Electrification system islands.

[XAM2175]

and always will be, due to two factors, 1] it's a tube system. 2] it's 4' gauge. I'm not sure if Broomlaw has a standard gauge rail connection, or if all the gear has to go in by road.

You know that neither of those facts prevent a new third-rail system opening somewhere else in Scotland, right?
(many other facts do, but not those two)

The depot at Broomloan Road has no connection to any other rail network.

 

[themiller]

I note that Etches Park will be getting a 7-car length of 25kV OHL for testing the EMR Hitachi trains according to the article in March 2021 Modern Railways (p 73).

 

[adamedwards]

One day there will be a Discontinuous Railtour using a bimode engine routed to maximise use of these 25kv test tracks. How many days would it take to get round them all?

 

[apk55]

There have been been a few short industrial electric railways built using electric traction. Some i can think of are
1/ Harton colliery near South shields
2/ Kearsley power station near Bolton
3/ Cheddleton asylum railway near Leek

No doubt some of you will think of several more

 

[52290]

There have been been a few short industrial electric railways built using electric traction. Some i can think of are
1/ Harton colliery near South shields
2/ Kearsley power station near Bolton
3/ Cheddleton asylum railway near Leek

No doubt some of you will think of several more

I can think of the Blackpool Tramway which was connected to the national network at Wyre Dock. A small electric loco was used to haul BR coal wagons down to Thornton Gate where there was a coal merchants yard.

 

[edwin_m]

I can think of the Blackpool Tramway which was connected to the national network at Wyre Dock. A small electric loco was used to haul BR coal wagons down to Thornton Gate where there was a coal merchants yard.

Rail wagons were also run over tramways in Glasgow, where the gauge was slightly narrower so the flange tips would fit into the grooves of street track (Blackpool wasn't but the section in question was all off-street). This link shows a locomotive fitted with trolley poles after trolleybuses replaced the trams.

Glasgow, Govan Goods Yard View showing Fairfield locomotive on tracks | Canmore

This view shows the electric locomotive which belonged to the Fairfield Shipyard with a train of wagons for the yard. The route to the yard lay along tram tracks.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

the OHLE at Hunts Cross fell down a few years ago and was never replaced as it isnt used for anything. The shunt neck for Allerton Depot alongside the running lines is still wired for 25kv but has no physical connection at Hunts cross with either the DC line or the CLC route

 

[jfowkes]

Very pedantically, each bit of OLE between neutral sections is an island, no?

 

[Journeyman]

There have been been a few short industrial electric railways built using electric traction. Some i can think of are
1/ Harton colliery near South shields
2/ Kearsley power station near Bolton
3/ Cheddleton asylum railway near Leek

No doubt some of you will think of several more

There were a bunch of electric light railways built near me to serve the shale mining industry in West Lothian, but all traces are long gone.

 

[plugwash]

Very pedantically, each bit of OLE between neutral sections is an island, no?

I guess it depends on how exactly you define the "system". You could argue that neutral sections are still part of the system.

 

[edwin_m]

I guess it depends on how exactly you define the "system". You could argue that neutral sections are still part of the system.

Also the feeds can be switched around, for example if a feeder is offline, so sometimes the lines either side of a neutral sections are electrically connected to each other. Hence the "islands" in this case would be mobile!

 

[plugwash]

Just curious, does the switching allow neutral sections to be made temporarily non-neutral so that a train that inadvertently stops in one can self-recover? or does it have to be dragged/pushed out?

 

[JamesT]

Just curious, does the switching allow neutral sections to be made temporarily non-neutral so that a train that inadvertently stops in one can self-recover? or does it have to be dragged/pushed out?

I don’t believe neutral sections are that long, a few meters at most. Most trains have multiple pantographs, so if they were unlucky enough to stop with one in the neutral section, they could raise another and get going.

 

[Highlandspring]

Just curious, does the switching allow neutral sections to be made temporarily non-neutral so that a train that inadvertently stops in one can self-recover? or does it have to be dragged/pushed out?

No. Neutral sections seperate different phases of the supply so any connection between them would result in catastrophic damage to the equipment. Generally a train that gets stuck in a neutral is able to gravitate one way or the other, otherwise it needs to be assisted by another unit/loco.

 

[Elecman]

No. Neutral sections seperate different phases of the supply so any connection between them would result in catastrophic damage to the equipment. Generally a train that gets stuck in a neutral is able to gravitate one way or the other, otherwise it needs to be assisted by another unit/loco.

Neutral,sections can be switched through the bus couplers on the HV switchboards providing the section being switched through is electrically isolated at the next feed point

 

[Highlandspring]

Neutral,sections can be switched through the bus couplers on the HV switchboards providing the section being switched through is electrically isolated at the next feed point

But that won’t liven the ceramic beads..?

 

[59CosG95]

But that won’t liven the ceramic beads..?

Or PTFE rods, on newer installations...

 

[Bald Rick]

Just curious, does the switching allow neutral sections to be made temporarily non-neutral so that a train that inadvertently stops in one can self-recover? or does it have to be dragged/pushed out?

To clarify earlier posts, whilst each side of a neutral section can be fed from the same feeder station, this is done by cabling / switching at trackside. The actual neutral section is non-conductive* and cannot be live.

*unless it isn’t cleaned often enough, in which case carbon residue from pantograph heads can build to the extent that you can get a flashover, usually sufficient to cause component failure in the neutral section.

 

[Elecman]

To clarify earlier posts, whilst each side of a neutral section can be fed from the same feeder station, this is done by cabling / switching at trackside. The actual neutral section is non-conductive* and cannot be live.

*unless it isn’t cleaned often enough, in which case carbon residue from pantograph heads can build to the extent that you can get a flashover, usually sufficient to cause component failure in the neutral section.

That results in big flash and bang and both breakers coming tripping simultaneously

But that won’t liven the ceramic beads..?

Correct

 

[charlesn132]

There was a post implying that the carrier wire neutral sections could be made live (post 25 of this thread)?

Not sure about other Neutral Sections, but certainly the one at Maidenhead can be energised if an EMU becomes stranded in the section.

Would be unlucky, but quite possible if a driver receives a REC on GSM-R.

 

[apk55]

Neutral sections normally contain a short section of earthed contact wire so that if one of the insulators fail it is section to ground fault, not a section to section fault. I do not think it is normally possible to energize the earthed section and even if bypass switches are operated then you would still be left with an earthed section.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Has anyone yet mentioned the Waterloo & City Line?

 

[BarryD]

The Volk's Electric Railway?

 

[AlistairCowell]

Has anyone yet mentioned the Waterloo & City Line?

Yes, in page 1 of this thread.

The Volk's Electric Railway?

That counted as a electrified island, but that is narrow-gauge railway with even lower voltage - just 110v DC!
There is a similar electrified narrow-gauge railway called Hythe Pier Railway, it is only 0.3 miles long.