by Yellowspoon
I was watching a YouTube video taken from Pelham station during evening rush hour. The video inspired me to ask the same question as the OP. That led me to this 2015 thread, which answered why the changeover moved. After reading about the crash in 1988, I wonder if the crash affected the decision to move the changeover point. I have follow-up observations/questions.
By my calculations, there is an 800m (one half mile) section of track with both third rail and catenary. I had always assumed that trains changed power source during this overlap. However, of the 20 +/- trains in the aforementioned YouTube video, all but one had no source of power for a brief period during the 400m (one quarter mile) between Pelham station and the third rail. (i.e. eastbound trains did not raise the pantograph until the last car was clear of the third rail) The only exception was one GCT bound train that did not lower the pantograph until the first car was on the third rail.
Two follow-up questions: (1) At some point the video there is a GCT-bound diesel pushing eight passenger cars. None had pantographs. I assume the engine has shoes for the third rail. Where is it coming from? I assume it’s not Amtrak. (2) Earlier poster in this thread talked of a “phase gap” at Pelham. What is a phase gap, and does the train operator do anything at the phase gap.
As a trivia point, I was once on a NH bound train that stalled at/near/during the changeover at Woodlawn. We sat there for about 45 minutes until another train pulled up beside us and all the passengers “walked the plank” to the other train. I’m going to assume now that all trains have a plank or board for just such an occasion. I remember that my then-teenage daughter was a bit nervous because our train was listing to the right. She was afraid that the train might tip over until I told her about the fact that we were on a curve and would not have noticed if we had been going 30 MPH.
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By my calculations, there is an 800m (one half mile) section of track with both third rail and catenary. I had always assumed that trains changed power source during this overlap. However, of the 20 +/- trains in the aforementioned YouTube video, all but one had no source of power for a brief period during the 400m (one quarter mile) between Pelham station and the third rail. (i.e. eastbound trains did not raise the pantograph until the last car was clear of the third rail) The only exception was one GCT bound train that did not lower the pantograph until the first car was on the third rail.
Two follow-up questions: (1) At some point the video there is a GCT-bound diesel pushing eight passenger cars. None had pantographs. I assume the engine has shoes for the third rail. Where is it coming from? I assume it’s not Amtrak. (2) Earlier poster in this thread talked of a “phase gap” at Pelham. What is a phase gap, and does the train operator do anything at the phase gap.
As a trivia point, I was once on a NH bound train that stalled at/near/during the changeover at Woodlawn. We sat there for about 45 minutes until another train pulled up beside us and all the passengers “walked the plank” to the other train. I’m going to assume now that all trains have a plank or board for just such an occasion. I remember that my then-teenage daughter was a bit nervous because our train was listing to the right. She was afraid that the train might tip over until I told her about the fact that we were on a curve and would not have noticed if we had been going 30 MPH.
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