That's extremely dangerous, not just from the debris of the wrecked pantograph getting thrown about, but also from the catenary dangling after getting snatched off it's supports by the pan.
There's a massive amount of force pulling on the overhead wires, unless they completely snap, it's rare to come down so far that the general public can touch them. In The Netherlands there's a ton (kilograms) of force on each wire (and since we use 2 wires, 2 tons) by using 500 kilo's of weight on each wire at each segment's end. We use extra wires to hang the driving wire at the correct height however at stations and crossing, to prevent the possibility that a wire snapping could make the conductor reach unsafe heights. A garbage truck pulled down the overhead wire system on a 2 track crossing down with it's extended boom, and due to the massive force pulling on the wire segments, these went flying, and struck someone against her forehead (luckily the security systems at that moment had already cut power, which on our regular overhead system is at 1500VDC). The part that snapped back to the position of the platform the crossing was situated next to however was still not hanging far down enough for the general public (who at first was still allowed to enter the platform, which was a bit odd) to be even capable of getting close enough to it to touch it, so even though the violent event (that disrupted train traffic for 3 days) caused massive damage, the extra support wiring did what it was supposed to do. Concering the video: Fairly sure after the biggest explosion, security systems intervened and cut power.
This was done a part of a test to show the benefits of having an auto-drop device, whereby when the pan is struck or damaged, it will lower its self immediately thus preventing the massive damage you see here.
Amazing how the train is traveling at 70 MPH almost the whole time. Only once the pantograph goes up and starts tearing down the wire does the train finally lose power and start to slow down! By that time the damage has been done!
It could be there's a second pickup on a different carriage (or maybe even the front of the locomotive, not sure what train type this was, some trains don't use locomotives, but use motor cars that also fit passengers) and it was this pantograph that hit the structure that holds the conductor up in the air. Given the camera footage, this was probably a test of either a new track, or to test a new system that should make a pantograph snap like it does in the video to prevent much more damage (we stopped using double pantographs in The Netherlands because if they hooked behind a part of the overhead wiring system, the damage typically was much greater because the system made it spring up, and not bent backwards and snap, along with the danger of the pantograph getting ripped of the roof of the train if this happened).
As a (trackless) trolley operator in Vancouver, I can assure you beyond a reasonable doubt that there are issues with poles too. If you can go with catenary and pantographs, then do it!
UK practice is for the carbon contact strip to be an inverted "U" with the air system that raises the pantograph passing through the inside of the U so that, should the carbon become damaged, the pantograph will drop immediately to prevent damage.
Somehow or somewhere the catenary or pantograph comes in contact with the supporting structure. 12,000, 12,500 or 25,000 volts and contact of this nature will result in a horrific explosion.
Thanks for the reply and the info. This video reminds me a very popular programme on Discovery Channel called Seconds to Disaster, which I really enjoy watching.
I just saw this happen right before my eyes on a freight train in Amsterdam. The pickup was parking for about 100m, then exploded with a big bang - it literally split in two! But then, as you say here, there must been automatic system to protect the catenary, as the pantograph lowered itself and the brakes were whacked on and train stopped.
It could've been the driver noticed sparks at a time he was not expecting them (not crossing a block section insulator, no cold weather with freezing conditions that can make the overhead wires draw sparks between the pantograph like crazy). Next to that, it would also have caused the voltage and amp-meter in his locomotive to start bouncing around, so he might have first wondered if the wiring system somewhere snapped for whatever reason (causing shorts, obviously, and as a result, massive voltage drops) but as soon as the driver noticed that it was his pantograph that was sparking and decided to immediately drop it. I'm not sure about freight train locomotives, but I know that passenger trains can run without overhead wires present with lowered pantographs (some bridges that can be opened don't have overhead wiring present) without the emergency brake being applied immediately, but it could be that that's because the driver explicitly requests his train to not act on the loss of power, and since in the case of the freight train the driver was not expecting such a situation, the brakes went on. Since I take it you were in Amsterdam Central Station, freight trains usually are not allowed to drive fast there, so they stop reasonably quickly as well (along with freight trains having to be shorter because of block-section safety requiring them to be so as to not occupy a full rail section and disrupt passenger train traffic, what makes up the most of the rail network here)
Some of them are, at least here in Denmark - they have an airfilled "tube" running under the carbon - and if the carbon gets either worn too thin or the carbon breaks/falls off, it will loose the air, and fold down..
