roma@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU (01/07/86)
Chicago's rapid transit lines (CTA) have several stretches that have road
crossings at grade. They are on the Evanston, Skokie, Ravenswood, and Douglas
lines. (What is now the Skokie line was originally built for the
Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee interurban.)
The only special signals relating to the grade crossings are small green
bulls-eye signals posted near the crossing. They flash when the gates are
descending and glow steadily when the gates are down. I have seen these on
other lines, such as the CSS&SB and ICG electric.
Speaking of rapid transit, is Chicago's the only one to use both third rail
and overhead wire for power? I can't think of any.
Jon Roma
Computing Services Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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CSNET: roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.csnetphil@isieng.UUCP (Phil Gustafson) (01/08/86)
In article <16900007@uiucuxc> roma@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU writes: > >Speaking of rapid transit, is Chicago's the only one to use both third rail >and overhead wire for power? I can't think of any. > >Jon Roma The MBTA Blue Line in Boston uses third rail underground and overhead (catenary) after it comes outside. The underground, BTW, was originally set up for surface streetcars, like the green line tunnel. It was redone with third rail and high platforms in the 20's. phil
essachs@ihuxl.UUCP (Ed Sachs) (01/08/86)
> > Speaking of rapid transit, is Chicago's the only one to use both third rail > and overhead wire for power? I can't think of any. > Chicago is almost entirely third rail now. Only the outer portion of the Skokie Swift route uses and overhead (caternary with pantographs, not a trolley pole), the rest of the lines which had used trolley wire were converted to third rail in the 60's and early 70's. -- Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxl!essachs
jr@bbncc5.UUCP (John Robinson) (01/08/86)
As I am sure many will tell you, the blue line in Boston (which goes to the airport and beyond) uses both live rails and pantographs. The trains pause briefly in the Maverick station to raise the track shoes and pantograph (outbound) and reverse this process inbound. One thing I have never figured out is tht the lights blink off in the outbound operation, but stay on coming in. So there must be a single power source for the line (or some amount of capacitor aboard the train). Boston's other lines are either trolleys or third-rails, plus a few routes with trackless trolleys. /jr
jis1@mtgzz.UUCP (j.mukerji) (01/08/86)
The Airport line in Boston uses both third rail and overhead catenary, from what I recall. The changeover happens at Mevarick (Sp?). There is another line, though not rapid transit that uses both third rail and overhead catenary, and that is the New Haven Line of Metro-North Commuter Railroad out of Grand Central Station in New York. The changeover happens just outside Woodlawn Junction on the fly, i.e.while the train is in motion. Jishnu Mukerji AT&T Information Systems Labs Middletown NJ mtgzz!jis1
dennis@CSNET-SH.ARPA (Dennis Rockwell) (01/10/86)
From: roma@uiucuxc.cso.uiuc.edu Date: 7 Jan 86 05:47:00 GMT Subject: Re: Forwarding: Re: Signaling on the NY Chicago's rapid transit lines (CTA) have several stretches that have road crossings at grade. They are on the Evanston, Skokie, Ravenswood, and Douglas lines. (What is now the Skokie line was originally built for the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee interurban.) Are these lines third rail or overhead? I would think that the dead spot in the third rail and easy public access to the third rail would rule out grade crossings, unless all the cars were electrically connected for power, something that Boston seems not to do (each car will individually darken as the train passes a gap). However, on the former NYNH&H Shore Line (now Amtrak), there are drawbridges that don't have overhead; all the lights go out and the train coasts over them. Dennis
edg@micropro.UUCP (Ed Greenberg) (01/13/86)
In article <1433@brl-tgr.ARPA> dennis@CSNET-SH.ARPA (Dennis Rockwell) writes: >Are these lines third rail or overhead? I would think that the dead spot in >the third rail and easy public access to the third rail would rule out grade >crossings, ... >Dennis The Long Island Rail Road uses third rail in grade crossing country. Though you hear of train/car accidents, I've never heard of anybody being fried. (A-la "Taking of Pelham 1-2-3") I don't recall the lights going out at grade crossings (as a rule) so I assume that the cars (Budd M-1's when I moved away) are interconnected for power. -e -- Ed Greenberg | {hplabs,glacier}!well!micropro!edg MicroPro International Corp. | {ucbvax,decwrl}!dual!micropro!edg San Rafael, California | {lll-crg,ptsfa}!micropro!edg
ron@brl-smoke.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (01/15/86)
> In article <1433@brl-tgr.ARPA> dennis@CSNET-SH.ARPA (Dennis Rockwell) writes: > >Are these lines third rail or overhead? I would think that the dead spot in > >the third rail and easy public access to the third rail would rule out grade > >crossings, ... > >Dennis > Washington Metro uses third rails (although you can't get anywhere near a Metro track except in a station). The cars have pickup shoes at all four corners. As long as the dead section is shorter than the length of the car, seems that you wouldn't have a problem. There is an AMTRAK draw bridge between Baltimore and Aberdeen where they have to disconnect the overhead power wires when it opens as well. However it is done manually, and is such a pain AMTRAK wants to stop opening the bridge. -R
roma@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU (01/16/86)
In a previous note, dennis@CSNET-SH.ARPA writes: > > > Chicago's rapid transit lines (CTA) have several stretches that > > have road crossings at grade. They are on the Evanston, > > Skokie, Ravenswood, and Douglas lines. > > Are these lines third rail or overhead? I would think that the dead spot in > the third rail and easy public access to the third rail would rule out grade > crossings, unless all the cars were electrically connected for power... Also, Chuck.Weinstock@a.sei.cmu.edu writes: > At least some of the CTA system with grade crossings is third rail. If I'm > not mistaken the Skokie Swift is for sure. The Linden Avenue line used to > be overhead, but if my memory serves me correctly has since become third > rail. The *only* CTA line using overhead is the Skokie Swift line, on which there are several grade crossings. (The east end of the Skokie Swift is third rail powered, but it is grade separated.) The remaining CTA lines are wholly powered by third rail. When at ground level, the tracks are fenced off to discourage trespassing. Grade crossings are equipped with 'cattle guards'. The single crossing on the Evanston line to Linden Avenue does have the strange 'rotating' fences. This line was converted from overhead to third rail sometime in the last decade or so; I guess the special fences were put up because of the danger to people not aware of the change to third rail. All CTA trains (except for some on the Evanston and Skokie branches) operate in semi-permanently coupled pairs with a cab on each end. Furthermore, the couplers that join multiple pairs of cars together (to up to 8 cars) are equipped with air and electrical connections. Thus, the cars have no problem with the third rail gaps necessitated by road crossings. (Even a single pair of cars is long enough to span the gap without coasting, I believe.) Jon Roma Computing Services Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign UUCP: {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!uiucuxc!roma ARPANET: roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.arpa CSNET: roma%uiucuxc@uiuc.csnet