more clang-clang cars

And yes, I’m running with Micah‘s translation “clang-clang cars”, because it does make more sense. 新京报/The Beijing News’ Wang Cheng is back on the scene, and this article has cool shots, again by TBN’s Han Meng, of the interiors of the trams, which look beautifully retro:

But there’s a problem:

 铛铛车试跑 动力将改进

Clang-clang car test run.  Power needs to be improved

车内空调、电视等设备已通过测试，车厢内采用生态木地板、实木坐椅

Onboard aircon, TV and other equipment have already passed testing, ecological wood flooring and real wood benches used in the cabin

昨天，铛铛车“前门一号”和“前门二号”分别试跑了50米，因出站遇斜坡比较费劲，北京地铁车辆厂工作人员表示下一步将做加大电车牵引力的改进。

Yesterday, the clang-clang cars “Qianmen No. 1” and “Qianmen No. 2” had separate test runs of 50 metres, and because they met a rise requiring more power leaving the station, Beijing Subway Car Factory workers said the next step would be to improve the trams’ traction force.

昨天下午，工人们仍在修缮和更换被“铛铛车”碾裂的大理石和汉白玉路基，与此同时，停靠在“正阳桥”牌坊东西两侧的“前门一号”和“前门二号”车里，技术人员也在对车内设备进行调试，随后做试运行，分别从车站往南驶出50米后折返回。

Yesterday afternoon, workers were still repairing and replacing the marble and white marble roadbed that had been cracked under the “clang-clang cars”, at the same time, inside “Qianmen No. 1” and “Qianmen No. 2” stopped at the east and west ends of the “Zhengyang Bridge” archway, technical staff were debugging the equipment in the trams, then doing a test run with each tram separately driving south for 50 metres then returning.

北京地铁车辆厂一工作人员称，“铛铛车”出站拐弯处出现一个小斜坡，经过时比较费劲，下一步将考虑对电车牵引力做加大改进。车里的空调、移动电视等设备目前已顺利通过测试。

A worker from the Beijing Subway Car Factory said the “clang-clang cars” met a slight rise as they turned out of the station for which they needed more power to pass, and the next step would be to consider how to increase the traction power of the trams. The onboard aircon mobile TV and other equipment have already successfully passed tests.

昨天，“铛铛车”试跑结束后，工人开始给车厢里地板做装修，铺上了黑色的木地板。北京地铁车辆厂一工作人员称，两辆车里的地板全用生态木铺设，而两排黄色的坐椅也采用实木制作。

Yesterday, after the test run of the “clang-clang cars”, workers begin installing  the flooring in the cabins, laying black wooden flooring. A worker from the Beijing Subway Car Factory said that all the flooring laid in the two trams was ecological wood, and the two rows of yellow wooden benches were also made from real wood.

据北京地铁车辆厂工作人员介绍，昨天是“铛铛车”调试的第一天，以后还陆续对电车充电器等设备进行调试。

According to a worker from the Beijing Subway Car Factory, yesterday was the first day of debugging the “clang-clang cars”, and later equipment such as the trams’ recharging equipment would be debugged.

 And dammit, I get half-way through this then nciku craps out again! After a day of unobstructed use!

I assume that be “ecological wood” they mean sustainably harvested wood. Interesting, then, that the article makes the distinction between the “ecological” wooden floors and the “real” wood benches. Should we take this to mean that the wood for the benches was torn from some old-growth tropical hardwood forest in blatant violation of all principles of sustainable, environmentally-friendly forest management? I hope not.

And I hope they manage to get some more power into those trams. They may be all cool and retro, but it’s just plain embarrassing if they can’t even get over a small bump when Shanghai is planning 70 km/h trams.