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Euro Tram Driving Championship

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Pete_uk

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So this is apparently a thing

IMG_20200407_174737.jpg

IMG_20200407_174947.jpg

I think BT Sport are getting a bit desperate for sport to show!

Events seem to include:
Stop before the cone;
Stop at the platform marker;
Something involving a large cut out pedestrian;
And hitting a inflated ball into inflated bowling pins.
 
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farci

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There are lots of YouTube channels from tram drivers in CZ and other countries. It's as much a skilled job as driving a train
 

Trackman

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I've just watched a bit on YouTube, Britain's team is Manchester Metrolink and West Midlands Metro.
Well, with the lockdown, why not have a watch!

Disciplines:
  1. Precision stop: After pushing a big green button, the circuit begins with the driver boarding the heritage tram. Their first test is to accelerate and then brake within 20cm of a cone without hitting it.
  2. Estimating lateral distance: While their teammate goes ahead to place a cardboard cut-out of Brussels’ famous ‘Peeing Boy’ statue as close to the tracks on a curve as possible without hitting a passing tram, the challenger runs to the second tram for the lateral test. The closer they can pass the statue (within 20cm) without touching it, the more points they rack up.
  3. Door stop: With the clock ticking, drivers then board the final tram where – with their mirrors disabled – they have to stop the second set of doors on a designated metre-wide arrow that’s placed at the side of the tram line.
  4. Speed: Staying in their seats, the drivers first have to accelerate and reach 30km/h without the assistance of a speedometer.
  5. Estimation of braking: Shortly after challenge four, the competitor has to take their hands off TBC to see how close they can get to a marked area on the ground. TBC is a safety feature on modern trams that activates the brakes a couple of seconds after a driver lets go of the lever.
 

cool110

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Preston
Seen that before. This year's competition is in Oradea, Romania, but has been postponed from May to September.
 

LOL The Irony

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Chinatown, New York
So this is apparently a thing

View attachment 76245

View attachment 76244

I think BT Sport are getting a bit desperate for sport to show!

Events seem to include:
Stop before the cone;
Stop at the platform marker;
Something involving a large cut out pedestrian;
And hitting a inflated ball into inflated bowling pins.
I would like to introduce you to the Scania Driver Competition. It's the exact same concept. https://www.scania.com/group/en/section/solutions/customers-and-drivers/scania-driver-competitions/
 

hexagon789

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2 Sep 2016
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15,712
Location
Glasgow
So this is apparently a thing

View attachment 76245

View attachment 76244

I think BT Sport are getting a bit desperate for sport to show!

Events seem to include:
Stop before the cone;
Stop at the platform marker;
Something involving a large cut out pedestrian;
And hitting a inflated ball into inflated bowling pins.

Well at least it's a bit different, other channels have been repeating sports from decades past, this at least is newer!
 

bussnapperwm

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18 May 2014
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1,506
Well at least it's a bit different, other channels have been repeating sports from decades past, this at least is newer!

It's part of ESPN (a Disney brand) and their ESPN 8 (The Ocho) run of obscure sports that's happening during the current Coronavirus situation.

ESPN 8 on TV is an annual event in the states which got inspired by the film Dodgeball.

The ESPN brand in the UK is owned by BT under licence from Disney, and they show some (but not all) of the programs that ESPN in the states do (they show both ESPN and Fox versions of the XFL, yet don't show ESPNs NFL games).
 

Quakkerillo

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23 Jan 2015
Messages
553
I've just watched a bit on YouTube, Britain's team is Manchester Metrolink and West Midlands Metro.
Well, with the lockdown, why not have a watch!

Disciplines:
  1. Precision stop: After pushing a big green button, the circuit begins with the driver boarding the heritage tram. Their first test is to accelerate and then brake within 20cm of a cone without hitting it.
  2. Estimating lateral distance: While their teammate goes ahead to place a cardboard cut-out of Brussels’ famous ‘Peeing Boy’ statue as close to the tracks on a curve as possible without hitting a passing tram, the challenger runs to the second tram for the lateral test. The closer they can pass the statue (within 20cm) without touching it, the more points they rack up.
  3. Door stop: With the clock ticking, drivers then board the final tram where – with their mirrors disabled – they have to stop the second set of doors on a designated metre-wide arrow that’s placed at the side of the tram line.
  4. Speed: Staying in their seats, the drivers first have to accelerate and reach 30km/h without the assistance of a speedometer.
  5. Estimation of braking: Shortly after challenge four, the competitor has to take their hands off TBC to see how close they can get to a marked area on the ground. TBC is a safety feature on modern trams that activates the brakes a couple of seconds after a driver lets go of the lever.

And 6. Bowling

Silimar to 5., but there's a big bouncy ball on the tracks which should hit 6 huge bowling pins a bit further on.
 

SPADTrap

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Joined
15 Oct 2012
Messages
2,352
Driving a tram is nuts! It still fascinates me (simple I know!) that there are basically trains and overhead lines down streets! In Nottingham the trams travel down otherwise quiet looking streets, houses with OLE directly outside, it is so weird! Add to that the squishy stupid things that roam the streets and put those stupid squishy things in metal vehicles themselves and you have a very interesting job!
 
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