The driver was propably unaware of the damage, at 00.22 you can see the main breaker pop and after that the train goes in to emergency and stops. Regarding the location, someone said this looks like german catenary. Judging from the extremly short stop distance this was propably a very light train.
It appears to me that at each support pole, there are two brackets: one to support the 'support' wire, and one to support the actual powered line. The latter appears to have been broken at the pole, so was hanging off the power line.
Germany (which I think this video is from) uses a system that uses a wire that holds the conductor. It can look very complicated at big stations, and requires a different way of insulating different sections from each other to be capable of doing maintenance. The support wires, especially on big stations tend to be strung between massive poles, with 1 horizontally straight wire and a wire above it in a curve, both connected to the big poles on either side of the track. These wires are not running along the track, but over it at a 90 degree angle when seen from the top. I think this was a test to check what would happen if the pantograph hits a piece of the support structure, or to test a new system that should make a pantograph snap in the way it does in the video, to see if it results in less damage than other types of failover states that pantographs have used. The overhead wiring system in Germany by the way runs on 15kV at 16 2/3Hz, which is also why some of their installations differ from more ehm, regular AC setups.
Most pantographs use a high tension spring to keep them tight with the line as it raises and lowers, when the line loses tension the pantograph can shoot up and be ripped off by the catenery.
I've seen this happen to a 25kV system on out QR trains. The wire lost tension, the pantograph shot up, the shoe got ripped off and the arm was melted.
@linghun Some railroads that operate electric equipment may have cars or locomotives with cameras on the roof to observe wire or pantograph conditions during inspections, or sometimes randomly recording data as it is in normal service.
What I think the previous poster is saying is that a situation similar to this video unfolded in Norway recently. I have had this video for nearly two years.
Pantographs should be fitted with sensory devices which would automatically lower the pantograph should it found to be partially damaged since the onset of such incident. This would at least spare the wires from being brough down wrecked and tangled in a big mess. Nowadays, some modern would trolleybuses have their poles lowered automatically when a dewirement occurs.
@tnakai1971jp Every technical developed country does crash tests with nearly everything technical in our times. Cars, railways, aircraft: everything is crash tested.
It happens because the pantograph's wiper hits something (a piece of metal or wood, that you can see in the begining of the movie, if you look carefully) stucked to the wires, that wasn't supposed to be there. That hit starts a process of destruction of the pantograph and the catenary As the train moves, the damaged pantograph continues to raise while its falling apart until one of its pieces stucks into the contact wires and eventually whipes out the catenary.
May i know is this an experiment or a real incident caught on cam? One of the faulty span puller was in the way of the pantograph and caused the whole thing to come apart. Knowing what's happened, the engineer should have applied emergency break. Look at the damages done to the tensioned catenary, which could disrupt the rail service for hours.
00:04-Oh shit 00:09-There goes another piece... 00:13-Ok it's fucked 00:19-Now it's really destroyed 00:22-Ok it's at the point of no return 00:25-Lazy bitch falling down
This was a test. If u look at the first thing it strikes its a support beam sticking way out into the path of the pantograph. Funny how that man appears at the end.
@megatwingo What I mean is, Japan is not famous for conducting tests on operational lines. Many destructive tests are conducted in indoor facilities, including those involving traction ans suspension systems. For high speed suspension stability tests, for example, they have a stretch of track-like conveyor which is like a tread mill for a railway carriage. Japan is a small country and the space is scare, but not that scarce. In northern parts of Japan, there are many, many vast unused plots.
@tnakai1971jp It´s a test. Therefore the camera is filming the pantograph. Otherwise there wouldn´t be a camera at this place, right? It´s a controlled crash-test to analyze, what can happen, if a foreign object is hitting the pantograph.
