[net.railroad] More on third rail and overhead

alcock@csse32.DEC (Bruce G. Alcock) (01/16/86)

GCT at one time had overhead rail for the small pantographs on top of
the NYC electics.  But they used third rail, you might ask?  Right,
except that Grand Central Station has long double slip switches, and
the engines would have to cost through them since there was no third
rail within reach of the pickup shoes.  But since speed is restricted
going through these switches, and the the trains were just pulling away
from the platforms, there wasn't enough momentum, so they devised the
overhead pickup method.  So all NYC electrics opeating into Grand Central
Station had both pickup shoes and pantographs.

And now for a few questions:  Do engineers in the UK sit on the right
hand side also?  Going along with that, does anybody know the real
reason why engineers sit on the righthand side?

I still haven't heard from any New York Central fans out there - does
that mean that there are none?

bruce alcock

percus@acf4.UUCP (Allon G. Percus) (01/17/86)

> And now for a few questions:  Do engineers in the UK sit on the right
> hand side also?

Not surprisingly, they sit on the left, and on standard double-tracked
structues, the train normally goes forward on the left-hand track.
What is surprising is that this scheme is also followed in France,
on the SNCF (Government operated long-distance rail lines) system,
despite the fact that motorists drive on the right-hand side of the
road over there.

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