Track Circuit - Track Circuit Clips

Track Circuit Clips

A simple piece of safety equipment that can be carried by trains is a track-circuit clip. This is simply a length of wire connecting two metal spring clips that will clip onto a rail. In case of accident or obstruction a clip applied to a track will indicate that that track is occupied, therefore putting signals to danger. As an example of use, if a train is derailed on a double track, and is foul of the second track, application of a clip to the second track will immediately return signals protecting the second track to danger. This procedure is a much more effective safety measure than attempting to contact a signalling centre by telephone because its effect is immediate and automatic.

Read more about this topic:  Track Circuit

Famous quotes containing the words track and/or circuit:

    I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say—I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.
    Harriet Tubman (1821–1913)

    each new victim treads unfalteringly
    The never altered circuit of his fate,
    Bringing twelve peers as witness
    Both to his starry rise and starry fall.
    Robert Graves (1895–1985)