On 02/01/2024 15:59, Marland wrote:
>
> I know at least one of the correspondents on here champions 3rd rail over
> overhead due to it generally being more robust. Just occasionally it does
> fail though like this bit in the New Forest today.
> <Rail damage causes Southampton and Bournemouth train disruption
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-67860985>
>
> Must have been something reasonably conductive causing the current flow to
> get the rail hot enough to distort so something more substantial than an
> unfortunate Fox,Badger or someone from the North.
>
> GH
>

Perhaps likle the so-called "trackside fire" I witnessed perhaps 8-10
years ago, St Denys, closed the BML line for half a day.
Trackside fire terminology neatly diverts blame away from rail operation.
I can only assume the causation was due to an engineering train.
It moved quickly 100 metres from the incident stopping under the
foottbridge I was crossing. Clouds of brown smoke coming from one of the
supply cables to a stub of third rail where there is a track points 100m
away.
I can only assume someone inspecting something there and litterally
dropped a spanner in the works perhaps while leaning over ,shorting the
supply.
Copious brown smoke was presumably the insulation heating up and after a
minute of that , the cable flared up intense white , presumably
aluminium conductors igniting like phosphorous welding. Then the supply
cable to the other end of stub rail ignited. That short stub third rail
was not replaced, you can still
see the induced wavy form along the rail from overheating presumably,
but not eough to replace.
In the meantime the engineering train buggered off , with another
engineering train on the Portsmouth spur line turning up to deal with
the situation . 2 engineering trains just 5 minutes apart, rather odd in
itself.

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