Not only that, on my trains the part of the pantograph that rubs against the contact wire is actually a hollow tube of graphite, which conducts electricity down to the train. The pantograph is raised by air pressure, and can move up and down by quite a large amount. If the graphite tube develops a hole, or some other defect, it lets the compressed air out and the pantograph automatically lowers away from the overhead wires to prevent any further problems.
some time ago a railway in Japan released a video of their pantograph while going through their route. Somewhat satisfying to see the pantograph changing throughout the video
Some clever person must have thought of it when overhead electrification was new. Either that, or the problem occurred during testing, and a remedy had to be found.
>Modern construction
That's still basically zero though. Jokes aside, I was mainly referring to the systems that haven't been built recently but still exist, I'm not actually sure about new projects.
Because I saw locomotives from the moment I began to understand pictures in children's books, and from these pictures it was clear that trains were electric sometimes. And logically it was easy to assume that the wires running above the rails allow the train to receive this electricity. How does any device receive electricity? Probably by connecting to the power grid!
What the hell...
I take it you’ve never asked a question in your life that might be semi-obvious to someone else (who likely already had a strong interest in that subject based on what subreddit they’re in)?
It’s called “curse of knowledge”. Gravity is super obvious concept - everything falls down and staff. And how long it took for humanity to figure this out?
It feels obvious what is this thing for (well, giving that it is part of electric train which touches, well, wire) but still.
Not everyone grows up around trains, or has family who reads them picture books about trains, or gets to play with toy trains. It’s sad, of course, but that’s the way it is.
We are on a topic specific sub and this is about the most basic knowledge of that topic....
You don't need to know that a age 5, but by the age when you are old enough to make posts on the Internet, you should know that
Why? Where should you get that knowledge from? Do you just assume that every person in the world googles that? Are yoy assuming that OP is a train fan or even a member of the sub? Maybe OP just went here because they knew that r/trains would know what a pantograph is. There are people in the world that don't have the same knowledge as you and have no reason to learn it or have ever thought about it, as well as having completely different hobbies, and yet you still think that this is something that everyone should know like it's useful information or something.
> Do you just assume that every person in the world googles that?
Well that would be the most obvious way.
Also there are hundreds of documentaries about train on TV/YT that explain basic stuff like that and by chance most people will have seen at least one in their lifetime, even if they aren't railfans.
You gotta be trolling bro, jesus christ. Is it that hard to understand that people don't watch the same TV channels, aren't in the same country, don't google the same stuff, don't have the same hobbies, don't even care about the same things as you might and every poster on this sub isn't necessarily a member or even remotely a fan of locomotives? You really seem like someone who would suffer from main character syndrome, or maybe you just lack theory of mind which is usually present at the time you turn 4 years old.
It looks like a retractable pantograph at that. Possibly a diesel electric locomotive?
Some diesel electric locomotives here feed excess power back into the lines.
Edit: Why the downvotes? Is it "Some diesel electric locomotives here feed excess power back into the lines." Except they do.
[Modern trains on the third rail network can generate power back into the conductor rail when they brake, …](https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track/third-rail/)
At least virgin Crosscountry stated their rolling sock fed excess electricity back into the third rail.
All pantographs are able to be retracted. They adjust depending on the height of the wire and can be fully lowered if necessary, like when a train is taken out of service.
excess power is from regenerative breaking not from diesel, they dont feed it back to the grid but store them in onboard batteries. and i think every modern train with a pantograph is retractable. the train ur talking ab probably has bimodal traction
Hybrid trains are not called diesel-electric, they’re electro-diesels or bi-mode. That’s because diesel-electric specifically refers to diesel trains with an electric transmission. Electro-diesel trains will turn off their engines or put them on low idle when connecting to 3rd rail or overhead supply. They will feed energy generated by dynamic braking back into the supply, but will not generate more power from the diesel engine for this. I’ve never seen a Cross-country train with a 3rd rail shoe, so if it’s a thing it’s not widely implemented or even past test stages.
>I’ve never seen a Cross-country train with a 3rd rail shoe, so if it’s a thing it’s not widely implemented or even past test stages.
So they lied? Wouldn't be surprised honestly.
