Current collector

Chicago Transit Authority third rail contact shoe of Chicago 'L' car.

Modern one arm “pantograph” collector with double collector shoes

Collector (contact) shoe for a top contact third rail

Trolleybuses with trolley collectors

Three phase bow current collector (Siemens experimental railcar, Berlin, Germany, 1903)

Third rail shoe installed on the front truck of an RTL-II car for operation into New York Penn Station.

Electric current collectors are used for trolleybuses, trams, electric locomotives or EMUs to lead electrical power from overhead lines or electrical third rails to the electrical equipment of the vehicles.

Typically, they have one or more spring-loaded arms that permits the working engagement with the rail or overhead wire and a collector or contact shoe in running engagement with the wire or rail. The collector arms pushes the contact shoe against the contact wire or rail. As the vehicle moves, the contact shoe slides along the wire or rail to draw the electricity needed to run the vehicles motor. The current collector arms are electrically conductive but mounted insulated on the vehicles roof, side or base. A samewise insulated cable connects the collector with the switch, transformer or motor. The steel rails of the tracks act as the electrical return.

Electric vehicles that collect their current from overhead line system use different forms of one- or two-arm pantograph collectors, bow collectors, or trolley poles. The current collection device presses against the underside of the lowest wire of an overhead line system, which is called a contact wire.

Contact shoe

Electric railways with third rails in tunnels carry collector shoes projecting laterally (sideways) from their bogies. A contact shoe is also used on ground-level power supply systems and stud contact systems. A pair of contact shoes was used on underground current collection systems.

See also

• Ski collector

References