How do electric trains actually work?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- Ever wondered how electric trains are powered?? Well I explain how they are in this video. Enjoy :)
P.s. I was going to add more about AC and DC but it was giving me flashbacks of GCSE physics so no thanks :-/ but if you want to understand it a little more, have a look at this link www.railway-technical.com/infr...
Music credit : Biscuit (Prod. by Lukrembo)
In the future all trains will be operated by Network Nathan.
That’s the plan ;)
@@networknathan what trains will you design? 🤔🤔🤔
@@networknathan good luck to have train services operated by you
@@5-Consecutive-Hairpin-Turns were gonna hold Bombardier and Siemens hostage to bring back desiros and electrostars, yeet the flirts and aventras,
yeet the ironing board seats, bring back the 442s, bring back the 332s and 333s, bring back the cool trains, take out abellio from greater anglia and emr, take out the class 700s make govia run their company better, heavily refurbish the old trains; class 319 for example. And we’ll make the liveries better and train journeys will be better. And the iets will halt their conquest over railways to allow room for electrified hsts and meridians. And sleeper trains should be more comfortable and frequent. And Nathan will take control over everything from there and then Geoff Marshall and Yawwie will do fortnite dances out of sheer joy
Good luck Network Nathan
I love this, thank you so much.
A few pieces of trivia. 3rd rail is often chosen for Metros/undergrounds/subway systems, for reasons of space (isn't always room for a wire). Yes, it was chosen for the DLR for aesthetic reasons. The only non-Metros to be third rai are parts of England (generally the ex-Southern Railway lines...as well as two lines in and around Liverpool for some reason), Argentina around Buenos Aires (in fact two different voltages and gauges) and New York City (two different systems there, also, inherited from two different main lines who hated each other)
I used to live by the main Portsmouth-Waterloo line and, like many other kids in the 70s, would play on the tracks. We had great respect for the strange very black rail...
Overhead wires also have 'neutral sections' at strategic intervals. These are short, insulated (dead) sections of wire which prevent different phases/voltages from other feeder stations mixing. As a train approaches one, a pair of magnets at track level opens its circuit breakers and cuts the power (minimising pantograph arc should the driver fail to shut off). After a few yards, another pair of magnets closes the breakers and restores power to the train.
A clunk or bang will be heard if you're sat near the pantograph, lights may dim slightly and any air conditioning will usually cut out for a moment when you go through a neutral.
Is this used on 1500v DC systems as well? Or is it just that the circuit breakers on these systems are much quieter because I've been on both 25000v AC and 1500v DC and I've only heard the circuit breakers on the higher voltage systems.
I'm no expert but as far as I know; DC systems don't have neutrals, but it's still desirable to shut off when passing feeder points. The UK's AC system, at least has track magnets to automatically cut power when trains go through a neutral. Most other countries rely on drivers shutting off or even lowering the pantograph. If traction power is already off, the breaker noise should be quiet, going through at full power would produce a very loud bang, arcing and possibly damage the pantograph. There are also signs telling drivers that a neutral is ahead, giving them time to ease power (important with tapchanger loco's). It's all part of the route knowledge anyway. Hope that helps!
Very informative. I seriously dont get how you dont have more viewers. Brill little video!
Excellent video. Keep going - your deserve to attract a larger audience
So glad I found your channel, loving your videos man. You deserve way more subs!
Very thorough. Here up north we've taken delivery of the Stalder 777s which potentially can carry a battery which charges up on electrified lines and gives the potential to extend it's range onto the unpowered network.
I think the reason they contain batteries is because they are planning on extending Merseyrail from Kirkby to Headbolt Lane but they cannot build 3rd rail anymore due to safety.
Just to add a bit more on 4th rail London Underground running. An ex LU power engineer told me that it is to do with the difficulty of recovering failed trains in deep tunnels. Its because you cannot send out locomotives to tow them out. So the fourth rail is switched over to be temporarily used as a live conductor rail .
An excellent explanation, you gave me answers to questions I didn't even know I wanted to ask; thank you Nathan.
I always wondered how they mitigated single point wear on the pantograph contact patch, thanks for the informative video! Incidentally, on the class 700s, I noticed you can hear the difference in the traction motor noise under load between third rail and overhead supplies (DC sounds sort of like a car alarm, whereas AC sounds like normal IGBT drive noises) I guess they use different VFDs depending on supply type.
Quality video mate! currently training to work on the railway and this has really helped
I learned more from this video than most of the other flashy ones regarding this topic. Great work my friend.
I kinda nerd out on these things and this was super helpful. You're amazing
Lines from Liverpool Street and also around the Manchester area used to be DC overhead, Manchester to bury line used to have a unique 3rd rail system as well
Good videos bruver
3rd rail and overhead are also both used on the Welwyn garden city to Moregate
Are you kidding me!? Brilliant video. Straight to the point. Tons of information. I appreciate this. Thank you!
Dude I’m in Switzerland right now and I’m amazed at the train system. I kept wondering how it’s powered. Your video helped a lot. Thanks man
Thanks for this vid. Searched the topic and found your channel. Good stuff 👍
fascinating stuff, great little video!!
😀 very good explanation of how electrical supply systems are designed
Bro this is so impressive. You are growing so fast❤️
Thank you for this informative and interesting video. It has given me a better understanding of how electricity is conveyed to electric trains. You are well informed on this topic.
Note that some London Underground lines have 4 rails. Two for the running wheels, one for power, and a fourth for the return current.
Why?
