Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread… this is my first completely new thread on Mastodon, and boy is it going to be an epic one.

HOW IT WORKS (AND WHEN IT DOESN’T) – DISCONTINUOUS ELECTRIFICATION

Something I get asked about A LOT is discontinuous electrification. A typical comment on social media will be something like “well with battery technology so readily available we can just electrify the easy bits and run on battery in between…”

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - RETURN CONDUCTORS (RCS) AND AUTO TRANSFORMER FEEDERS (ATFS)

This is a #railwaysExplained thread on Return Conductors (RCs) and Auto Transformer Feeders (ATFs). As part of that I'll be attempting to explain how immunisation works. HEALTH WARNING: this will involve electromagnetism. Apologies in advance!

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - NEUTRAL SECTIONS

Back in 2020 @driverbod125 asked: "I was hurtling along in my 125mph diesel train earlier & started thinking about Neutral Sections...

When designing OLE do you take into account locations of signals? I mean you wouldn’t want a train stopped in a section unable to draw any juice?"

So lets answer that!

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - TEST TRAINS (with some indulgent personal experience)

Back in 2019 a colleague posted this video. This innocent post started me on an odyssey which ultimately ended with me blagging my way into the cab of said train. Want to know more? Read on

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - INSULATED PANTOGRAPH HORNS

Back in 2022 I posted this photo of the pantograph of GWR class 387 EMU no 387144. At that time it was entirely unique on the GB mainline, and even now it is a member of a very exclusive club. Can you guess how?

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Welcome to another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - TROLLEY OVERHEAD LINE

Back in 2019 I visited
Beamish Museum, and used what I learned there to write about Trolley #OLE for the #OLEbook 6th edition.

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - SPARK GAPS AND SURGE ARRESTERS

One of the things that I spent a lot of time on back in 2019 was sourcing good quality images for the #OLEbook - getting the more obscure stuff from publicly accessible places was quite hard.

That's why I had to go all the way to North East England to hunt down this Spark Gap on the Tyne & Wear Metro

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Time for another #RailwaysExplained thread, ported over from Whatever The Site Is Called This Week. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - OPEN AIR RIGID BAR OVERHEAD LINE

Back in 2019 it was a nice sunny day, so off we went to a local(ish) garden centre. What's that you say? The UK's only open air section of Rigid Overhead Conductor Line (ROCL) is just down the road, between Patchway Old and Short Tunnels? Oh go on then.

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Time for another #RailwaysExplained thread, ported over from Whatever The Site Is Called This Week. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - PRESAG

Back in 2018 I made this GIF to show the presag in Series 1 overhead line at Swindon... this is a deliberate lengthening of the intermediate droppers (between the 1st and last dropper in the span) to provide presag equal to 1/1000 of the distance between the structures

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Another #RailwaysExplained thread... this one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - BROKEN DROPPERS

A short thread about broken droppers, prompted but this video posted by Scotrail a few years back

Droppers are a core element of mainline OLE systems. Their job is to support the contact wire at the correct vertical position.

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Back in 2017 I did my first ever #RailwaysExplained thread over on the Site We Don't Mention. Now I'm porting it here!

UK PANTOGRAPH RECOGNITION

Did you know there are currently no less than 13 pantograph types in use in the UK? Here they all are, starting with mainline types, in chronological order: first, the AM/BR type, in use from 1959. These are dwindling fast in number. This one has a Brecknell Willis head retrofitted

#OCS #OLE #OverheadLine #Pantographs

Another #RailwaysExplained thread here! This one is another port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - WIND AND OVERHEAD LINE

A thread about windspeeds in relation to #OLE design. No sniggering. Yes, you at the back. I saw you. STOP IT

#railways #OLE #OCS #OverheadLine

Another #RailwaysExplained thread here! This is my 2nd port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - OVERHEAD LINE STEELWORK SIZES

A thread about OLE systems, steelwork sizes and the general perception that we've got it wrong in the UK...

Ever wondered why there are so many #OLE #OCS different systems worldwide? After all there are only a handful of track forms.

Unlike track, OLE has two wobbly things interacting - the wire and the #pantograph.

Time for my first #RailwaysExplained thread here! This is my first port over from the Site We Don't Mention. More to come!

HOW IT WORKS - OVERLAPS

Ever wondered how it is possible to run a continuous overhead wire from, say, London to Glasgow? Well... it isn't.

Firstly, no-one is going to sell you 400 miles of cable on a drum. 2km is about the biggest drum you can buy. #OCS #OLE #OverheadLine

Oh what a night! #mufc #tenhag #ole

https://youtu.be/PZ3k8nTlnUg

@alethe what an a**#ole! Extra lock, chair under handle and check Windows! Stay safe