Contact with the 3rd rail

[RichJF]

Hi all,

Feel free to point me in the direction of any threads that already cover this, but I had a question about the 3rd rail.
This morning a train at Dormans manged to contact the 3rd rail, killing the power & closing the line between Hurst Green & East Grinstead. Apparently it lost at least one pickup shoe! Cue being stuck at home working :roll:

What happens in these circumstances? Would the train be able to limp to the next station or does it override any systems on a 377 & kill the train where it stands?

What kind of things would be displayed in the cab when this sort of incident happens?

Thanks

 

[SpacePhoenix]

A fair bit will depend on how many of its shoes it lost on that side and which side the 3rd rail is on. The driver would probably stop the train in any case and request adjacent lines be stopped so he can investigate the damage caused and possibly what caused the damage

 

[Deepgreen]

No idea what happened, but the description (not yours, but on Southern's web page) is ambiguous at best - the trains are supposed to contact the third rail - I assume what actually happened/was meant was that something other than the shoe gear came in contact, so several scenarios spring to mind - something hanging off the train, the third rail was already displaced (and hit) or the train caused a displacement of the rail and then part of it contacted the rail. Other options may exist.

 

[Phil.]

It sounds like it struck a little something and lost a shoe or two. Pure speculation of course.

 

[edwin_m]

If a shoe was detached it could well lodge between the third rail and the running rail, causing a short circuit so the power would be shut off.