heel settings and minus staggers

[Tin Rocket]

hi there,can anyone explain what a heel setting for a registration arm is?what a minus stagger reading means?and also a push/pull off and push off arrangement is?is there any websites that explain overhead line equitment terminology and what it does?thanks for any help,the context of this is the height and stagger of the contact wire cheers

 

[edwin_m]

Stagger is the offset of the contact wire from the centreline of the track. It is supposed to zigzag across the track so that the pantograph is worn down evenly and not as a groove. The stagger in one direction is defined as positive, seem to remember this is to the right when travelling in the down direction but I may be wrong on this.

On straight track this means that supports alternate between push-off and pull-off. Suggest you look at a photo to see what this means! Don't know about heel settings.

 

[steverailer]

Heel setting is a height distance from the contact wire to the pivot point on the steady arm.

To measure it you hold a spirit level level horizontally from under the contact wire across to the steady arm pivot and measure the gap. IIRC should be around 100mm, but varies across the network depending on the plans.

 

[Ploughman]

Stagger is the offset of the contact wire from the centreline of the track. It is supposed to zigzag across the track so that the pantograph is worn down evenly and not as a groove. The stagger in one direction is defined as positive, seem to remember this is to the right when travelling in the down direction but I may be wrong on this.

Comment re Right in the down direction.
Its a long standing convention on the railway that no matter where you are. Stand with your back to low mileage and you have left and right in front of you.

That works all over the country until you get to a place were the mileage reverses such as Harrogate.

 

[Tin Rocket]

Comment re Right in the down direction.
Its a long standing convention on the railway that no matter where you are. Stand with your back to low mileage and you have left and right in front of you.

That works all over the country until you get to a place were the mileage reverses such as Harrogate.

I take it the reading is to the left in the up direction?how about bi-directional lines?cheers

 

[Ploughman]

I take it the reading is to the left in the up direction?how about bi-directional lines?cheers

Left and right applies to both tracks
Back to low mileage left and right in front of you.
Up and down are irrelevant in this case.

 

[Tin Rocket]

Left and right applies to both tracks
Back to low mileage left and right in front of you.
Up and down are irrelevant in this case.

so a minus stagger is a left of zero reading on any track back to low mileage?why is a minus stagger considered a not good reading?is the pan close to coming off the contact wire or something?cheers for your replies

 

[edwin_m]

Comment re Right in the down direction.
Its a long standing convention on the railway that no matter where you are. Stand with your back to low mileage and you have left and right in front of you.

That works all over the country until you get to a place were the mileage reverses such as Harrogate.

Thanks for that. Usually Down is the direction of increasing mileage, which may account for my confusion (or that of whoever wrote whatever I read somewhere!). However there are some exceptions, the Great Central main line springs to mind although that's not electrified.