be a challenge.  I also don't think   
   it's ever been used in places that have as much snow as NYC.   
      
   If it were up to me, I'd build the new train tunnels, and consider a   
   bus station at Secaucus Jct.  It's right off the turnpike and there's   
   plenty of room to build.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)