Regenerative Braking System

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 25mm · f/8.0 · 3s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Steel and copper wires of a regenerative braking system lie silent inside the Eveleigh Paint Shop. This complex machinery, part of the historic railway workshops, now stands in decay.

Edition

Open edition

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Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

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A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

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Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 10 to 20 business days (framed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Regenerative Braking System
Series: Eveleigh Paint Shop
Catalogue: EPS-016
Process: Giclée
Captured: 14 March 2016
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 3s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 25 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Eveleigh, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Eveleigh, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

A regenerative braking system on one of the heritage power cars at the Eveleigh Paint Shop is housed in a steel-framed equipment bay along the underside of the carriage. The bay contains a bank of resistors, a set of contactor switches, and the control gear that switches the traction motors between the drive and the regeneration configurations. The resistor bank is the most visible element from the outside: a stack of finned ceramic resistors mounted in a louvred steel cabinet, sized to dissipate the braking energy when the line will not accept the regenerated current. Cabling runs from the bay to the traction motors below and to the high-voltage circuits above the roof. Inspection plates carry the diagram of the circuit etched into the steel.

Regenerative braking on NSW Government Railways electric stock allowed the traction motors to be used in reverse during deceleration, generating current that was returned to the overhead supply when the line could absorb it. The system saved energy compared to friction-only braking and reduced wear on the brake shoes. When the overhead supply could not accept the regenerated current (because no other train was drawing power from the same section), the energy was dumped into the resistor bank as heat. The system in this photograph is the equipment as fitted to the original carriage. It is intact but not connected to working power.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A heavy steel enclosure sits open, its wing-bolt latches unfastened. Inside, a red-painted backing panel carries rows of contactors, relays and fuse cartridges wired in dense parallel runs. Braided cables loop between terminals. Ceramic insulators separate the circuits. Dust coats every surface, but the wiring remains intact, each connection still bolted tight. The floor beneath is dark with decades of grease and grit.

Brett Patman

The series

Eveleigh Paint Shop

2016 · 49 photographs

George Cowdery worked on the Britannia Bridge with Robert Stephenson in 1847. John Whitton, Engineer-in-Chief for NSW Railways, brought him to NSW in 1863, where he supervised the colony's first railway tunnels at Picton and Mittagong. The brick main wing of the Paint Shop was completed in 1887, eight rail roads under a sawtooth south-light roof.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.