CTA Yellow Line third rail - pantograph switchover

A westbound Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line train switches from third rail to overhead wire on the fly. This was filmed sometime before the switchover to third rail power on the whole route (September of 2004). I also have no idea who shot this video. But if anyone out there does know, someone to credit to would be appreciated.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• CTA
• chicago
• transit
• authority
• yellow
• line
• skokie
• swift
• wire
• third
• rail
• trains
• overhead
• catenary
• pantograph

[xdaftpunkedx]

that is extremely cool

[Amtrak1194]

The skokie swift is a shuttle train running between a station in Chicago and a station in Skokie, there are no stops in between and the trip is only like 7 miles so a stop in between wouldn't make the trip worth the $2.50 that a passenger pays on regular CTA train trips it just makes more sense to do it on the fly but after the summer of 2004 the catenary was taken down and now it's all 3rd rail :(

the remnants of the catenary are just a few tension towers along Skokie Blvd.

[Amtrak1194]

that's because there were track signals at every crossing, the lights would first flash the color of the block (green,yellow,or red) and then stay solid until the train passed

[andyncfcgetshypedup]

That reminds me of a Class 377 FCC train that did change voltage whilst standing still at Farringdon Station in London, UK. Wow that train is Dual Voltage. In the USA..

[Grigoriy137]

Super!

[Larsky1010]

This line is a remnant of the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee --"World's Fastest Interurban"-- which used to switch from third rail to TROLLEY on the fly! Think how difficult it was to throw up a pole manually while racing down the track! It took skill!

[jkeelsnc]

Hmmm, I think its pretty cool that they can do that switchover on the fly. Very clever. I wonder what electrical engineering challenges had to be meet to allow it. For that matter what safety considerations are necessary? Perhaps that is why they do not allow it in the UK? Safety considerations could be a VERY good reason.

[roofanhealer]

Why are the tention poles so high? Here it usualy is 4-5 metres, and maximum 20 metres on large stations.

[Andrewsaxamophone]

Do you have video of the crossing signals? As I recall, the setup was very very out of the norm.

[ibook133]

The wire tension system is different.