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MTA track worker killed on "A" line in Queens after hitting '3rd rail' by accident.


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Here story on (MTA)worker at a hosptial in Queens after hitting 3rd rail.

 

Transit Worker Falls On

Subway Tracks

Expect Delays On 'A' Line

Updated: Tuesday, 18 Aug 2009, 11:17 AM EDT

Published : Tuesday, 18 Aug 2009

 

Kathy Carvajal Fox5 website reporter

 

 

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A transit worker is in critical condition after falling off the platform at the Rockaway Boulevard Station and onto the tracks.

 

Fire department officials say the man hit the electrified rail known as the 'third rail.'

 

The worker was rushed to Jamaica Hospital.

 

The MTA website is reporting delays on all A trains.

 

SkyFoxHD is headed to the scene.

 

MyFoxNY.com is updating this story and will have a report starting today 5pm.

 

 

(A)train service is suspended in that area. Riders can go to the MTA website also at http://WWW.MTA.Info for updated travel information.

 

c)2009 WYNW-TV Fox-5.

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Hoping that this guy survives.

 

Me being in OSHA training, having 3rd rails well marked is something that I think needs to be looked at by all agencies. Yes there are some that have the rail better marked than others, but the rail covering should have some form of reflective or very noticeable markings on it.

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What it needs is to be covered up better. The only part that needs to be exposed is the top of it, from the side the contact shoe comes from. The back of it should be covered (they do have it covered in some places where there are tight squeezes), and the front side of it (below where the contact shoe goes) also.

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Being it clearly states he fell, I doubt color of the rail would have mattered. One thing that WOULD help would be the contact shoe/rail arrangement. NYC Subways use a 'hot shoe' pickup riding on the 3rd rail's top surface. Somewhere, I can't remember, possibly LIRR, uses a shoe that rides the bottom of the 3rd rail which would allows better fitment of safety guards, plus reduces snow/ice build up problems with the pickup being forced up, off the rail by packed ice, then stalling equipment. I remember a few guys mention some have been hit with the 3rd rail current & live.. But Just a few..

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Being it clearly states he fell, I doubt color of the rail would have mattered. One thing that WOULD help would be the contact shoe/rail arrangement. NYC Subways use a 'hot shoe' pickup riding on the 3rd rail's top surface. Somewhere, I can't remember, possibly LIRR, uses a shoe that rides the bottom of the 3rd rail which would allows better fitment of safety guards, plus reduces snow/ice build up problems with the pickup being forced up, off the rail by packed ice, then stalling equipment. I remember a few guys mention some have been hit with the 3rd rail current & live.. But Just a few..

 

It's actually Metro-North.

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There was two of these I heard about someone surviving the 3rd rail. A woman transit worker touch it in Chicago and she's perminatly deaf. Another man came into contact with the 3rd rail and now he's mentally retarded. The most weirdest story was the urban legend of a man in Carroll Street who got electrocuted by urinating on the 3rd Rail. Fried hot dog anyone?

 

People can survive a light strike of 3rd Rail. In Philly, worker actually walk on it since they use bottom contact 3rd Rail. Now try putting you hand just a few inches near catenary, you'll die. Even with 3k Volts of catenary. I would be impossible to survive 25k Volts.

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In Philly, worker actually walk on it since they use bottom contact 3rd Rail.

 

Anyone can walk on a third rail - birds and squirrels do it all the time. The trick is to get both feet on the rail while not touching anything else that will give the electricity a path to ground. It's that grounding that causes all the problems.

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As posted previously it is "completing the circuit" that can kill you. If you don't close the circuit even though the third rail is charged you'll be fine but give it somewhere to go and that's no good for you especially if the "path" you create is across your arms or anywhere the electricity goes near your heart...

 

Anyone can walk on a third rail - birds and squirrels do it all the time. The trick is to get both feet on the rail while not touching anything else that will give the electricity a path to ground. It's that grounding that causes all the problems.

 

...would make for an interesting "balance beam" for the cirque de soleil if they ever wanted to...

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Anyone can walk on a third rail - birds and squirrels do it all the time. The trick is to get both feet on the rail while not touching anything else that will give the electricity a path to ground. It's that grounding that causes all the problems.

 

I told this to an alum at my old school and he laughed at me. I didn't care because he doesn't know jack about the trains except for tagging them with his so-called artwork as he calls it. I know pretty much about the whole system and its ups and downs so I let it slide...I wonder who'll be laughing after he gets his arms and legs amputated.

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As posted previously it is "completing the circuit" that can kill you. If you don't close the circuit even though the third rail is charged you'll be fine but give it somewhere to go and that's no good for you especially if the "path" you create is across your arms or anywhere the electricity goes near your heart...

 

 

 

...would make for an interesting "balance beam" for the cirque de soleil if they ever wanted to...

 

Wee Wee.........

 

Yeah service on the A was jacked up today. Unfortunately, that person did pass away. Feel sorry for that worker and his family members.

 

I do to. Sad thing is when you work near those things, there is always a chance. As Eric B said, they do need a better near full body shield around that thing. Only part that should be exposed is part of the front so the shoe can touch the turd rail........

 

Anyone can walk on a third rail - birds and squirrels do it all the time. The trick is to get both feet on the rail while not touching anything else that will give the electricity a path to ground. It's that grounding that causes all the problems.

 

 

Have you tried it. If not I want to visit you in schoolcar, and you show me the trick. Wait your good peps. Only if some in the A Div crew office could do that trick for me..........

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What a shame.

