Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!panix!.POSTED.2602:f977:0:1::2!not-for-mail From: Ruben Safir Newsgroups: nyc.transit Subject: Re: huh? "12,800 feet of new aluminum third-rail"?? Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2025 23:20:14 -0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Message-ID: <10c477e$86f$1@reader2.panix.com> References: <10c1q3g$tre$1@gal.iecc.com> <10c43c6$15c$1@reader2.panix.com> Injection-Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2025 23:20:14 -0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: reader2.panix.com; posting-host="2602:f977:0:1::2"; logging-data="8399"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@panix.com" User-Agent: tin/2.6.4-20241224 ("Helmsdale") (NetBSD/10.1 (amd64)) Xref: csiph.com nyc.transit:39447 Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > In article <10c1q3g$tre$1@gal.iecc.com>, John Levine wrote: >>According to danny burstein : >>>. Improvements so far include the replacement of 128 bridge spans that >>>connect tracks, column to column; the addition of 12,800 feet of new >>>aluminum third-rail; and the addition of 6,500 feet of signal cables, >>>25,000 feet of new running rail, and over 40,000 feet of new communication >>>cables. >>> ====== >>>rest: >>>https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/park-avenue-viaduct-metro-north-10062025/ >>> >>> huh? aluminium third-rail ?? Is that legit? Thanks >> >>Sure. Here's a company that makes them, aluminum with a steel cap. >> >>https://www.rail-fastener.com/the-third-rail.html >> >>Aluminum conducts much better than steel so I'd expect the power losses to >>be lower, and in new construction you could put the power feeds further apart. >> >>It says "The conductivity of aluminum alloy is 3-4 times that of low carbon steel." > > The conductor is so large, I doubt the lower resistance of aluminum vs steel > matters much. Losses _in the 3rd rail_ should be truly minimal. > > However, aluminum 3rd rail with a steel wear strip is much lighter than solid > steel rail and that has to make life a whole lot nicer for anyone installing, > removing, or maintaining it. > It is not a moving part so I don't give a shit. What I do care about is that the MTA is removing a track that can last 100+ years with something that will have the life expectency of a chowowa - 18 years top. They don't give a shit