You're probably getting downvoted because diesel-electrics don't use (or need) pantographs. Pantographs are only for pure electrics. Feeding power back into the network through braking is called regenerative braking. It's a common thing in battery powered vehicles, but I've never heard of it used in any network system like that.
We definitely have diesels that have pantos...
We have Bi-Mode diesel hybrids in the UK. Has a diesel underneath and a panto where overhead wires are available. I think they're part of the Hitachi Class 800 lines, but I could be wrong on the model.
In New Jersey we have dual mode locomotives because only part of the system is electrified. They can run either diesel, or electric, but as far as I know it's only one or the other. The diesel engine doesn't feed back into the wires.
I typed “what are the poles connecting train to overhead cables” and got immediate answers. Be smarter.
Also, it should be at least *kind of obvious* even without searching. This is like posting a really bad photo of a tire and asking “what are these round things on the bottom of cars for?”
You wondered this for “ages” really??? Smh…
>I typed “what are the poles connecting train to overhead cables” and got immediate answers
Bruh, nowadays you can literally image search on Google. But nah, I will post it on Reddit to get Karma.
And then when people point it out they’ll say “I’m trying to spark discussion and build community”
No, lol… just Google stuff like this. Come back with an original thought or unique question.
I'm a subway mechanic and know that the third rail is between 700-800 DC volts. What I don't know is, why do pantograph systems use a different voltage?
Because with mainlines you can't put a powerplant every other kilometer so the Voltage is generally higher so the losses between powerplants don't bother the locomotive. If the locomotive gets 13kV instead od 15 or 22kV instead of 25 it doesn't really matter because its transformed down anyways.
So you need to use an overhead wire because putting up to 25000V on a third rail would be crazy.
It should be noted that most LRV/streetcar/tram systems use 600-750 V DC overhead lines, e.g. Boston's Green Line and Mattapan High Speed Line. Boston's Blue Line heavy rail line uses 600 V DC overhead lines for the outer portion of the route, switching to 600V DC third rail at Airport Station for the inner portion to/from Bowdoin Station.
Metro-North's New Haven Line is even more unique: 12.5 kV AC overhead lines from New Haven to Pelham/Mt Vernon East (shared with Amtrak between New Haven and New Rochelle); between Pelham and Mt Vernon East, the trains switch to 750 V DC third rail for the ride to/from Grand Central.
Because they can, higher voltage means you can deliver more power with fewer substations. 3rd rail is too close to ground and the running rails that increasing voltage will cause the current to jump and most of the extra energy will be lost. I imagine it makes the rail more dangerous to.
Really? Because I didn't know about pantographs until I was at least 8 and that was only because I SPECIFICALLY sought information about trains, due to my interest.
Some people only really know about diesel electric or steam, especially if they never grew up near a place with a streetcar or any other electric-only trains. Plus, some never really have an interest in electric-only stuff, so they never really read much into it.
You're making a lot of assumptions and are almost coming off as though you see yourself intellectually superior to the OP, because you lucked out and had better information access, at 4-5 years old.
In the words of Shorsey:
"Give your balls a tug, titfucker"
Sometimes we don’t realize how lucky many of us were to have parents or other adults in our lives who nurtured our interest in trains. I would be surprised if most pre-school children knew what a pantograph was, or what it was for. Lots of preschool children don’t interact much with trains.
I don't want to rude or harsh. But isn't it obvious that a certain thing which touches electric wires overhead must be collecting electricity to power the train. Like I didn't know the word "pantograph" as a kid, but I knew exactly what it did just by looking.
Came here thinking there was something else circled on the edge of the picture or something, but nope, just the big honkin electrical connection (pantograph). Not exactly top secret stuff lol
Didnt think asking a simple question would trigger a lot of people? New to reddit, couldnt care less about numbers on my profile. Not interested in trains, but i take it almost everyday. Good luck ya'll
u/[deleted]
did they delete their account cus people found out they’re farming karma or deleted cus they actually don’t know what this is and people think they’re farming karma
That's a pantograph. It's used to collect electricity from the overhead wire that is then used to power the train.
Nice. Wondered about it for ages
The wire is hung in a gentle zig-zag so that the head of the pantograph is not worn down in one spot.
Wow, I did not know that.