Rocroi1643. No item was placed on the wires, it was in fact a failure of the carbon strip on top of the pantograph. Because the Pantograph is under pressure to keep it against the overhead wires, more damage is caused as it rises causing the damage you can see.
Belive it or not this is quite common. Here in Sweden (8,5million people, 13.000km rail network) I assume based on news reporting this happens once or twice a month. It's usually no big deal, traffic get shut down, repair crews are called out and they fix it in couple of hours -> 24h depending on damage. Traffic is routed on alternative lines or replaced by bus meanwhile. As for real 3rd world countries these are generally run with diesel power and hence don't get catenary accidents.
oops sumthing was wrong that was wire-supporting rod, whose one end detached from main wire-supporting pole, and the other end was still at wire (0:04) so this is not because pantograph - its because of damaged contact net
I think it was a demonstration. Look at the other video from billythewolf. Here, there is no system, which gets down the panto after an object on the wire. There is plenty of damage both on the panto and the wire. On the other video, there is only minor damage, because the panto goes down at once.
how did this happen? i mean.. the pantograph(the thing on top of an electric train) isnt suppost to do that.. what there somethign with the pylons? or what is placed to high? or the wires.. they look very weak they almost hang.. =|
Hi there, I am writing from a TV production company based in the UK. We are interested in licensing this footage from you - do you have any higher quality footage that we might be able to license from you? Many thanks, Angela
Each time you think you've seen it get damaged in every possible way, a new way comes along.
Oooh that's not good......oh....wha....jee....ba..
.shit.....
I can't believe my life has come to this. I'm addicted to watching videos about pantographs lol. This one is one my favourites.
Exactly the same
Same here...
This is a pantograph monitoring train in Germany
Catenaires as well here.
Same here
0:12 I tought it can't get worse. And it got even worse i tought i can be.
That's extremely dangerous, not just from the debris of the wrecked pantograph getting thrown about, but also from the catenary dangling after getting snatched off it's supports by the pan.
There's a massive amount of force pulling on the overhead wires, unless they completely snap, it's rare to come down so far that the general public can touch them.
In The Netherlands there's a ton (kilograms) of force on each wire (and since we use 2 wires, 2 tons) by using 500 kilo's of weight on each wire at each segment's end.
We use extra wires to hang the driving wire at the correct height however at stations and crossing, to prevent the possibility that a wire snapping could make the conductor reach unsafe heights.
A garbage truck pulled down the overhead wire system on a 2 track crossing down with it's extended boom, and due to the massive force pulling on the wire segments, these went flying, and struck someone against her forehead (luckily the security systems at that moment had already cut power, which on our regular overhead system is at 1500VDC).
The part that snapped back to the position of the platform the crossing was situated next to however was still not hanging far down enough for the general public (who at first was still allowed to enter the platform, which was a bit odd) to be even capable of getting close enough to it to touch it, so even though the violent event (that disrupted train traffic for 3 days) caused massive damage, the extra support wiring did what it was supposed to do.
Concering the video: Fairly sure after the biggest explosion, security systems intervened and cut power.
This was done a part of a test to show the benefits of having an auto-drop device, whereby when the pan is struck or damaged, it will lower its self immediately thus preventing the massive damage you see here.
Amazing how the train is traveling at 70 MPH almost the whole time. Only once the pantograph goes up and starts tearing down the wire does the train finally lose power and start to slow down! By that time the damage has been done!
This is definitely quality locomotive.
It could be there's a second pickup on a different carriage (or maybe even the front of the locomotive, not sure what train type this was, some trains don't use locomotives, but use motor cars that also fit passengers) and it was this pantograph that hit the structure that holds the conductor up in the air.
Given the camera footage, this was probably a test of either a new track, or to test a new system that should make a pantograph snap like it does in the video to prevent much more damage (we stopped using double pantographs in The Netherlands because if they hooked behind a part of the overhead wiring system, the damage typically was much greater because the system made it spring up, and not bent backwards and snap, along with the danger of the pantograph getting ripped of the roof of the train if this happened).
