this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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Even better than a cart of apples (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Those are things that regulate the tension in the overhead cables on train tracks. With the variation of temperature cables tend to contract/expand and this systems allows the cables to do so freely with a constant tension provided by the weights.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago (2 children)

These are so simple and yet so clever. When i noticed them the first time i started noticing them everywhere (on all rail infrastructure).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I as well. Seattle transit, NEC Amtrak and NJ transit live off of these. If these systems work for them, they'll work for us all

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Is it simple? It looks quite complicated, but maybe that's just me forgetting how to compute forces.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

simple in that it's just a clever series of wires and pulleys, not some sort of digital adjustment device, i suppose

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Also, you are looking at a few different wires at once here. Each separate wire is tensioned with a mechanism with a few moving parts.