GTr51

GTr51
The Berner GTr51 number 26 in 1992 on line 11
Number of pieces:	47
Chassis:	FBW
Construction:	SWS
Electrical equipment :	MFO
Years of construction:	1957-1964
Length:	16.084 m, prototype 16.04 m
Width:	2400 mm
Empty mass:	Zurich: 14.88–15.20 t Bern: 15.6 t
Axes:	three
Engine type:	Bern: MFO L27c
Hourly output :	Zurich: 2 × 103 kW Winterthur: 2 × 91 kW Bern: 2 × 74 kW
Seats:	Zurich: initially 30, later 32 Bern: 33
Standing room:	Zurich: 94 Bern: 113

GTr51 was the type designation of an earlier Swiss trolleybus series that was produced between 1957 and 1964 for the cities of Zurich , Winterthur and Bern . The abbreviation stood for G élénk - Tr olleybus on a FBW -Fahrgestell of type 51 . The GTr51 was the first Swiss articulated trolley and one of the first worldwide. Due to the characteristic noise of its electro-pneumatic hopper control , it was nicknamed the pinball machine in Bern . The twin-engine GTr51 is considered to be the forerunner of the APG trolleybus procured from a total of four cities between 1965 and 1968 .

Overview

The total of 47 copies were delivered as follows, they were initially equipped for the flow of passengers and had a conductor's seat :

Companies	network	piece	Numbers	Years of construction
Public transport company of the city of Zurich	Trolleybus Zurich	33	101 (prototype) 102-133	1957 1959-1964
Winterthur transport company	Trolleybus Winterthur	05	101-105	1958
Municipal transport company Bern	Trolleybus Bern	09	21-29	1961

In addition to SWS, Ramseier & Jenzer were also involved in the construction of the Bern wagons , which is why they looked a little different from the other vehicles.

Whereabouts

No vehicles of this series are now in use.

In Zurich, the GTr51 was replaced by the first series Mercedes-Benz O 405 GTZ from 1987 to 1991 . Cars 105, 107, 109, 111, 129 and 132 reached the Chilean capital Santiago de Chile on September 22, 1991 , where a trolleybus service was reopened on December 24, 1991. After this was shut down again on July 9, 1994, cars 105, 129 and 132 came to the Valparaíso trolleybus . There, car 129 - the world's last scheduled GTr51 ever to be used - was retired at the end of December 2016. Cars 116, 122 and 123 came to the Lausanne trolleybus in 1991 ; from there, car 122 was passed on to Sibiu in Romania in 2001 , where it was given the new number 217. It was taken out of service before operations were shut down in 2009.

The GTr51 was in operation in Bern until February 1998. Car 28 was preserved as a museum at the Bern Tramverein .

After the Winterthur electorate had rejected the procurement of trailers , it approved the purchase of the five GTr51 on November 24, 1957. They went into operation in 1959, were in use on lines 1 and 2 and were finally replaced in 1989 by O 405 GTZ, as in Zurich.