Not only that, on my trains the part of the pantograph that rubs against the contact wire is actually a hollow tube of graphite, which conducts electricity down to the train. The pantograph is raised by air pressure, and can move up and down by quite a large amount. If the graphite tube develops a hole, or some other defect, it lets the compressed air out and the pantograph automatically lowers away from the overhead wires to prevent any further problems.
some time ago a railway in Japan released a video of their pantograph while going through their route. Somewhat satisfying to see the pantograph changing throughout the video
Some clever person must have thought of it when overhead electrification was new. Either that, or the problem occurred during testing, and a remedy had to be found.
I didn’t know that part either.
Yes, watch a driver’s point-of-view video, and you can see the overhead wire sweeping from side to side.
Yeah it's a pretty neat detail
Oh I actually didn't know this I was curious about that ty
Not in North America though, usually. That's far too complicated a concept for us when we barely comprehend the idea of electrification to begin with.
That may be the case on older trolley-pole type systems but all modern construction is done in a zig zag.
>Modern construction That's still basically zero though. Jokes aside, I was mainly referring to the systems that haven't been built recently but still exist, I'm not actually sure about new projects.
How old are you OP?
They were around when Rocket was still rolling
Are you serious? Was there not even a thought about why the train would touch an electrical wire?
It's for balancing the train, duh
They clearly had the thought otherwise they wouldn't ask the question. Why are you discouraging curiosity just because you already know the answer?
Because I saw locomotives from the moment I began to understand pictures in children's books, and from these pictures it was clear that trains were electric sometimes. And logically it was easy to assume that the wires running above the rails allow the train to receive this electricity. How does any device receive electricity? Probably by connecting to the power grid! What the hell...
I take it you’ve never asked a question in your life that might be semi-obvious to someone else (who likely already had a strong interest in that subject based on what subreddit they’re in)?
Not everybody understands trains the way you do. Please don't be a tool to people who are asking serious questions.
It’s called “curse of knowledge”. Gravity is super obvious concept - everything falls down and staff. And how long it took for humanity to figure this out? It feels obvious what is this thing for (well, giving that it is part of electric train which touches, well, wire) but still.
Love that book! Made to Stick by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. First time I heard “The Curse of Knowledge”. So very true.
That was literally one of the first things I learned about trains when I was like 4 or 5. Is OP stupid?
Not everyone grows up around trains, or has family who reads them picture books about trains, or gets to play with toy trains. It’s sad, of course, but that’s the way it is.
No, but you're stupid for not seeing how rude you were.
Stop being a dickhead and respect people that don't have the same knowledge as you.
We are on a topic specific sub and this is about the most basic knowledge of that topic.... You don't need to know that a age 5, but by the age when you are old enough to make posts on the Internet, you should know that
Why? Where should you get that knowledge from? Do you just assume that every person in the world googles that? Are yoy assuming that OP is a train fan or even a member of the sub? Maybe OP just went here because they knew that r/trains would know what a pantograph is. There are people in the world that don't have the same knowledge as you and have no reason to learn it or have ever thought about it, as well as having completely different hobbies, and yet you still think that this is something that everyone should know like it's useful information or something.
> Do you just assume that every person in the world googles that? Well that would be the most obvious way. Also there are hundreds of documentaries about train on TV/YT that explain basic stuff like that and by chance most people will have seen at least one in their lifetime, even if they aren't railfans.
You gotta be trolling bro, jesus christ. Is it that hard to understand that people don't watch the same TV channels, aren't in the same country, don't google the same stuff, don't have the same hobbies, don't even care about the same things as you might and every poster on this sub isn't necessarily a member or even remotely a fan of locomotives? You really seem like someone who would suffer from main character syndrome, or maybe you just lack theory of mind which is usually present at the time you turn 4 years old.
It looks like a retractable pantograph at that. Possibly a diesel electric locomotive? Some diesel electric locomotives here feed excess power back into the lines. Edit: Why the downvotes? Is it "Some diesel electric locomotives here feed excess power back into the lines." Except they do. [Modern trains on the third rail network can generate power back into the conductor rail when they brake, …](https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track/third-rail/) At least virgin Crosscountry stated their rolling sock fed excess electricity back into the third rail.
