by jamoldover
RearOfSignal wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 10:32 am Third rail runs only just past CP 35 on the Hudson Line, not Poughkeepsie. Also a bunch of cows got shocked way back when they still had 3rd rail in CT, so they outlawed it. Back in early 1900s.It's not that 3rd rail is outlawed in CT - it's that when the lines were electrified 100 years ago, the New Haven RR (who built and owned the tracks between Woodlawn and Boston) decided to use AC-powered overhead catenary since it was more efficient for powering long distances. The New York Central (who owned the tracks from GCT to points north and west) decided that they preferred DC-powered third rail alongside the tracks. That infrastructure's been in place ever since, which is why any equipment that runs from GCT to New Haven and points east needs to be able to use both systems.
The only type of third rail that might have been outlawed would have been unprotected ground-level ones that ran down the center of the track, similar to Lionel toy trains.
Joshua