Kevin Chiu » new york

650 Volts

Kevin Chiu — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:30:19 +0000

While catching a 3 am subway from Manhattan to Flushing today, I got caught up in a technical discussion with one of the railway workers about how the trains actually work. We talked for about an hour before the A train came (which connects to the 7 train to Flushing.)

The takeaway:

There are three rails.
The two uncovered rails are ground.
The rail with the wooden cover is high voltage: 650 volts. It’s called the Third Rail.
The train uses an electrical contact called the Shoe to connect to the Third Rail.
Trains wear the rails and produce rail dust, which can easily create a path to ground from nearly any object. So don’t even get near the Third Rail.

Bye bye apartment

Kevin Chiu — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:27:21 +0000

Handing back the keys on Tuesday.

Ramen

Kevin Chiu — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:31:30 +0000

Apparently there are some good ramen places in the East Village. I’ll have to check them out some time.

Ramen Setagaya [East Village]
141 First Avenue (between E. Ninth Street and St. Marks Place), Manhattan
212-529-2740

update: There were so many good food places around here that I had to start a wiki: http://eastvillagefood.pbwiki.com

New York

Kevin Chiu — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:27:00 +0000

I’ll be arriving in New York on the 13th. So much for avoiding air pollution.