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Yai | 16:59 Thu 24th Jul 2003 | How it Works
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How are trains powered ? Are the actual rail tracks electric, and the train gets the electricity up through the metal wheels ?
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Electric trains either have overhead power cables (eg Bedford to London Farringdon) or there is a third track which is live (London Farringdon to Brighton). In the first case there is a conductor (not a member of the railway staff) on the roof of the carriage which makes the circuit in the latter, there is a conductor at wheel level which makes the circuit. In both cases they ultimately earth through the normal track via the metal wheels. Diesel trains are powered by diesel engines.
Then of course, you have Diesel Electric trains, in which the diesel engine drives a generator that supplies electicity for the motors. Before that you had steam trains and even before that the first railways were horse drawn. When there was a penal colony in Australia, Tasmania even had a convict powered railway!
So Deano, I was pretty close to being right?
apart from funicular railways where the train is pulled by a cable.. there's one in Wales [Snowdon]
...then there is the wedding train which is pulled by the bride....
Not quite right Answerbok - the Snowdon Mountain Railway is powered by a rack and pinion system where a gear on the loco engages with a rack in the middle of the track. Interestingly, the locos are not connected to the carriages! It's well worth a visit, as is the nearby Dinorwig "Electric Mountain".
and the train of thought, which can go in several directions at once or get hijacked by serendipityl and lost 4ever.

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