RE: (erielack) Electrification, was: Another reason for low-prof ile horns

["Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>]

> I once asked Ben Friedland how much clearance was requiree under
> catenary.  At the time, we were riding one of the M&E's Alco C624's
> from Morristown to Dover to pick up coaches from NJT for an
> excursion.  It looked like we had about two feet of clearance under
> the 25kv wire.
> 
> Ben said he needed about eight inches of clearance under the wire on
> a clear day, but possibly more in wet weather.  Before buying the
> M&E, Ben had operated an electrical supply company and was trained as
> an electrical engineer, so I figured he knew what he was talking
> about.


Speaking from experience, I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to ride in and out of Hoboken in the cupola of a restored wooden D&H caboose, probably as high off the rails as a "civilian" can get. I did note with some trepidation that we were awfully close to the catenary, and would occasionally hear an ominous hum (could have been my imagination though). But what I *didn't* imagine was when my arm occasionally brushed against a metal L-bracket between the armrest and the cupola wall, and I got a surprisingly powerful "zap." For a while I thought it was my imagination, but after a while I began to realize that I was getting zapped by a charge transmitted by induction.

Now, this was on 25kv AC power - would 3kv DC power (in DL&W/EL days) have had the same effect?

	- Paul

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