Sometimes the sides of rails appear to be painted. Why is this done?

19-07-2019

Normally, rails do not need to be painted as the expected life span resulting from the effects of wheel wear and fatigue is such that corrosion is not a significant problem. In some areas, however, corrosion of rails, especially on the inside of the rail foot below the liners, or on the sides, can be quite severe, and may result in the need for premature renewal of the tracks even if the rails are otherwise not worn or fatigued by the traffic conditions. The problem is worse when the spots where the corrosion makes the rails weak move out of the sleeper seats during activities like track destressing. Corrosion happens in coastal areas and regions such as the Sambhar Lake area where there

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When does the driver have to lower and raise a pantograph on the run?
July 16, 2019

Normally, pantographs do not have to be lowered and raised on the run. The principal exception is the case of the AC-DC switchover by the WCAM series locos as described above. Other than that, there are a few points where the catenary has a gap (no cable physically present, not even a neutral or dead section), for instance at level crossings where

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What happens if the pantograph isn’t lowered when the loco enters the dead zone?
July 16, 2019

Usually there is no problem, if the master circuit breaker of the loco has been switched off. In most cases of neutral sections, therefore, the driver does not have to lower the pantograph. If a live loco enters this section without its master circuit breaker turned off, then there is a possibility of sparking or transient disturbances, which can

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How do the AC-DC locos (WCAM series) switch from one power source to another on the run?
July 16, 2019

At DC/AC changeover points as on the Virar-Vaitarna section, WCAM locos can switch from one power source to another without stopping. The WCAM-1 has a selector on the rightmost side of horizontal control panel for selecting the pantograph. It has four positions, DC, AC, DC-ALT and AC-ALT. In DC and AC-ALT mode, pantograph with two collector shoes

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How are DC locos swapped for AC locos at the point where traction power changes from DC to AC?
July 16, 2019

Today while the the Mumbai area is still mostly at 1.5kV DC, there are a couple of important AC-DC transition points such as Igatpuri -- now Kasara -- and Virar. In time, when 25kV AC becomes the norm and DC traction is decommissioned, these transitions will be history and there will be no more traction changeovers! Sad for railfans, but perhaps

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Why is the neutral section provided with a dummy (neutral or electrically dead) cable? Why can’t it be a real gap?
July 16, 2019

Pantographs of electric locomotives have a spring mechanism or compressed-air assembly that keeps the pantograph pushing up against the contact wire with a certain specific pressure. If the neutral section were not wired and the contact wire simply ceased to exist, then then possibility exists that if the driver has not dropped the pantographs at

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How are phase breaks (AC) or power gaps (DC) handled by the locomotives?
July 16, 2019

The catenary has breaks or gaps in its electrical continuity every once in a while at points where successive sections are connected to different substations. A neutral section of catenary is usually provided between the two live sections of different phases or connected to different substations. At such points, single locomotives do not drop

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