-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sat, Aug 30, 2003 at 08:48:37PM +0100, Pigeon wrote: > and *maintain* all those flippin' wires... I think a bottom-contact > third rail system, using aluminium rails with steel wearing faces, on > around 3kV, would be a better bet; similar electrical losses, and a > whole lot more robust and easy on maintenance. (But maybe I'm biased > by knowledge of the UK East Coast Main Line electrification which was > a real cheapo job and blows down whenever too many cows fart at once.)
We've got less of a high-tension wire than a nearly inch-thick copper bar over each track. They rarely break except in the rare event an accident (usually a car accident) either hits the overhead line or one of the poles supporting the overhead lines (very rare). They seem to be pretty resistant to the ice-storms we're prone to in winter, and the crackling pantographs shooting a shower of sparks behind them scares the crap out of the tourists, so that's *always* a plus in my opinion. - -- .''`. Paul Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : :' : `. `'` proud Debian admin and user `- Debian - when you have better things to do than fix a system -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/UdnFUzgNqloQMwcRAq1UAJsFVZUf2/JN0Iub0a7qyeA1w5c+dwCfbVar vbvg2on0niSW1XOSUikbKgo= =NSeJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
