2/5 - Friday, February 17 & Saturday, February 18
Charles, looking South from Benton. This shot really shows why I pushed so hard for PRIMOVE (the contactless power supply option from Bombardier). All that overhead could have been eliminated!
Charles, looking South from Cameron.
Close-up of some of the new insulators which have been spliced in along the contact wire in this section. The white tubes in the centre are plastic (Delrin? UHMW?) sleeves which slip over two strong steel members, which take the tension between the two halves of the spliced contact wire, which are trying to pull it apart!
The little plate on the side with the angled slot can be slid laterally, to precicely adjust the interface height of the supply forks on the outside.
You can also see how the severed contact wire is bent up slightly, to ease the transition - and the overlap between the two outside supply forks is staggered, to maintain a continuous supply of current to the pantograph.
Charles, looking South from Benton. This shot really shows why I pushed so hard for PRIMOVE (the contactless power supply option from Bombardier). All that overhead could have been eliminated!
Charles, looking South from Cameron.
Close-up of some of the new insulators which have been spliced in along the contact wire in this section. The white tubes in the centre are plastic (Delrin? UHMW?) sleeves which slip over two strong steel members, which take the tension between the two halves of the spliced contact wire, which are trying to pull it apart!
The little plate on the side with the angled slot can be slid laterally, to precicely adjust the interface height of the supply forks on the outside.
You can also see how the severed contact wire is bent up slightly, to ease the transition - and the overlap between the two outside supply forks is staggered, to maintain a continuous supply of current to the pantograph.