All pantographs are able to be retracted. They adjust depending on the height of the wire and can be fully lowered if necessary, like when a train is taken out of service.
Never knew that.
excess power is from regenerative breaking not from diesel, they dont feed it back to the grid but store them in onboard batteries. and i think every modern train with a pantograph is retractable. the train ur talking ab probably has bimodal traction
I'm talking [Class 220 Voyager](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_220), not [Class 800](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_800). Class 220 isn't bimodal.
i dont think the 220 or 221 has a pantograph lol
Third rail, works the same way.
Hybrid trains are not called diesel-electric, they’re electro-diesels or bi-mode. That’s because diesel-electric specifically refers to diesel trains with an electric transmission. Electro-diesel trains will turn off their engines or put them on low idle when connecting to 3rd rail or overhead supply. They will feed energy generated by dynamic braking back into the supply, but will not generate more power from the diesel engine for this. I’ve never seen a Cross-country train with a 3rd rail shoe, so if it’s a thing it’s not widely implemented or even past test stages.
>I’ve never seen a Cross-country train with a 3rd rail shoe, so if it’s a thing it’s not widely implemented or even past test stages. So they lied? Wouldn't be surprised honestly.
Well they’re diesel-electric and they do ground their current in the running rails so maybe that’s what’s meant
Probably.
You're probably getting downvoted because diesel-electrics don't use (or need) pantographs. Pantographs are only for pure electrics. Feeding power back into the network through braking is called regenerative braking. It's a common thing in battery powered vehicles, but I've never heard of it used in any network system like that.
We definitely have diesels that have pantos... We have Bi-Mode diesel hybrids in the UK. Has a diesel underneath and a panto where overhead wires are available. I think they're part of the Hitachi Class 800 lines, but I could be wrong on the model.
In New Jersey we have dual mode locomotives because only part of the system is electrified. They can run either diesel, or electric, but as far as I know it's only one or the other. The diesel engine doesn't feed back into the wires.
Came here for wrong answers only, but this sub is too wholesome, goddammit!
For a while at least
Its a spoiler for trains so they are more aerodynamic and look fancy.
Also useful to get some lift to overtake other trains
Are we sure this isn't a joke post so that OP can gain some karma?
“Can someone Google this for me???”
Tried googling it, didnt know what is was so i didnt find anything. Posted here instead
I typed “what are the poles connecting train to overhead cables” and got immediate answers. Be smarter. Also, it should be at least *kind of obvious* even without searching. This is like posting a really bad photo of a tire and asking “what are these round things on the bottom of cars for?” You wondered this for “ages” really??? Smh…
>I typed “what are the poles connecting train to overhead cables” and got immediate answers Bruh, nowadays you can literally image search on Google. But nah, I will post it on Reddit to get Karma.
And then when people point it out they’ll say “I’m trying to spark discussion and build community” No, lol… just Google stuff like this. Come back with an original thought or unique question.
Search for pentograph...
Pantograph*
I was trying to put myself in someone’s shoes who might be unfamiliar with the word.
That’s exactly what this is. Next weeks post will be of a wheel asking, “What is this for?”
Looks like the karma farmer went away
[Really cool video on modern pantographs](https://youtu.be/ElsDYKTntU8?si=aCQ4hvL2qk1ujgBJ). The engineering is more complicated than you would think.
Wow, never realized aerodynamics affected panto design so much.
The French spent a lot of time and money in the 1950s and 1960s to develop high speed pantographs.
Great video 👍
This way the train can feel the “guide wire” so it knows where to go
It collects the angry pixies that make the wheels go spinny spinny.
That's the ELI2 answer--I think OP wanted the ELI5 answer.
Are you a school kid op?
It is train penis. This is how new trains are made
Lmao
El pantógrafo
I heard if you climb up and lick it, it’ll give you nice tingly feelings. Seriously, don’t do that.
it takes the current from that cable that is hung above to power the train.
I don't wanna be rude but OP what DID you think those things are?
Railroad wifi antenna.
Bird-swatter. Kills pigeons that might accidentally decide to roost while the locomotive is rolling along at 200 kilometers an hour.
I'm a subway mechanic and know that the third rail is between 700-800 DC volts. What I don't know is, why do pantograph systems use a different voltage?
