Dynamic-model studies of overhead equipment for electric railway traction. Part 1: Simple catenary equipment

Model studies of overhead equipment for railway electrification at 25kV a.c. were initiated a few years ago because of the shortage of accurate performance data, owing to the difficulties of conducting full-scale or theoretical investigations. The model technique has been applied to simple catenary equipment, in order to identify the exact mechanism of breakdown of current collection. Suitable instrumentation for this purpose has been developed, comprising primarily a photographic method of recording pantograph movements. The results provide a standard of comparison for future attempts to improve the performance of simple overhead equipment.