General > General Technical Chat
The "All American Five", & more dangers!!
Tepe:
--- Quote from: Gromitt on May 03, 2020, 09:49:25 am ---
--- Quote from: jogri on May 01, 2020, 06:23:16 pm ---
--- Quote from: TimFox on May 01, 2020, 04:40:57 pm ---Similarly, the Swiss railways used 16-2/3 Hz, a subharmonic of 50 Hz.
--- End quote ---
Actually, germany, denmark and austria also use this system... It's a relict from the early 20th century, but it still works (some german powerplants even have dedicated 16 2/3Hz generators for that purpose). Btw, we even have a 400V three-phase suspension railway over here, i'd like to know which engineer envisioned this monstrosity (he was probably bored and decided he needed a new challenge).
--- End quote ---
Not Denmark. They use 25kV 50 Hz. Sweden and Norway uses 15kV 16 2/3 Hz.
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And Copenhagen S-trains use 1500V DC
vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: richard.cs on May 03, 2020, 02:40:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: Gyro on May 02, 2020, 06:20:08 pm ---Yes, 600V DC irrc. The London tube actually has a fourth (centre) rail. It returns current through this insulated rail, rather than the running rails, to prevent corrosion of surrounding metal structures, pipes, etc.
UK suburban 3rd rail systems are also 600V DC. They used to use mercury arc rectifiers, I don't know about these days.
--- End quote ---
In some areas (the south east basically) full sized trains on national rail are 700 V d.c. third rail, in most of the other electrified areas it's overhead 25 kV 50 Hz. Then there are lots of areas that only run diesel trains. It's a bit of a mess.
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Yeah, I remember when I lived in Southampton for nearly a year, back in 1971.
Some of the level crossings had an attendant full time, who closed a full gate, completely blocking acesss to the crossing when the rails were "hot", not just a boom,like I was used to from Oz.
Other trains into SOTON were diesels.
When I travelled further afield, I discovered a different mix, this time diesels & overhead cable pantograph types.
Years later, back home, when Perth WA was first being electrified, the bus I took to work used to cross the line near the city station.
When the lights went green we waited for a moment till a truck with a big excavator from the work site crossed.
They got their heights wrong, & hit the already activated overhead cables, causing a blinding flash, & eveything shut down.
We were still running diesels, so loss of 25kV didn't automatically shut them down, but it made all the lights red for that section.
Needless to say, I was late for work!
richard.cs:
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 03, 2020, 11:35:20 pm ---Yeah, I remember when I lived in Southampton for nearly a year, back in 1971.
Some of the level crossings had an attendant full time, who closed a full gate, completely blocking acesss to the crossing when the rails were "hot", not just a boom,like I was used to from Oz.
Other trains into SOTON were diesels.
--- End quote ---
I'm from Southampton. The manned level crossings are gone, the current approach is automated gates, basically booms with a hanging fence below it, and having the third rail stop a few metres short of the road from each direction. Quite likely some of the crossings have been replaced with bridges too.
vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: richard.cs on May 04, 2020, 08:48:27 am ---
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 03, 2020, 11:35:20 pm ---Yeah, I remember when I lived in Southampton for nearly a year, back in 1971.
Some of the level crossings had an attendant full time, who closed a full gate, completely blocking acesss to the crossing when the rails were "hot", not just a boom,like I was used to from Oz.
Other trains into SOTON were diesels.
--- End quote ---
I'm from Southampton. The manned level crossings are gone, the current approach is automated gates, basically booms with a hanging fence below it, and having the third rail stop a few metres short of the road from each direction. Quite likely some of the crossings have been replaced with bridges too.
--- End quote ---
I tried looking at SOTON with Google Earth a while back, & couldn't recognise a lot from the old days.
I finally found the railway station & the Bargate, but the latter looks insignificant compared to how it used to be------------ somehow "pushed off into a corner" & ignored.
My memories of places in the UK are, of course, suspended in time from the early '70s, & I was only there for a short time.
I can understand how people who lived their whole lives in that country, then migrated to another are shocked when they return for a visit after many years.
Of course, there have been huge changes here in Perth, WA over the same time period, but being here as they happened, I have become used to them.
All the suburban trains here were diesel railcars back then-------- we went electric in the mid/late 1980s.
As an old fart, it is hard to realise there are now adults in this city who have never known anything but electric trains.
G7PSK:
I grew up in Cambridge UK during the 60's and there was still areas that were 240 volt DC. They were switching over gradually, the house e were in was changed over just a few days after we moved in from London, a tutor I had just ten minuets walk away house got changed over in 62, I went there in the early afternoon and there was no power and men all over her house changing things like parts on the cooker and sockets etc.
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