As a (trackless) trolley operator in Vancouver, I can assure you beyond a reasonable doubt that there are issues with poles too. If you can go with catenary and pantographs, then do it!
fun fact: this is called a pantograph strike
UK practice is for the carbon contact strip to be an inverted "U" with the air system that raises the pantograph passing through the inside of the U so that, should the carbon become damaged, the pantograph will drop immediately to prevent damage.
most countries use it but i am. guessing this video is older
@@gijs.22 this one has this system as well, this was just done for testing purposes
Somehow or somewhere the catenary or pantograph comes in contact with the supporting structure. 12,000, 12,500 or 25,000 volts and contact of this nature will result in a horrific explosion.
0:20 boom
15 000 Volts!
Actually it's KFB.....Ka Frickin Boom!
This is an exciting interlude from my usual occupation of closely observing paving slabs. Very satisfying.
ua-cam.com/video/m09W479sqhQ/v-deo.html
Top 10 full HD videos-
Number 1 :
Thanks for the reply and the info. This video reminds me a very popular programme on Discovery Channel called Seconds to Disaster, which I really enjoy watching.
Pantograph:Oh no I am on a test run
Train driver:Let's do an electrical experiment
Pantograph (during the test run) : Nope I am done.
I just saw this happen right before my eyes on a freight train in Amsterdam. The pickup was parking for about 100m, then exploded with a big bang - it literally split in two! But then, as you say here, there must been automatic system to protect the catenary, as the pantograph lowered itself and the brakes were whacked on and train stopped.
It could've been the driver noticed sparks at a time he was not expecting them (not crossing a block section insulator, no cold weather with freezing conditions that can make the overhead wires draw sparks between the pantograph like crazy).
Next to that, it would also have caused the voltage and amp-meter in his locomotive to start bouncing around, so he might have first wondered if the wiring system somewhere snapped for whatever reason (causing shorts, obviously, and as a result, massive voltage drops) but as soon as the driver noticed that it was his pantograph that was sparking and decided to immediately drop it.
I'm not sure about freight train locomotives, but I know that passenger trains can run without overhead wires present with lowered pantographs (some bridges that can be opened don't have overhead wiring present) without the emergency brake being applied immediately, but it could be that that's because the driver explicitly requests his train to not act on the loss of power, and since in the case of the freight train the driver was not expecting such a situation, the brakes went on.
Since I take it you were in Amsterdam Central Station, freight trains usually are not allowed to drive fast there, so they stop reasonably quickly as well (along with freight trains having to be shorter because of block-section safety requiring them to be so as to not occupy a full rail section and disrupt passenger train traffic, what makes up the most of the rail network here)
This is the literal definition of self destruct 😳
I don't think if I have ever seen such a destructive video. Great one.
I love how it just keeps on *not* ending
Some of them are, at least here in Denmark - they have an airfilled "tube" running under the carbon - and if the carbon gets either worn too thin or the carbon breaks/falls off, it will loose the air, and fold down..
damage?! That's plain damn destruction! LOL That thing was toasted.
middle of a pandemic and I find myself here, why am I not watching survival videos. all the pantographs in the world can't save me now!!
The driver was propably unaware of the damage, at 00.22 you can see the main breaker pop and after that the train goes in to emergency and stops. Regarding the location, someone said this looks like german catenary. Judging from the extremly short stop distance this was propably a very light train.
It appears to me that at each support pole, there are two brackets: one to support the 'support' wire, and one to support the actual powered line. The latter appears to have been broken at the pole, so was hanging off the power line.
Germany (which I think this video is from) uses a system that uses a wire that holds the conductor. It can look very complicated at big stations, and requires a different way of insulating different sections from each other to be capable of doing maintenance.
The support wires, especially on big stations tend to be strung between massive poles, with 1 horizontally straight wire and a wire above it in a curve, both connected to the big poles on either side of the track.
These wires are not running along the track, but over it at a 90 degree angle when seen from the top.
I think this was a test to check what would happen if the pantograph hits a piece of the support structure, or to test a new system that should make a pantograph snap in the way it does in the video, to see if it results in less damage than other types of failover states that pantographs have used.
