Gunderson-Concarril, a joint venture of The Greenbrier Companies and Bombardier Transportation, has delivered the first of 300 mill-type gondolas to TFM (Transportaci—n Ferroviaria Mexicana). The 52 1/2-foot, 100-ton cars are being built at Bombardier's Concarril plant in Sahagun near Mexico City.

Equipment

Calgary Transit: Placed a $26 million order with Siemens Transportation Systems for 11 SD-160 light rail cars. They will augment an existing fleet of 83 Siemens U-2 LRVs.

MTA New York City Transit: Awarded a $190 million contract to Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., for 100 R143 cars for the B Division L Line. The order, announced Dec. 23, carries an option for up to 112 additional cars.

Facilities

Amtrak: Awarded a $59.6 million contract to Siemens Transportation to replace existing rotary converters at its Richmond Station in Philadelphia with static frequency converters. "At 185 MVA, it will be the largest static frequency converter station in the world and will enable Amtrak to increase reliability and availability, and to lower maintenance costs in the Northeast Corridor," said Siemens. Under terms of the contract, it will take about three years to complete the upgrade. The new converter units will be manufactured by Siemens at its plant in Alpharetta, Ga. ÒUnlike the presently used rotary converters, the high-capacity electronics used in static frequency converters allow for a modular and compact design," said Siemens. "Efficiency is substantially increased as the result of minor losses in the frequency conversion process, particularly in the low load range. In addition, the converters allow excess energy generated during braking to be fed back into the power grid, providing even greater energy cost savings."

Bi-State Development Agency (St. Louis): Under a $1.5 million contract with Baker Heavy and Highway, Koppers Industries will supply 41 panelized turnouts, measuring up to 110 feet long, for an extension to the MetroLink LRT. The pre-assembled panels will be manufactured at Koppers Specialty Trackwork Operations, Alorton, Ill. Delivery is scheduled to begin in June.

Caltrain: Awarded a $41 million construction contract to Kiewit Pacific Co. for improvements along the entire 50-mile Caltrain main line. Included will be installation of 26 active warning devices and new concrete surfaces at 15 grade crossings, installation of 43,000 concrete ties, rebuilding of 11 bridges, and reconstruction of 9.4 miles of track.

Tren Urbano (San Juan, Puerto Rico): The welding contract for San JuanÕs light rail system has been awarded to Holland Company LP, Crete, Ill. Holland is working for Redondo/Perini. Siemens Transportation Systems is general contractor.