We Could Talk About The Weather

[n2ize]

That AC catenary system on the New Haven line had been a headache for decades. It's always giving problems resulting in delays, temporary shutdowns, etc. They should switch over to a DC third rail system like they use on the Harlem and Hudson lines. The trains are already equipped to run on a 700 VDC third rail power system since have to switch over to using a third rail anyway when they join the Harlem line near Mount Vernon.

[N2NH]

"Remember........ whatever you say .......don't mention the WAR!!" *


*John Cleese as Basil Fawlty on "Fawlty Towers" :rofl:

I always thought that little weasel corporal would've been a sticking point.

[kb2vxa]

Last things first, the old NH can't switch to DC anything and still remain part of the NEC. It runs 25KV 60Hz as opposed to the 11KV 25Hz old Pennsy main but that's not a problem, newer locomotives employ inverters that eat just what you feed them, they don't care how it tastes. My best guess with the third rail is it feeds power control at the inverter output, basically runs the traction motors directly. DC traction is a very inefficient way to go even when running off catenary power. You get best efficiency and control using a variable voltage, variable current, variable frequency AC system like most other electric and Diesel-electric locomotives.

Eh, right, sort of, those railroad transmission lines don't have circuit breakers, they have fault sensors that operate huge switches. Here's one opening, VERY impressive! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-UTYzfNjKM Actually they don't usually arc like that, the arc quencher failed to operate. (;->) Remember the Pennsy installed the equipment in 1937 so it's old technology, today they use oil filled breakers that look like big tanks with ears. When it comes to city power, 13KV feeders use sensors and switches on the transformer primaries, the 4800V 600A secondaries use fuses not only at the substation but everything connected to them, branch feeders and transformers, the familiar pole pigs use fuses as part of a manual switch called a cutout. The neat part is how they operate. The fuse holder, often called the "fuse tube" or "door", which contains the interchangeable fuse element and also acts as a simple knife switch. When the contained fuse operates or blows, the fuse holder will drop open, disengaging the knife switch, and hang from a hinge assembly. This hanging fuse holder provides a visible indication that the fuse has operated and assurance that the down-stream circuit is electrically isolated.

About the weather, as of this writing 0100 GMT an electric train is rolling across north-central Jersey, NYC and LI. The caboose is just about at the Avenel / Carteret area and about to roll into Staten Island. It looks like South Jersey and Philadelphia are getting bombed...

[K7SGJ]

Last things first, the old NH can't switch to DC anything and still remain part of the NEC. It runs 25KV 60Hz as opposed to the 11KV 25Hz old Pennsy main but that's not a problem, newer locomotives employ inverters that eat just what you feed them, they don't care how it tastes. My best guess with the third rail is it feeds power control at the inverter output, basically runs the traction motors directly. DC traction is a very inefficient way to go even when running off catenary power. You get best efficiency and control using a variable voltage, variable current, variable frequency AC system like most other electric and Diesel-electric locomotives.

Eh, right, sort of, those railroad transmission lines don't have circuit breakers, they have fault sensors that operate huge switches. Here's one opening, VERY impressive! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-UTYzfNjKM Actually they don't usually arc like that, the arc quencher failed to operate. (;->) Remember the Pennsy installed the equipment in 1937 so it's old technology, today they use oil filled breakers that look like big tanks with ears. When it comes to city power, 13KV feeders use sensors and switches on the transformer primaries, the 4800V 600A secondaries use fuses not only at the substation but everything connected to them, branch feeders and transformers, the familiar pole pigs use fuses as part of a manual switch called a cutout. The neat part is how they operate. The fuse holder, often called the "fuse tube" or "door", which contains the interchangeable fuse element and also acts as a simple knife switch. When the contained fuse operates or blows, the fuse holder will drop open, disengaging the knife switch, and hang from a hinge assembly. This hanging fuse holder provides a visible indication that the fuse has operated and assurance that the down-stream circuit is electrically isolated.

About the weather, as of this writing 0100 GMT an electric train is rolling across north-central Jersey, NYC and LI. The caboose is just about at the Avenel / Carteret area and about to roll into Staten Island. It looks like South Jersey and Philadelphia are getting bombed...

That switch arc was very impressive. Speaking of which

Did you know Ben Franklin wasn't the first to discover electricity?