The overhead wiring system in Germany by the way runs on 15kV at 16 2/3Hz, which is also why some of their installations differ from more ehm, regular AC setups.
the explosion was the circuit breaker tripping. the overhead wire was then snapped or pulled out of its support arms and fell down.
Don't know about you, but i find this suprisingly satisfying!
Amen to that
ez mekkora video!!! életemben nem láttam ilyet!! iszonyat! behalok !
now that it tore up the whole catenary system
Always fun when that happens!
Nice exploding sounds and bangs from the 15kV and the parts falling on the roof!
Lol, @ the end when he ripped the whole cable the train starts slowing down :P
Most pantographs use a high tension spring to keep them tight with the line as it raises and lowers, when the line loses tension the pantograph can shoot up and be ripped off by the catenery.
I've seen this happen to a 25kV system on out QR trains. The wire lost tension, the pantograph shot up, the shoe got ripped off and the arm was melted.
@linghun
Some railroads that operate electric equipment may have cars or locomotives with cameras on the roof to observe wire or pantograph conditions during inspections, or sometimes randomly recording data as it is in normal service.
Worst pantograph accident in youtube
This is only a test of pantograph damage than an 'accident' hens the camera and shear damage.
actually second to ua-cam.com/video/PPgtIDCyn4s/v-deo.html
@@AkomishTiddies True. That's crazy!
Europe(most likely), notice the semaphore signals in the video? Rest assured, there are non in America in electrified territory.
How does the pantograph damage even start?
rip pantagraph
At 22 seconds we can see the high voltage line touching the body of the train... causing a big short circuit with the earth !
Wow! Nice video!
@linghun Engineering often films the OCS side-to-side tracking to ensure even wear on pantograph carbon strips.
What I think the previous poster is saying is that a situation similar to this video unfolded in Norway recently. I have had this video for nearly two years.
Pantographs should be fitted with sensory devices which would automatically lower the pantograph should it found to be partially damaged since the onset of such incident. This would at least spare the wires from being brough down wrecked and tangled in a big mess. Nowadays, some modern would trolleybuses have their poles lowered automatically when a dewirement occurs.
it looked like the damage of the pantograph started when the pole was in front of the overhead wire
@tnakai1971jp
Every technical developed country does crash tests with nearly everything technical in our times.
Cars, railways, aircraft: everything is crash tested.
@serresjio Yes, Initial damage to the pantograph at 0:04 then it stated doing damage..
Wow. That did some damage!
*NOW THATS A LOTTA DAMAGE*
The cables went🔁⬆️↪️⬅️⤵️↔️➡️↕️⤴️↙️🔄↘️↗️🔃↖️⬇️
You are right, this has been an accident in the station of Aßling (Oberbayern) when the train drove in the direction Rosenheim - München.
"The fact that the pantograph didn't gave up , while he was crushed into peices!
The surprising thing is how resilient it is
You gotta admit though, it's pretty funny watching it get all beat to hell! LMAO!!
The poor guy, he was hurt but the overhead line just kept pummelling him until he was in pieces :(. RIP pantograph.
Damn that was funny! LOL Each thing it ran into, *plink* a little more broke up, until finally it just disintegrated! LOL
It happens because the pantograph's wiper hits something (a piece of metal or wood, that you can see in the begining of the movie, if you look carefully) stucked to the wires, that wasn't supposed to be there. That hit starts a process of destruction of the pantograph and the catenary As the train moves, the damaged pantograph continues to raise while its falling apart until one of its pieces stucks into the contact wires and eventually whipes out the catenary.
My understanding is that it was a routine inspection gone haywire.
May i know is this an experiment or a real incident caught on cam? One of the faulty span puller was in the way of the pantograph and caused the whole thing to come apart. Knowing what's happened, the engineer should have applied emergency break. Look at the damages done to the tensioned catenary, which could disrupt the rail service for hours.
00:04-Oh shit
00:09-There goes another piece...
00:13-Ok it's fucked
00:19-Now it's really destroyed
00:22-Ok it's at the point of no return
00:25-Lazy bitch falling down
Umadbrah?
