Passenger Trains > Corridor Clipper/San Diego/Amtrak

Sorry about the day delay. Spotted Amtrak's Corridor Clipper NB out of San Diego yesterday 11/03 at Rose Canyon/Elvira MP 259.0 at 11am. This is the one that looks like it set up to run with overhead caternary(sp?). Both were collasped on top of roof of car. It was bringing up the rear of a all Superliner/Surfliner consist. Stood out like a sore thumb.

I know I'm one of the more stupid people on TO, but what is this Clipper thingy?

Dean

bnsfdevore Wrote:
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> Sorry about the day delay. Spotted Amtrak's
> Corridor Clipper NB out of San Diego yesterday
> 11/03 at Rose Canyon/Elvira MP 259.0 at 11am. This
> is the one that looks like it set up to run with
> overhead caternary(sp?). Both were collasped on
> top of roof of car. It was bringing up the rear of
> a all Superliner/Surfliner consist. Stood out
> like a sore thumb.


Dear Sir

The corridor clipper does indeed have one pantograph on the roof. But is not a self propelled or powered in any way vehicle. It needs 480 volt 3 phase AC HEP power from the locomotive that pulls it no matter where it goes in what ever capacity.

The "Clopper" also has a Video camera also and a ultraviolet camera all connected to an onboard computer and GPS system. Many types of rail and trolley wire parameters are recorded for preventive maintenance reasons.

BUT if you look closely at this pantograph you will not see a high voltage cable or buss carrying the power any place.
WWeellll..... you might have miss took the fiber optic bundle for a high volt buss.....but it is not.

This pantograph has or had a special trolley wire location detector shoe in place of the standard current collector on a working pantograph. Sometimes they store the special shoe away for safe keeping but leave the panto on the roof with a standard collector. It ain't cheap.
This special ( one of a kind ) shoe made by "Insco" has fiber optic cables traveling up to it from the car body.
Each of the fiber optic cables carries a pulsed light beam to a specific location on the current collector shoe and when this spot on the shoe is in contact with the trolley wire the light is reflected back down the fiber optic cable to a reciever inside the car body. Apparently copper/ brass trolley wire reflects light .

The reciever has a set of optics that passes light up each of the fibers with out allowing light in into the reciever. And at the same time allows light reflected back down one of the many cables to enter that cables reciever or light detector. They have programmed a copmputer monitor to know the location of each fiber on the shoe.

When ever one or the many detectors sees reflected light then the computer logging system records the track location and wire position on the current collector . By graphing successive positions they can see how the wire slowly oscillates back and forth over a shoe and yet "hopefully " stays within the boundaries it must for satifactory operation.
It is not desireable to "hold " the trolley wire exactly centered over the track.
This would cause all the working pantograps to wear out the center quickly. We change them every 92 daze...as it is .
It is desireable to have the trolley wire ...at least on straight track ...slowly travel from left to right and back over and over to wear the current collector shoes evenly.

I knew you wanted to know this trivia.
Now you know more than 99 percent of the rest of the rail fans about this subject.

John

The Corridor Clipper shows up every month or so on the NEC.
Last time I saw it http://www.trainweb.org/phillynrhs/RPOTW021201.html

Hey There, Locodoc. Thanks for the complete rundown on Corridor Clipper. The discovery channel, couldn't have done it any better