1.
Toshiba
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Toshiba Corporation, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Toshiba was founded in 1938 as Tokyo Shibaura Electric K. K. through the merger of Shibaura Seisaku-sho, the company name was officially changed to Toshiba Corporation in 1978. Toshiba is organized into four groupings, the Digital Products Group, the Electronic Devices Group, the Home Appliances Group and the Social Infrastructure Group. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices, the Osaka Securities Exchange, Toshiba is the seventh largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world. Toshiba was founded in 1939 by the merger of Shibaura Seisakusho, Shibaura Seisakusho had been founded as Tanaka Seisakusho by Tanaka Hisashige in July 1875 as Japans first manufacturer of telegraph equipment. In 1904, it was renamed Shibaura Seisakusho, Tokyo Denki was founded as Hakunetsusha in 1890 and had been Japans first producer of incandescent electric lamps. It later diversified into the manufacture of consumer products and in 1899 had been renamed Tokyo Denki. The merger of Shibaura and Tokyo Denki created a new company called Tokyo Shibaura Denki and it was soon nicknamed Toshiba, but it was not until 1978 that the company was officially renamed Toshiba Corporation. The group expanded rapidly, driven by a combination of growth and by acquisitions, buying heavy engineering. In 1977, Toshiba acquired the Brazilian company Semp, subsequently forming Semp Toshiba through the combination of the two companies South American operations, the Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal involved a subsidiary of Toshiba and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania said What Toshiba and Kongsberg did was ransom the security of the United States for $517 million, the contract ended in 2008, ending seven years of OEM production with Orion. In December 2004, Toshiba quietly announced it would discontinue manufacturing traditional in-house cathode ray tube televisions, in 2006, Toshiba terminated production of in-house plasma TVs. To ensure its competitiveness in the flat-panel digital television and display market. Before World War II, Toshiba was a member of the Mitsui Group zaibatsu, today Toshiba is a member of the Mitsui keiretsu, and still has preferential arrangements with Mitsui Bank and the other members of the keiretsu. Membership in a keiretsu has traditionally meant loyalty, both corporate and private, to members of the keiretsu or allied keiretsu. This loyalty can extend as far as the beer the employees consume, in July 2005, BNFL confirmed it planned to sell Westinghouse Electric Company, then estimated to be worth $1.8 billion. In late 2007, Toshiba took over from Discover Card as the sponsor of the top-most screen of One Times Square in New York City and it displays the iconic 60-second New Years countdown on its screen, as well as messages, greetings, and advertisements for the company. In January 2009, Toshiba acquired the HDD business of Fujitsu, Toshiba announced on 16 May 2011, that it had agreed to acquire all of the shares of the Swiss-based advanced-power-meter maker Landis+Gyr for $2.3 billion
2.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
3.
Railway electrification system
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A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure, selection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply, maintenance, and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic. Different systems are used for urban and intercity areas, some electric locomotives can switch to different supply voltages to allow flexibility in operation, Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network, some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own lines, switches and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track usually takes one of two forms. The first is a line or catenary wire suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Locomotives or multiple units pick up power from the wire with pantographs on their roofs that press a conductive strip against it with a spring or air pressure. Examples are described later in this article, the second is a third rail mounted at track level and contacted by a sliding pickup shoe. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the rails as the return conductor. In comparison to the alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions. Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and they have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service, the limited clearances available under catenaries may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Possible lethal electric current due to risk of contact with high-voltage contact wires, overhead wires are safer than third rails, but they are often considered unsightly. These are independent of the system used, so that. The permissible range of voltages allowed for the voltages is as stated in standards BS EN50163. These take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation, railways must operate at variable speeds. Until the mid 1980s this was only practical with the brush-type DC motor, since such conversion was not well developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, most early electrified railways used DC and many still do, particularly rapid transit and trams
4.
Overhead line
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An overhead line or overhead wire is used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses, or trains. Overhead line is designed on the principle of one or more overhead wires situated over rail tracks, the feeder stations are usually fed from a high-voltage electrical grid. Electric trains that collect their current from overhead lines use a device such as a pantograph and it presses against the underside of the lowest overhead wire, the contact wire. Current collectors are electrically conductive and allow current to flow through to the train or tram, non-electric locomotives may pass along these tracks without affecting the overhead line, although there may be difficulties with overhead clearance. Alternative electrical power transmission schemes for trains include third rail, ground-level power supply, batteries and this article does not cover regenerative braking, where the traction motors act as generators to retard movement and return power to the overhead. To achieve good high-speed current collection, it is necessary to keep the wire geometry within defined limits. This is usually achieved by supporting the wire from a second wire known as the messenger wire or catenary. This wire approximates the path of a wire strung between two points, a catenary curve, thus the use of catenary to describe this wire or sometimes the whole system. This wire is attached to the wire at regular intervals by vertical wires known as droppers or drop wires. It is supported regularly at structures, by a pulley, link, the whole system is then subjected to a mechanical tension. As the contact wire makes contact with the pantograph, the insert on top of the pantograph is worn down. The straight wire between supports will cause the wire to cross over the whole surface of the pantograph as the train travels around the curve, causing uniform wear. On straight track, the wire is zigzagged slightly to the left. The movement of the wire across the head of the pantograph is called the sweep. The zigzagging of the line is not required for trolley poles. Depot areas tend to have only a wire and are known as simple equipment or trolley wire. When overhead line systems were first conceived, good current collection was only at low speeds. Compound equipment - uses a second wire, known as the auxiliary
5.
