How did this man not get electrocuted?

[redbutton]

I know we are in a different world from the past. There was a whole myriad of things we used to do that are total no-no s now (generally for the better). It's just that sometimes I think the modern rules are in place for the modern CYOA (Cover Your Own Arse) mentality rather than an over riding duty to passengers and colleagues. There were wooden paddles to shore up defective shoe gear AND to move people off conductor rails. The CYOA element would not have you using them for the latter these days.

I've come through driver training fairly recently and this was mentioned as a possible emergency scenario.

One could absolutely use the paddles, as long as the short-circuit bar is applied first, and that's assuming it's safe to get down from the cab.

Though nowadays with GSM-R it's probably faster just to make an urgent or emergency call to the signaller and have him obtain an emergency switch-off.

750VDC does "just cook" you, but not immediately, and only the part of the body that bridges the conductor rail to the running rail. As others have noted, ballast is not a very good conductor to earth.

 

[Domh245]

If the electricity couldn't find an easier way to earth itself, it's obvious that the man wasn't the easiest way to earth. Lucky for him

Might it have been the case that with the train approaching, the man didn't give the best earthing route (which was through the shoegear and wheels of the 377) and was quite lucky in that respect. Had the train been a few seconds later and not yet in contact with that piece of 3rd rail, he may well have been given a nasty shock

 

[ASharpe]

I'd expect that almost any dry clothing would provide protection from the third rail, it's not exactly high enough voltage to cause a spark gap of any distance.

And even if you were in a circuit through you clothes to the rail then the PD across yourself would be reduced significantly by the resistance of your clothes - and it's only DC.

But saying all that I wouldn't want my chest in contact with the third rail and one of the other two at the same time, a small short across the heart even briefly could cause problems. Saying that, provided you maintain muscle control for a second you could escape.

 

[dtaylor84]

Might it have been the case that with the train approaching, the man didn't give the best earthing route (which was through the shoegear and wheels of the 377) and was quite lucky in that respect. Had the train been a few seconds later and not yet in contact with that piece of 3rd rail, he may well have been given a nasty shock

Electricity doesn't really work that way. The route through the 377 has to go through the engine and isn't that good a path to earth (or it wouldn't do any work moving the train in the process). It may draw sufficient current to cause a slight voltage drop on that section of third rail, but it would still be enough to electrocute you.

The important point is that volts don't kill, Amps do. And if there's sufficient resistance (e.g. clothing) in the path to ground, the voltage won't be able to produce enough current to kill you.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Just to be pedantic, he didn't get electrocuted. Electrocution is short for electro-execution and since he's still alive, I'd hazard a guess that he got an electric shock.

455Driver had the correct usage of the word. In British English electrocute can mean kill or injure.

 

[TDK]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...owly-avoids-being-hit-by-a-train.html#article

He clearly fell on the 3rd rail then nearly got hit by the train.

I don't want to be picky but I think this quote from the article may be undersubscribed In the last five years 142 people have lost their lives on the railways, many of them teenagers, and a further 254 have been injured.

 

[najaB]

I don't want to be picky but I think this quote from the article may be undersubscribed In the last five years 142 people have lost their lives on the railways, many of them teenagers, and a further 254 have been injured.

Maybe they are limiting it to third-rail areas? There were over 300 deaths in 13/14 alone, UK wide.

Edit: If you exclude suicides, the ORR statistics show 151 fatalities since 2010.

 

[455driver]

... and you'd just watch them ?

Of course not, I would do exactly what the general public would do, get my phone out and video it!