Electronic – How do the streetcars in Toronto draw power from the lines

automotivepower

I've tried googling this but to no avail. I've been trying to figure out how streetcars can draw power from a short circuit.

For reference:

_{(source: roadstories.ca)}

If I imagine the power lines simplified as a shorted battery like so

and we assume the streetcar acts like a resistor like so

Would it not just reduce back to the first diagram with the short circuit?

Best Answer

Power feeds in from the overhead wire and connects to a pantograph pick-up on the roof. This routes the power through to a controller and then to the motor and the return path for current travels along the rails: -

enter image description here

I used to remember a thing called a trolley bus in my home town when I was a kid - it was a regular bus with rubber wheels but had a double overhead cable pick-up - positive (it was a dc feed) was on one wire and negative (return) on the other. Ye olde trolley bus: -

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Electronic – How to break one circuit when another one’s current draw is high

Electronic – Mixing AC and DC power in a circuit

Related Topic