Current collector
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Those for overhead wires are roof-mounted devices, those for third rails are mounted on the bogies. Typically, they have one or more spring-loaded arms that permit the working engagement with the rail or overhead wire, the collector arm pushes the contact shoe against the contact wire or rail. As the vehicle moves, the 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, an insulated cable connects the collector with the switch, transformer or motor. The steel rails of the act as the electrical return. Electric vehicles that collect their current from an overhead line system use different forms of one- or two-arm pantograph collectors, the current collection device presses against the underside of the lowest wire of an overhead line system, which is called a contact wire. Most overhead supply systems are either DC or single phase AC, three phase AC systems use a pair of overhead wires, and paired trolley poles. Electric railways with third rails, or fourth rails, in tunnels carry collector shoes projecting laterally, or vertically, the contact shoe may slide on top of the third rail, on the bottom or on the side. The side running contact shoe is used against the bars on rubber-tired metros. A vertical contact shoe is used on power supply systems, stud contact systems. A pair of shoes was used on underground current collection systems. The contact shoe on a contact system is called a ski collector. The ski collector moves vertically to accommodate variations in the height of the studs. Contact shoes may also be used on overhead conductor rails, on bars or on trolley wires. Most railways use three rails, while the London Underground uses four rails
6.
Pantograph (transport)
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A pantograph is an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train, tram or electric bus to collect power through contact with an overhead catenary wire. It is a type of current collector. Typically, a wire is used, with the return current running through the track. The term stems from the resemblance of some styles to the mechanical pantographs used for copying handwriting, the pantograph was invented in 1879 by Walter Reichel, chief engineer at Siemens & Halske in Germany. A flat slide-pantograph was invented in 1895 at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The familiar diamond-shaped roller pantograph was invented by John Q. Brown of the Key System shops for their commuter trains ran between San Francisco and the East Bay section of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. They appear in photographs of the first day of service,26 October 1903, for many decades thereafter, the same diamond shape was used by electric-rail systems around the world and remains in use by some today. The most common type of today is the so-called half-pantograph. Louis Faiveley invented this type of pantograph in 1955, the half-pantograph can be seen in use on everything from very fast trains to low-speed urban tram systems. The electric transmission system for electric rail systems consists of an upper. The pantograph is spring-loaded and pushes a contact shoe up against the underside of the wire to draw the current needed to run the train. The steel rails of the act as the electrical return. As the train moves, the shoe slides along the wire and can set up standing waves in the wires which break the contact. This means that on some systems adjacent pantographs are not permitted, pantographs are the successor technology to trolley poles, which were widely used on early streetcar systems. However, many of these networks, including Torontos, are undergoing upgrades to accommodate pantograph operation, as a precaution against loss of pressure in the second case, the arm is held in the down position by a catch. For high-voltage systems, the air supply is used to blow out the electric arc when roof-mounted circuit breakers are used. Pantographs may have either a single or a double arm, double-arm pantographs are usually heavier, requiring more power to raise and lower, but may also be more fault-tolerant. On railways of the former USSR, the most widely used pantographs are those with a double arm, some streetcars use double-arm pantographs, among them the Russian KTM-5, KTM-8, LVS-86 and many other Russian-made trams, as well as some Euro-PCC trams in Belgium
7.
Electric locomotive
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An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or fuel cell. Electricity is used to smoke and take advantage of the high efficiency of electric motors. One advantage of electrification is the lack of pollution from the locomotives, electrification results in higher performance, lower maintenance costs and lower energy costs. Power plants, even if they burn fossil fuels, are far cleaner than mobile sources such as locomotive engines, the power can come from clean or renewable sources, including geothermal power, hydroelectric power, nuclear power, solar power and wind turbines. Electric locomotives are quiet compared to locomotives since there is no engine and exhaust noise. The lack of reciprocating parts means electric locomotives are easier on the track, Electric locomotives are ideal for commuter rail service with frequent stops. They are used on high-speed lines, such as ICE in Germany, Acela in the U. S. Shinkansen in Japan, China Railway High-speed in China, Electric locomotives are used on freight routes with consistently high traffic volumes, or in areas with advanced rail networks. Electric locomotives benefit from the efficiency of electric motors, often above 90%. Additional efficiency can be gained from regenerative braking, which allows energy to be recovered during braking to put power back on the line. Newer electric locomotives use AC motor-inverter drive systems provide for regenerative braking. The chief disadvantage of electrification is the cost for infrastructure, overhead lines or third rail, substations, public policy in the U. S. interferes with electrification, higher property taxes are imposed on privately owned rail facilities if they are electrified. In Europe and elsewhere, railway networks are considered part of the transport infrastructure, just like roads, highways and waterways. Operators of the rolling stock pay fees according to rail use and this makes possible the large investments required for the technically and, in the long-term, also economically advantageous electrification. Because railroad infrastructure is owned in the U. S. railroads are unwilling to make the necessary investments for electrification. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen and it was powered by galvanic cells. Davidson later built a locomotive named Galvani, exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors, with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a cylinder on each axle. It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour for a distance of one and it was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use