0:25 It's no good I can't do this any more.
This was a test. If u look at the first thing it strikes its a support beam sticking way out into the path of the pantograph. Funny how that man appears at the end.
It looks like the antenna of the phone booth from Bill and Ted's excellent adventure
What a good spot on camera for this cause damage headline of train!!!
@linghun For test runs they do, but by the way the wires are shaking, I can conclude it's simulated.
@megatwingo
What I mean is, Japan is not famous for conducting tests on operational lines. Many destructive tests are conducted in indoor facilities, including those involving traction ans suspension systems.
For high speed suspension stability tests, for example, they have a stretch of track-like conveyor which is like a tread mill for a railway carriage. Japan is a small country and the space is scare, but not that scarce. In northern parts of Japan, there are many, many vast unused plots.
I was looking for the tool that you use to articulate a router with? But this will do…
Been there and done it. I managed to rip down 4 miles worth AFTER the ADD had operated.
pordios! Es... IMPRESIONANTE _sin palabras_
@alectricfoxx thanks,that makes more sense now. :)
Oh hi, im just randomly watching this video 13 years later because youtube thought it fitted in my recommendations. *somehow*
@tnakai1971jp
It´s a test.
Therefore the camera is filming the pantograph.
Otherwise there wouldn´t be a camera at this place, right?
It´s a controlled crash-test to analyze, what can happen, if a foreign object is hitting the pantograph.
oh, that is a very danger...
That caused damage to the line and caused a lot of delays
Woah...
Can I use this video in my train compilation video credit to you in video will be given
Holy Shit!
@megatwingo
I see. May be we should conduct similar tests in Japan, too.
That's a lot of damage, damn.
Rocroi1643. No item was placed on the wires, it was in fact a failure of the carbon strip on top of the pantograph. Because the Pantograph is under pressure to keep it against the overhead wires, more damage is caused as it rises causing the damage you can see.
Belive it or not this is quite common. Here in Sweden (8,5million people, 13.000km rail network) I assume based on news reporting this happens once or twice a month. It's usually no big deal, traffic get shut down, repair crews are called out and they fix it in couple of hours -> 24h depending on damage. Traffic is routed on alternative lines or replaced by bus meanwhile. As for real 3rd world countries these are generally run with diesel power and hence don't get catenary accidents.
"Um... okay that just broke."
LOL
That railway's overhead lines are poorly maintained...
Pan head assembly vs. obstruction, pan head lost.
@ Geeves8612: If i pause the video at 0:04, I definitely see something in the overhead wires that isn't supposed to be there.
oops sumthing was wrong
that was wire-supporting rod, whose one end detached from main wire-supporting pole, and the other end was still at wire (0:04) so this is not because pantograph - its because of damaged contact net
Oh, my gard!
Nice job!...
JR West:Damn it
JR西日本が怒ってるの初めて見た。😮👀
Checkbook open! We're working tonight!
billythewolf 932eh
billythewolf
Oddly satisfying.
Supervia in a Nutshell
I think it was a demonstration. Look at the other video from billythewolf. Here, there is no system, which gets down the panto after an object on the wire. There is plenty of damage both on the panto and the wire. On the other video, there is only minor damage, because the panto goes down at once.
Mega;)
Perfect
That thing is WRECKED!!! even the wires were cut
how did this happen?
i mean.. the pantograph(the thing on top of an electric train) isnt suppost to do that..
what there somethign with the pylons? or what is placed to high?
or the wires.. they look very weak they almost hang.. =|
@tnakai1971jp
I bet, those kind of tests are done with pantographs around the world.
THAT'S A LOTTA DAMAGE!!!!!!!!!! But with Flex Tape,You can fix it Easily and holds on tight. PLUS: It even works under water!
Ouch my lifesorse
@linghun - Track and overhead recording car. Essential item of maintenance plant for any serious electrified railway system.
Hi there, I am writing from a TV production company based in the UK. We are interested in licensing this footage from you - do you have any higher quality footage that we might be able to license from you? Many thanks, Angela
how??why?
oh my God....that's horrible freak accident for the train.