What is this 'Box

Hello all,
New member here and I have some questions re; 1950's LIRR era.

What was the maximum ever allowed track speed on the Jamaica Bay Trestle.
-and-
I'm modelling this box, a clip here from a photo in the Dave Keller collection, taken on the Creedmoor Branch near the Jericho Sash & Door siding.

I want to get the colors right and have painted it red/white stripes as a start.
I have preliminaraly chosen red because it seems to be close up and personal to the third rail. A power cut off? A fuse.
But I remember the manual crossing gates were Black/White stripes and I cant tell from the picture.

Thanks in advance
Vince

as far as I know its a fuse for the third rail, the box is usually gray

fl9fan300 wrote:as far as I know its a fuse for the third rail, the box is usually gray

Gray? Okay but the box in the picture is striped.Two colors. What is the other color?

Stripes (to me) denote danger or attention! Like stripes painted on crossing gates.
The old manuallu operated gates being Black/White stripes.


The old 50's era 650V third rail power feed covers were concrete caps (domes?) covering the ends of the concrete conduit for the copper cables bridging gaps in the third rail.
See at grade crossing and the like.

Thanks,
Vince

Looks like a fuse and knife switch box for the third rail. Inside the box would be a fuse, and a Knife switch, to cut the power to the third rail, from that point forward in a specified area

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:Looks like a fuse and knife switch box for the third rail. Inside the box would be a fuse, and a Knife switch, to cut the power to the third rail, from that point forward in a specified area

Which way would be considered "forward"? My guess is from that point east, but I don't know.

My guess on this is that the third rail is fed from two different locations and in order to kill power to the third rail in a given section the knife switch at the location in the picture would have to be pulled as well as the next one on the particular line and track in question to shut of power between two such switches. I suspect the power to the rail is fed from two separate points thus two separate switches would have to be pulled.
Noel Weaver

Power Director in Jamaica can cut the 3rd rail now from Jamaica, in any location on the Railroad. Been that way for a few decades.

Everyone's statements are correct.

The box contains a copper knife switch with a wooden or Fiberglas handle and/or a cartridge fuse. They feed sections of third rail, so that different portions can be isolated or sectionalized. In complex arrangements, a group of rails may be fed from a single or several feeders that can be controlled remotely by the Power Director (now called the ESO). But each rail in this group or cluster can be controlled separately in the field through the use of these switches.

Some switches are normally closed (on), while others, which offer alternate feeds, are normally open (off). These days, certain boxes are painted blue and contain switches that are permitted to be operated by power-qualified employees other than those of the Power Department. Those employees include Car Inspectors and Yardmasters. A blue box usually contains a switch that controls one or more yard tracks and are operated to isolate a train for service. Most boxes are designed so that the knife blade of an open switch extends past the box, keeping the top lid open. In this manner an open switch is visibly apparent. Some are also equipped with a quick-break feature to suppress arcing when operated under load.

Similar (though often smaller) boxes house fuses and feeds for any 600 volt appliance powered from the third rail. This would include switch heaters, waiting room and shanty heaters, signal supervision and battery charging circuits. Subterranean third rail cable feeds came up from the ground in "bootlegs" that were protected from the elements by domed concrete "helmets" adjacent to these boxes. These were painted with vertical black and which stripes from about 1910 until the late 1930's.

Since the early 1970's these boxes are made of molded gray Fiberglas. Prior to that they were made of white concrete colored asbestos board called Transite with fiber or wood frames surrounding the board . Before then, they were painted wood. They all have hasps for a Power Department lock. Like the bootlegs, I don't think any of these boxes were painted in stripes much past the 1940's.

Your photo shows a wooden box painted with black and white stripes. Red wasn't used as it was believed that the black/white contrast was more visible to horses.

Thank you Tool for a clear and concise answer.
Now I have the colors right. (i had painted it red/white)
A little airbrushed weathering and there you have it. . . The third rail power cut-off for the Frank R. Smith Coal siding.

For the curious the location is in the coordinates in the picture.
A little fun hunting with Google Earth will tell you where this is. Hint: abandoned today.

Back to pounding spikes ...
vince

Not everyone has Google Earth or knows lat/long in Google maps... Good quiz Vince!

Vince: What is the photo location of the Keller photo to give us the "bigger" picture! Thank you.

Happy Father's Day to all.

The Dave Keller Foto clip location is on the Creedmoor Branch near the Jericho Sash & Door Co siding.

The Train Simulator editor screengrab is looking west at the Frank R. Smith Coal siding, 235th St & 88th Ave. 'bout 1/2 west of the Creedmoor Hospital siding switch.

The full sized original photo may be found on Arrts Archives here: http://arrts-arrchives.com/crdmr1.html

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrtr ... ry7-58.jpg

Emery 7-1958 Frank Smith Coal area - Creedmoor Branch Thus Vince's view is SW

In the '60s, those domed concrete helmets were painted silver.