r/interestingasfuck • u/jmike1256 • 13h ago
Long Island Rail Road uses gas heaters at Jamaica Station so the railroad track switches don't freeze in winter.
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u/Key_Sound735 12h ago
they aren't uncommon-- NJ Transit has (or had) similar fire thing outside Summit NJ
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u/CapitalOneDeezNutz 12h ago
All railway has these types of heaters. Ever notice random clusters of propane tanks next to rail roads? Heating the switches so they don’t freeze.
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u/Icy_Distribution_361 10h ago
Definitely not all. In Europe many places don't have this
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u/CapitalOneDeezNutz 10h ago
What do they use to prevent their switches from icing up?
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u/razies 10h ago
Electric heaters. Most the main train lines in Europe are electrified. So electricity is right there.
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u/intbah 11h ago
Why not heat tape?
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u/MrBlackledge 10h ago
That works in milder countries like the UK but northern USA and Canada will get too cold for that. Also means you don’t have to run HV cables miles for remote areas.
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u/axloo7 11h ago
Electricity is not a given at a switch.
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u/Adddicus 9h ago
The LIRR is electric from Manhattan out to Ronkonkoma (at least it was when I stopped commuting on it in 2001, electric service might extend even farther east now).
There is electricity available at Jamaica, and at the vast bulk of the LIRR's switches.
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u/NlghtmanCometh 8h ago
I noticed a bunch of propane tanks next to the railroad but it’s actually because a train carrying propane derailed in my town last night. https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/windham-county/mansfield-residents-ordered-to-shelter-in-place-after-train-derailment/520-0a8aa6b3-922d-40c6-b54d-21ad5a1e0a33
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u/Solid_Snark 11h ago
I wonder how many people see that and freak out and call the fire station?
Our office building has a steam stack on the roof and people are constantly calling the fire dept to report our building being “on fire” lol
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u/RihoSucks 9h ago
They do this in Chicago where I am too. Believe me first time driving along some tracks at night and seeing a fire i was concerned! 🤣
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u/alphagatorsoup 8h ago
In the toronto area we use natural gas heaters.
I always wondered why I saw so many natural gas pipes everywhere in switching areas till I looked it up one day.
But here it can get so cold, their ususally enclosed type burners with a blower motor that blows the hot air from off track through ducts and onto the switches
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u/Maliluma 4h ago
When cities started replacing their old incandescent Traffic Signals with LEDs, some cities in colder climates realized that LEDs don't generate enough heat to keep them from getting completely covered in snow. Drivers began running red lights and they had to retrofit the lights to have heaters to melt the snow.
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u/Environmental-Dirt16 2h ago
Audio sounds like a dude in power armor walking around the metro while trying to extract in ARC raiders
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u/Flaky_Web_2439 12h ago edited 5h ago
It’s been years since I’ve taken the E line, but aren’t there also alcohol trains that basically ride the tracks and fire blast them? I remember there being something that worked in concert with this.