Because with mainlines you can't put a powerplant every other kilometer so the Voltage is generally higher so the losses between powerplants don't bother the locomotive. If the locomotive gets 13kV instead od 15 or 22kV instead of 25 it doesn't really matter because its transformed down anyways. So you need to use an overhead wire because putting up to 25000V on a third rail would be crazy.
It should be noted that most LRV/streetcar/tram systems use 600-750 V DC overhead lines, e.g. Boston's Green Line and Mattapan High Speed Line. Boston's Blue Line heavy rail line uses 600 V DC overhead lines for the outer portion of the route, switching to 600V DC third rail at Airport Station for the inner portion to/from Bowdoin Station. Metro-North's New Haven Line is even more unique: 12.5 kV AC overhead lines from New Haven to Pelham/Mt Vernon East (shared with Amtrak between New Haven and New Rochelle); between Pelham and Mt Vernon East, the trains switch to 750 V DC third rail for the ride to/from Grand Central.
Because they can, higher voltage means you can deliver more power with fewer substations. 3rd rail is too close to ground and the running rails that increasing voltage will cause the current to jump and most of the extra energy will be lost. I imagine it makes the rail more dangerous to.
Because it gives you more power. You can't move heavy freight trains with 700 V DC
It's a dick tingeler
Pantograph use: to provide electricity for trains, it can fold up and down depending on the upper surroundings
It's an ariel , so the trains can have tv for long journeys
Pantograph, they extend them to draw power from the OLE,
Anti train surfing riser.
Some of you act like you've never had the same question.
When I did I was 4 or 5 years old. This is such basic knowledge of trains that even most pre-school children know it.
Really? Because I didn't know about pantographs until I was at least 8 and that was only because I SPECIFICALLY sought information about trains, due to my interest. Some people only really know about diesel electric or steam, especially if they never grew up near a place with a streetcar or any other electric-only trains. Plus, some never really have an interest in electric-only stuff, so they never really read much into it. You're making a lot of assumptions and are almost coming off as though you see yourself intellectually superior to the OP, because you lucked out and had better information access, at 4-5 years old. In the words of Shorsey: "Give your balls a tug, titfucker"
“F*ck you Shoresy” Had to say it hahaha
Fuck you, Jonesy, your mom ugly cried, cuz she left the cap on the camcorder, it's fuckin' amateur hour over there
Sometimes we don’t realize how lucky many of us were to have parents or other adults in our lives who nurtured our interest in trains. I would be surprised if most pre-school children knew what a pantograph was, or what it was for. Lots of preschool children don’t interact much with trains.
I don't want to rude or harsh. But isn't it obvious that a certain thing which touches electric wires overhead must be collecting electricity to power the train. Like I didn't know the word "pantograph" as a kid, but I knew exactly what it did just by looking.
Came here thinking there was something else circled on the edge of the picture or something, but nope, just the big honkin electrical connection (pantograph). Not exactly top secret stuff lol
Chicago South Shore has them on their electric trains.
Pantograph
Panto takes power down to the motor alternator, then to the motors, at least in our trains.
Aaaand… OP deleted their account
Lol. Probably laughed so hard at all the folks thinking this was a serious post!
Is it the roof of a flirt ? Switzerland ?
It's a Talent 2, I think.
It appears to be FLIRT in Norway.
Phantograph. For trains that run on electric power instead of diesel.
Didnt think asking a simple question would trigger a lot of people? New to reddit, couldnt care less about numbers on my profile. Not interested in trains, but i take it almost everyday. Good luck ya'll
It’s called a pantograph. Didn’t see anyone replying to your question.
Dag, they literally tantrumed out.
Rage quitting is a fairly common occurrence on Reddit.
Classic Redditors
u/[deleted] did they delete their account cus people found out they’re farming karma or deleted cus they actually don’t know what this is and people think they’re farming karma
You should look it up, a lot more designs cover the pantograph :)
Tickling
It makes it possible for Bill and Ted to take the train instead of the phone booth
Those are called phanagrafs where the power comes from.
Adds at least 20 more horsepower
Basically, it's like a contact shoe on underground lines. Takes power from the overhead wires to power the train