This week saw the first runs of locomotive hauled Snow & Ice Treatment Trains (SITT) in Dorset along the South West Mainline to Weymouth. Passenger trains along this route from London Waterloo draw their power from a conductor rail, commonly known as the Third Rail as it is positioned alongside the standard railway track. If ice forms on the surface of the conductor rail, the flow of electricity is interrupted and trains are unable to draw power to move. To combat this, Network Rail has a fleet of treatment trains which scrape the ice off the conductor rail using metal brushes and spraying thousands of litres of anti-icing fluid to prevent the formation of ice.