Croydon Tramlink CR4000

The Prototype
The Croydon CR4000 was designed and built by Bombardier in Austria and based on
their Flexity Swift K4000 design, originally made for the Cologne tram system.
Delivery began in 1998 for the opening of the Tramlink system in 2000. The initial
delivery was of 24 articulated units, each capable of holding 208 passengers. The
trams are capable of 80 kmph and have microprocessor control. On board radio
systems connect to the central control room at the Therapia Lane depot. The trams
take their power from a 750 volt DC overhead system. The trams are numbered from
2530 to 2553, this was because the numbering was made to continue from the last
numbered tram built for the original London tram system and scrapped in the 1950s!
The Tramlink System
The Croydon Tramlink system covers 18.5 miles and runs from Wimbledon in the
West to Elmers End, New Addington and Beckenham Junction in the East. Much of
the route uses previously disused railway routes and this means the trams run on
dedicated track. However, through Croydon itself, the route does use traditional on
road running. Work began on the route in 1997 and was completed in 1999. Croydon
tramlink was officially opened on 10th May 2000 and now carries more than 22 million
passengers a year. The tram livery changed to the TfL colours, from the original red
in 2008.
Further tram routes have being investigated for London. These include extending the
present system to Crystal Palace, a cross river route from Euston to waterloo and a
new system for the Shepherds Bush/Uxbridge area. None of these have been
approved and seem unlikely at the moment.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2674.aspx

Installation
Install the RWP in the normal way, through the Package Manager.
The RWP will create a folder in your Asset folder called RScott and also one called
Addon. Within this are the files for the trams. To place the tram in a scenario, you
need to click the blue cube on the left, then select RScott and tick Addon from the
right hand side of the screen. You will now find TramlinkTfLMain and
TramlinkTfLTrailer in the loco list.. You will also find the original red livery variants
of these. In addition one special tram is included- number 2535. See the dedication
at the end of this manual for an explanation. Remember to add a driver.
Please note that, as far as we know, this tram will only work in Expert Mode and you
will have to untick simple mode in the Gameplay Options.
The real trams are numbered as pairs. In free roam, this is not possible as the
numbers are allocated randomly. In scenario creation, you should be able to select
the same number for front and back units. Destinations are also allocated to certain
numbers (as part of the auto numbering) in the model, so you should be able to
select the desired destination when creating a scenario.
The Model
The train and cab models were made by me in 3DCanvas. Physics, sounds and cab
control blueprints are based on original ones by Darren Carter. Sounds are not all
genuine Tramlink ones, as I could not get a clear engine recording without
extraneous noise (cars, people talking etc).

Driving the Tram

Most controls are the same as usual for Railworks. However, pressing K will open
the cab door (both in outside view and from within the cab). On your left is a large red
and a large yellow button. The yellow button is an emergency pantograph switch, so
if the driver sees an obstacle on the wire, he can lower the panto. Pressing P will
operate this. On the real tram the red button is an emergency power button, which
we have not implemented at this time. When getting in the driver will usually switch
on power with a key. In this model, the key is animated (press Z), but has no effect
on power. Better brains than me have tried to implement this, but have had no luck
with the scripting yet. The tram has a reverser switch, which you need to put into
forward (W). The real trams have reverse disabled, the model does not. The Tram
uses a combined power and brake handle. Pushing it forward will accelerate (A)
pulling back applies the brakes (D). Please note that you cannot lower the
pantograph when driving from the trailer end.
These trams are fitted with traffic indicators, for signalling stopping at tram stops on
the street sections. I have modelled this as I (as in I for India) for left indicator and O
for right indicator. We were unable to script this to run through to the trailer, so it will
only work on the driving end. Pressing H will switch the headlights on (and lights
along the side) and put a driver in place. Press H again to swap the lights and put the
driver at the other end. The trams have a horn, operated by a foot pedal (which I
have hardly ever heard used). They also have a bell, also operated by a foot pedal.
Controls
Reverser Forward
Reverser Back
Pantograph Up or Down
Power Handle Forward
Power Handle Brake
Wipers
Left Indicators
Right Indicators
Headlights
Drivers Door open and close
Horn
Bell
Open doors

W
S
P
A
D
V
I
O
H
K
Space Bar
J
T

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Darren Carter for all his
help with the cab controls and train
sounds
and
squeals..
Acknowledgement also to Jimi Ibbets,
whose original scripting was used by
Darren. Both of these are my
colleagues in the Virtual District
project and it is their skills that make
the tram far more realistic to operate.
Thanks also to those who gave
advice and support with scripting etc.
(you know who you are).

A Dedication
I never met Stephen Parascandolo or communicated with him, but he was
responsible for the Unofficial Tramlink site:
http://www.croydon-tramlink.co.uk/
This site acted as an inspiration to me to make my original MSTS model and
remains a brilliant source of information.
In February 2007, Stephen was tragically killed in a car accident, so I never got
the chance to show him my models, or thank him for his hard work on his
website. When you install this package you will have an extra model available of
tram 2535. As in real life, this tram carries a name board bearing Stephens
name. This was Tramlinks tribute to someone who did so much to promote the
Croydon trams. This model is respectfully dedicated to his memory.
Richard Scott
Dorset
August 2011
rscott@thomas-hardye.dorset.sch.uk