ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion Railroad Practices

One of our members has sent me the following pics, from his work at the railroad. He's somewhat new on the job, and doesn't want to draw attention to himself; so let's call him "The REAL Engineer."

It's interesting to see how things are done in related fields. Some of you railroad buffs out there might want to chime in with some better explanations of what is pictured.

First, a 'battery vault.' It seems that rails used to go where the PoCo had not yet arrived, so they had banks of batteries for signal communication and to operate switches.
The vault itself:



On the (now empty) shelves sat banks of batteries that looked like this one:




Here's an example of one of the control cabinets the batteries powered:



Finally, ever wonder how rail workers got to the site? Remember, many of these sites are pretty remote, and lacking in roads or set in challenging terrain. Or, perhaps, you just wanted to find a way to beat the evening rush hour. Well, this is the truck for you:



Please note the steel wheels, that can be lowered to ride on the rails directly.