An electrical problem developed in the trolley wire system at our Museum about two weeks ago. There was a 50-60 amp draw on our 600 volt
DC rectifier without any cars on the line. This means that there was a ground problem somewhere on the line that was drawing power.

We tried all of the obvious easy solutions, the equivalent of ctrl-alt-del keys for trolleys, and nothing was found. The expert volunteers came up with all sorts of ways to find the source of the problem.

Then our stalwart car shop leader realized that if he turned on the T-switch in his hearing aids, he could hear the hum created by the magnetic field from the current in the trolley wire. So he started walking along the track and
found the problem for us with his ears without resorting to use of ladders, volt meters and other such things.

The cause? A problem with a five-bulb cluster out on the railway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wesley


National Capital Trolley Museum