 

Indeed, it's a real shame. They should create a safety barrier to prevent contact with the third rail because the top cover doesn't always help. But it goes to show that no matter what, workers should use safety precautions at all times.

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Indeed, it's a real shame. They should create a safety barrier to prevent contact with the third rail because the top cover doesn't always help. But it goes to show that no matter what, workers should use safety precautions at all times.

 

HE WAS NOT ELECTROCUTED. He had a heart attack while he was working on the tracks. And We do take safety precautions everyday. We absolutely understand how dangerous our jobs are.

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He did not fall off the platform and get electrocuted. He was performing his job on the tracks just south of Rockaway Blvd when he succumbed to a massive heart attack.

 

R.I.P Scotty

 

I am the one who began the post. The news reports had it he died from hitting the third rail. The first report at around 12noon had it he hit the 3rd rail and nothing about a heart attack.

 

Now the revised version of story had him die of the heart attack.

 

I forgot Fox 5 is also owned by same guy(Rupert Mudrock)who also owns the NYpost and not great in being realible in stories. Stories by then need to always double checked.

 

Sorry guys if this story is misleading. Anyhow my smpanthy to the track workers family and friends.:cry:

 

Source. http://WWW.MYFOXNY.COM

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Indeed, it's a real shame. They should create a safety barrier to prevent contact with the third rail because the top cover doesn't always help. But it goes to show that no matter what, workers should use safety precautions at all times.

 

Nevermind contact with the third rail. You don't even have to touch it for all hell to break loose. I have a co-worker, a mechanic, who was a track worker a few years back, and he was a newbie at the time. He was holding a wrench, I believe, and he drew an arc from the third rail somehow, and he was zapped. He showed me his entry and exit wounds. Left hand entry, right leg exit. He told me he was in the hospital for several months recovering.

 

Keep in mind that the third rail uses 625 VDC = volts of DIRECT CURRENT. Standard transmission and distribution voltages brought to your house are in alternating current. Without getting too technical, AC delivers an electric charge that reverses movement so many times per second. Direct current delivers a steady stream of current without reverse movement. In other words... that third rail ain't lettin' up on you at all!

 

And Alex L. is absolutely right about grounding. You can actually hang from a utility line, provided that no part of you or your clothing or anything is touching anything else. Walking on a third rail is the same concept. Anyone who actually goes out and tries that is an idiot who deserves their fate, but it's possible to do it and escape unscathed.

 

Remember when dealing with electricity: Don't touch it, don't touch anything touching it and don't even go near it.

 

Regardless of how he passed, may that worker rest in peace. My thoughts go to him, his family and all track workers who have lost another brother.

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Nevermind contact with the third rail. You don't even have to touch it for all hell to break loose. I have a co-worker, a mechanic, who was a track worker a few years back, and he was a newbie at the time. He was holding a wrench, I believe, and he drew an arc from the third rail somehow, and he was zapped. He showed me his entry and exit wounds. Left hand entry, right leg exit. He told me he was in the hospital for several months recovering.

 

Keep in mind that the third rail uses 625 VDC = volts of DIRECT CURRENT. Standard transmission and distribution voltages brought to your house are in alternating current. Without getting too technical, AC delivers an electric charge that reverses movement so many times per second. Direct current delivers a steady stream of current without reverse movement. In other words... that third rail ain't lettin' up on you at all!

 

And Alex L. is absolutely right about grounding. You can actually hang from a utility line, provided that no part of you or your clothing or anything is touching anything else. Walking on a third rail is the same concept. Anyone who actually goes out and tries that is an idiot who deserves their fate, but it's possible to do it and escape unscathed.

 

Remember when dealing with electricity: Don't touch it, don't touch anything touching it and don't even go near it.

 

Regardless of how he passed, may that worker rest in peace. My thoughts go to him, his family and all track workers who have lost another brother.

 

Great explaination of the 3rd rail that most people should understand.

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Great explaination of the 3rd rail that most people should understand.

 

Thanks. I used to work around energized lines quite a bit, so I know a little bit about electricity.

 

Put it this way:

 

A third rail delivers enough juice to move close to a million pounds of equipment and people at speeds approaching 60 mph. Imagine what that could do to your face.

:cry:

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RIP, no matter how it happened. Someone losing their life on the job is always a tragic occurrence. Condolences to his family and loved ones.

 

Whjat Rugers Tube means by AC letting you go vs DC not letting you go has to do with how the electricity goes. When there is current going through you AT ALL it forces you muscles to contract and you grab onto whatever is electrocuting you. You don't do it on purpose its just reflex and the electricity causes it and then you can't let go. Because AC isn't constant, it will let you go every so often. DC WILL NOT.

 

This is why if you ever have to throw a circuit breaker or a knife switch you will get told to push it in with a fist, NOT to "grab the handle" because if you grab the handle and get a shock you're not going to be able to let go of what's electrocuting you.

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Wow, that's very sad. :):cry:

 

Bottom contact 3rd rail is nearly impossible to cover, hence why it is quite rare, and only on the older systems. Top contact you can cover on 3 sides (one being the bottom that sits on insulators). On PATH and parts of the NYP yards they have 2 sided guards that block the side and the top in one piece. I think this type should be standardized for use in the LIRR and (NYCT) systems.

 

I also think there should be less space between the top and the shoe.

 

- A

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This is why if you ever have to throw a circuit breaker or a knife switch you will get told to push it in with a fist, NOT to "grab the handle" because if you grab the handle and get a shock you're not going to be able to let go of what's electrocuting you.

 

 

Great reference point. I had forgotten about that. Thanks! :tup:

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