Unimog

Rubrik DaimlerChrysler Worldwide
Western Star truck
on rails
A Western Star 4900 SA helps put 100-ton
trains on the rails
An unusual duo: Western Star pulling a suburban train onto the rails
Bulky and heavy transports are nothing
exceptional for Western Star Trucks,
but the Western Star 4900 SA’s task for the
MAX tram project in Portland, Oregon was
unusual even for a professional heavy-duty
vehicle.
On the 5.8-mile (9.3-kilometre) extension
to the Interstate Metropolitan Area Express
(MAX), a 100-ton low-floor train had to be
pulled on to the rails for the first time in
order to check the track and the overhead
wires. To perform this task efficiently the
4900 SA modified by Canadian vehicle
manufacturer Brandt Industries was guided
by steel wheels on the rails while the normal
twin tyres on the road surface drove it along.
The Interstate MAX extension to be opened
in the autumn of 2004 as the “Yellow Line”,
is the fourth segment of the 38-mile modern
streetcar network of the Portland region’s
local public transport system. The new line
connecting the city with the trade fair centre
in the north cost 350 million US-$. The rail
network is operated by the Tri-County Metropolitan
Transportation District of Oregon
(Tri-Met), which also owns the heavy truck
used for checking the route.
“The 4900 SA is an excellent all-round
truck and one of our most versatile models,”
says Cary Gatzke, Western Star’s Engineering
Director.
■
www.westernstartrucks.com
Living Lakes
DaimlerChrysler is involved in
conserving the lakes on our planet
DaimlerChrysler has from the very outset
supported the Living Lakes project, the
Global Nature Fund’s worldwide lake
network, with its international competence
and modern technology. The company has
now launched a new project as part of this
cooperation: DaimlerChrysler Nature Workcamps.
During the summer holidays this
year, employees’ children and young
Ambitious environmental protection:
volunteers at Lake La Nava
members of the DaimlerChrysler staff joined
local people on six lakes and stretches of water
particularly worthy of protection to contribute
towards protecting these resources.
For example, volunteers
built socalled
ecological
paths, designed to
promote sustained
tourism in the area,
on Siberia's Lake
Baikal. At South
Africa’s Lake St. Lucia,
which is inhabited
by endangered
A hippopotamus in Lake
St. Lucia, South Africa
species such as hippopotamus, leather-back
turtles and crocodiles, volunteers were
involved in environmental education for children.
On Lake La Nava in North-West Spain,
which has been restored to its natural condition,
the DaimlerChrysler team helped to ring
rare birds.
Living Lakes also supports worldwide
environment-related cooperations. Last September
scientists, activists, representatives
of companies and governmental and non-governmental
organisations met at the 8th Living
Lakes Conference in Norwich, England,
held at the University of East Anglia. The conference
was an opportunity to exchange
Resources worth protecting: Lake Baikal
experience, present examples of best-practice
solutions and prepare new joint projects.
The key topics were the effects of climatic
changes and new concepts for successful
nature preserve management.
■
www.livinglakes.org
www.globalnature.org
18 Unimog 2|2003