Prolly been discussed before, but what happens if a locomotive is struck by lightning? Will it fry the electronics?
Speaking of lightning. We had a a thunderstorm come through and I got to capture this.
This thread was really just a ploy to show you all my picture, thats why I didn’t search the forums before posting, but hey, why not have it answered in another thread.
The metal frame and superstructure of the locomotive, providing a metallic path down to the rails, will tend to act as a shield and divert any surge current. There is a slight change of side flashes to energized wiring and cables. Generally, the performance would be similar to what would happen with your car (assuming it still has a metal body).
That is a spectacular photo, BTW, and it illustrates a principle that folks ought to know (but many do not) and that is lightning’s path is not always vertical, but in fact can deviate as much as 5-10 miles from the main body of the storm. This is why we always caution people that, if you can see it or hear it, it’s too close and you should seek shelter immediately until the storm blows over.
The lighting hitting the engine & may trip the ground relay in the engine
cr6479–
good point, and the ground relay or other protective device tripping is exactly what it should do to limit any damage
REALLY nice shot there of the lightning. That is quite the sight to see when lightning is around. Plus how in the world did you get the shot without being struck yourself? You look as if you’re up on a cliff.
James
I was, I was just sure I wasnt the tallest thing on the horizon (although that doesnt really help much.) We had lightning all around us and it kinda withered out from behind us just as we got set up. And we also made sure that we were around but not close to a couple big towers that way they would get struck and not us. I hope to get up to the mountians to get some of the wild mountian thunderstorms that are up there.
Cool shot, miniwyo. I’ll let you go get more of those- I’ll stay away from those mountain thunderstorms, thank you.
Nice picture of the lightning. Question: Was it real humid when you took the pic? The halo around the lightning seems to suggest it was. Just curious! Lightning is beautiful to begin with, but when there are halos around the bolt it looks even cooler!
Well It was humid compared to normal wyoming humidity, which is usually zulch to begin with. I think I see what you are talking about but I think its just the clouds around the bolt.
That’s a great photo RJ !!!
Never gave it much thought, but being as meteorology is a secondary hobby of mine I like the picture.
Trains and lightning bolts have always fascinated me. They both vary in length-shape-size, no two are exactly alike, and are two of the most powerful forces, natural or manmade, that most of us will ever see, and if you get struck by either, your chances aren’t good for waking up soon.
Actually, I’m surprised that the two haven’t come together in more story lines. The only one I can think of is the movie series Back To The Future, where lightning is once used as a power source, (to fuel the flux capacitor?), and then the fun train scene, where the train was used to pu***he Delorean to 88 mph before reaching the gorge. What happened to the train?hmmm
Anyway, very nice pic miniwyo.
Lightning hit my locomotive a few monthes ago, other than giving quite a bright light and a very loud clap of thunder (not to mention scaring the you know what out of me and my conductor) nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the trip resumed as normal.
Shaun W.
Had our locomotive hit twice in a matter of minutes…so lightning does strike the same place twice!
Both times tripped the ground fault relay, but no damage to the locomotive.
Did do damage to my helpers shorts, but that’s another story![:D]
Was watching a show on the National Geographic channel, seems as often as not, lightning discharges from the ground up as from the clouds down, especially if there is a convenient pathway for the charge to follow.
And the earth often sends out small, feeler charges that attract the lightning from the clouds.
If you are out and about in a storm, and the hair on your arms or neck stands up, odds are you are in or near one of the feelers, and in danger of being hit.
There was also had a segment on “sprites” or lightning that discharges up from the clouds into the upper atmosphere, visible from the shuttle…and hearable on some radio frequencies.
Ed
That shot was way cool! At worst, a locomotive can be hit by lightning on the radio antenna and the electronics can get fried if the jolt is powerful enough.A friend of mine was running through Byron on the old “water level” route’s highest spot in the NYSSR on an ancient GP7 when it was hit by a bolt and it died on the spot. The ground fault problem sent the unit to DeWitt, who sent it to Altoona/Juniata, who retired it! They figured that 11,000 amps of AC at a very high voltage just plain fried the whole thing!
RJ - that storm hit me just a couple of hours before it hit you. I unplugged all my computers and took an hour or so break. I know what lightening can do to computers – the EMF pulse can kill them – even if there is no direct hit. And how many computers are there in an SD70?
dd
Lightning is Direct Current (DC) not AC.
Lightning can be whatever it wants to be (Ed’s post was very informative BTW) and I’m sure not gonna argue with it!!! [:p]
A typical bolt of lighting has voltages in the range of several hundred million volts. Currents as high as 200,000 amps have been detected. AC, DC, no matter. The result will be fried.
A frequently shown picture of a lighting strike to a tree near a house also shows a tiny tendril of the bolt reaching for the TV antenna. According to what I’ve heard, the TV bought it.
My daughter called me at work early one morning to tell me about a bad thunderstorm that was hitting there. At that point my FD may have already been dispatched to a house struck by lightning (which may be why she called - I don’t recall). There was a crackle on the line and that was that. I liked that phone, too!