The shoe on Metro North touches the bottom of the third rail, and the shoe on LIRR, Staten Island, Subways, and PATH touches the top. Otherwise you are right.
Metro North with the new plastic cover is the safest with the minimum exposed. One could touch either side under the overhanging cover board on all the others.
Just a note…Trolley wire on the Evanston line went all the way south to Howard Street until 1963. All four tracks at Howard had wire and third rail. In late '63 the wire was romved between Howard and South Boulevard in Evanston, the next station north of Howard. On rush hour trains the conductor would handle one pole, and a platform man would handle the other. Evanston trains were 4 cars at the time with 2 cars running off of one pole.
When the North Shore Line was still running they generaly would use track one south out of Howard Street. As track one was the freight track it had no third rail as far south as Granville Avenue. North Shore trains were obliged to again raise their poles (whis in NSL speak) and use the wire to Granville. However I’m told by some NSL men that they would sometimes wait until Wilson Avenue stop to lower the poles while stopped.
Mitch
More NSL stories>> how bout the drunk who decided to take a leak oround Oakton street and the restroom was occupied so he did the next best thing and opened a vestibule door and…
Whether it actually happened or not ? Story related to me by Francis Murray.
Randy
Wouldn’t be the first or only time. Once when I was conductor on no 9, The North Star, someplace around Pleasant Prarie, a guy went out on the rear vestibule to relieve himself by moonlight. My brakeman, unaware of the proceedings, went to go out on the rear vestibule to look over an eastbound freight. With the coach door open and loud enough for everyone to hear he asked of the passenger,“Whaccha doin’? Havin’ a leak?”
But wait, there’s more!
Mitch
Yea but at least the stream didn’t land on a 600 volt third rail. I pee’d on an electric fence once, I still remember how that felt. Besides I’m sure once the 600 volts reached the individual there was no need to announce what he was doing. I’m sure the bright blue arc alerted the other passengers.
Randy
Hey…for some of you, you still think that you can’t get hurt if you touch a live third rail…WHY?? My father worked for New York City Transit, so I’d think that I would have first hand knowledge of how dangerous third rails can be. Now, I can’t dispute the fact that there have been incidences where people have been known to touch the third rail or catenary and have lived to tell about it. I myself, have seen the NYC Transit’s track workers work on the third rail while it’s still live. In fact, they are known to hook up clamps to it in order to operate electric powered equipment in order to do their required work on the right of way. When you see the work lights along side the tracks, where do you think they’re getting the power from?? Although, these are some examples of working with a live third rail, that still doesn’t mean you go out and touch one. There doesn’t need to be a train nearby for that thing to be energized…IT JUST IS!! Even in areas that you may think the tracks have been/or are abandoned(like areas of Sunnyside yard in Queens), consider that third rail/catenary ENERGIZED!! It’s not a game of ‘tag’! Once you touch a third rail or catenary wire…YOU ARE IT…PERMENATELY[xx(]!!! THERE’S NO “DO OVER”…“PLAY AGAIN”…YOU’RE DONE…W E L L D O N E T O A C R I S P!!! BE SAFE PEOPLE, SO YOU CAN LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY[^]!!
GLENN
A R E A L RAILROADER!!![:D]
A R E A L AMTRAKER!!![^]