Noah told his wife he needed to build a big boat to save the animals from an upcoming flood. Problem was he didn't know what it should look like. Since his wife was an artist, of sorts, he asked her to help him out, and paint a picture of what it should look like; which she did. An so, Noah's wife was the first one to ever draw an arc.

[W7XF]

How about this one:

[K7SGJ]

It's a hell of a day in the desert, folks. Lightning all over the place, 30 degree drop in temperature in sort order, raining sideways (1.23 inches so far in about 30 minutes), water is running like crazy across the property. The normally dry wash out front is running swift, between 3 and 4 ft deep, so I'm guessing the bigger ones down the road a ways are even more impressive, and impassable as well. We haven't had one of these for awhile. As fast and deep as the water is, it'll be back to normal in a few hours, unless it keeps on raining. It'd be nice to get all this rain a little slower so it would do the desert some good, instead of it all running off to Yuma.

[kb2vxa]

"Did you know Ben Franklin wasn't the first to discover electricity?"
Yeah, I know and it was an ancient Greek who discovered the electric field, static electricity. That's where electron, electricity, electric, etc. come from, Electra was the daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus princess of Argos. Eh, that was a really lame ark/arc joke... but I liked it.

Oh yeah, that 500KV switch arc is impressive, another fault actually as the suppressor circuit on that phase failed to operate. That's not a load disconnect, that was done downstream on the transformer secondary. What you see is Ix, energizing or excitation current drawn by hysteresis in the transformer primary. I remember seeing arcs like that on TV long ago every time General Electric Theater hosted by Ronald Reagan (CBS) came on the air. Unfortunately I couldn't find what I was looking for but here's the next best thing. The intro starts with a huge device with two long counter rotating arms with balls on the ends and huge arcs between them. Then the camera zooms in and the panel appears as you see it, cut to commercial.

Ah, typical desert rainstorm, that's why you have to watch out way beforehand for flash flooding. Yeah, it would be nice to slow down but it'll never happen, the desert is a land of extremes.
"...instead of it all running off to Yuma."
And it happened at exactly 3:10.

[N2NH]

81^oF (27^oC) right now in the city, 67^oF (19^oC) here. By Friday, we're going down to 54^oF (12^oC). Not bad for July. There are places in the mountains of North-Central Mass that used to reach 15^o - 20^oF (-9^o to -7^o C) at night in July. I wonder if that still happens there?

Elektricity? Wasn't that given to the Persians by aliens? You know, the so-called Baghdad Batteries?

Sorta reminds me of a hot summers night in the city...

[PA5COR]

I thought the Bagdad batttery was the first discovery,,,,,

30 C extremely moist had some serious T storms in the South of the country 7 million Euro damage done.
Nothing here up North in the country missed me all.
Official heatwave here since today, temps might get a bit lower, but with more moist in the air it won't really improve...

[kb2vxa]

Electricity may have fried the Behemoth but it ignited Godzilla's atomic fire and made things worse. Now which monster is responsible for attacking the weakest link in the Northeast Power Grid? Smart beastie he is, every time a key link, the Niagara Feeder to the city always fails. Back in 1965 the phrase was "Where were you when the lights went out?" and someone even wrote a song about it. I was home in Jersey (engineers had sense enough to cut the Linden Feeder to Staten island to stop the dominoes) doing some AM and FM broadcast band DXing with the FM stations off the air and no modulation and no splatter from the AM transmitters in the Meadowlands. Couldn't TVDX since I didn't have a BMF antenna and rotor then, rats. In any case the old land line pre cell phone network stayed up, if all else fails there's still the 48V Baghdad battery bank.

I did mention that ancient Greece is the origin of the word "electricity" but right, the oldest evidence of an electric device is the Baghdad battery. It makes one wonder what a source of electricity would have been used for, there is no record of any kind for any other devices. That ancient Egyptian carving is another wonder, when I first saw it years ago I immediately recognized one of the many forms of a Crookes tube. They require a few thousand volts to operate, what was the power source and what did they use the tube for? That's when I studied everything related to early electrical and electronic equipment and never lost interest, still I lap it up like honey.

Lastly, Franklin did NOT stand out in the rain drawing electricity from the clouds, he had an assistant do it. Do you think a genius could be that stupid? Really?