Some of the old tunnels are metal caissons and if the normal rails were used as the earth conductor, it would cause the metal caissons to undergo electrolytic damage, so the return current is earthed in the fourth rail to isolate power away from the main rails and their connections to the tunnels.
Thank you for explaining this. I have been wondering about this for a while.
Didnt he say that in the video?
This is so helpful. I am a Railway Engineering Student and this will surely help me on my report today. Thank!
...jolly good show! you certainly know your stuff, well presented & informative 👌
Learned more from this young man than 6 short videos lol, keep them coming.
This is an awesome video! Great explanation that sums up in 9 minutes many longer videos, though more images could have helped. Thanks a lot!
I really like overhead wires but something about 3rd rails are so much better imo. A train gapping is the best part of 3rd rails. Especially at grade crossings. I love it when the train motors lose then regain power.
Lovely video, love it at Farringdon, when you hear that pantograph drop. Also the Scrubs on Southern. I believe Milan is the only only other 4 rail system on it's oldest subway line.
@U.E.L.O Milan, the original line.
Nice video, I have known a bit about this for a while but now I properly know it!
Fantastic video, keep up the good work 👍
Man... I'm impressed... with the information content and presentation. Well done.
Appreciate it honestly ;)
This was a very clear explanation.
So informative. I love it 😻
Great information. Loving the energy too
Glad you liked it :)
Love the content bro keep it up👏🏾👏🏾
Excellent and thank you! Very helpful
Nice video, enjoyed watching. Thanks.
Liked and subscribed 👍🤩🤩
Don’t forget Drayton Park changes from OHL to 3rd rail. Very informative video Nathan 😊👍🏻.
We have something like that in the US called the P32AC Dual Mode. It can run both from its diesel-electric prime mover and third rail pickup. Amtrak uses it in New York, because you can’t operate diesels in the tunnels under a few of the stations.
Oh wow! How comes they can’t operate diesels at a few of the stations underground??
Also the trains that operate on both third rail and overhead are similar to Boston's Blue Line subways.
This is awesome. Very well research thank you!
Wow, 😮 Thank you Nathan. I only came to find out y there were 4 tracks in Piccadilly? But I learned much more than that. 👍🏻
I saw a few vids on how some of the truck routes on the autobahns in Germany are becoming electrified, utilizing an overhead line, much like a train uses, and a hybrid semi with both a pantograph and drive motors, as well a diesel engine that takes over when the truck leaves the truck lanes to a local depot nearby... The semi loads or unloads at the depot, then heads back to the autobahn truck lane, and contacts the overheads via pantograph again... I have no idea how the circuit is completed, as the semi runs on no tracks on the roadway...
Very well and clearly explained! But I would show images and footage over a longer period of time, rather than just seconds or even fractions of seconds!
Your vids are really good you’re seriously underated jeez. Wonderful video tho
Cheers man :)
Great video!
over head lines can directly get electricity from grid, but third rail have to have step down and rectifiers since its low voltage DC. And there is less power loss in high voltage over head lines.
Nicely presented.
Great video
Thanks. I did learn something. Specifically the info about the various UK and other European systems.
Your vids are livee bro👊 I would actually prefer over-head lines then 3rd rail but pretty much everywhere in se is 3rd really init. Safe
The first electrification in the South East was at 6700v ac 25Hz by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1909. When the railways were grouped into the Southern in 1923 a pair of Herberts (their first name!) decided to convert to third rail as used by the London and South Western Railway. A retrograde step considering the need for substations as little as a mile apart instead of 15-50 miles and the speed restriction due to conductor shoe mechanics.
Great video. ☺️
Good video , most 3rd rail including all the lines in South London the shoe runs on top of the rail, the same is true of the Tube which has two live rails the outer is 420 positive the centre is 210 negative, this gives 630 Volt
Apart from the speed restrictions, with 3rd rail I always thought you needed substations at regular intervals to maintain current, which is why it tends to be used for relatively short distance networks. To think the LBSCR abandoned overhead wires for 3rd rail for consistency with the LSWR's 3rd rail commuter lines..
I’m glad they chose to abandon it. Southern region looks much better without it. Looks more traditional !!
@@networknathan There's always rumours that they'll ditch 3rd rail to increase speed and efficiency. Interesting if they ever electrify the West of England main line between Worting Junction and Exeter which method they'd choose..
@Dark Dreamz There's 3rd rail tracks from Waterloo to Weymouth, which is even further...
I grew up in the SF-Bay Area when the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system was being constructed in the mid 1960's. The trains use a 3rd rail side contact 1Kv DC which is considered an odd voltage. Each station had a power sub-station 33.5 Kv primary stepped down to 1Kv rectified to DC. Traction motors were originally DC however about 20 years ago changed to AC 3 phase with inverters. There are power struds (short lengths of 3rd rail along side the rails where there is an interlock/crossover) And longer ones where their is a gap.
Nice video mate
keep it up king🔥🔥
Well done. I have to ask do you have any experience at all as a train operator.
7:02 That's actually similar to Boston's Blue Line subway trains, which use overhead wires for the above ground section, and third rail for downtown.
Loving the passion. Very interesting . I’m guessing you work in the rail industry ? If not why not 👍
Not currently but that’s the goal!
Overhead lines are not just less aesthetic. When retrofitting, overhead can be a problem because of existing infrastructure being in the way e.g. bridges.
this video explains it very well thank you
Sometimes the train arcs on either track third rail or overhead lines.
Big up yourself Nathan. From nyc metro! Blessings.
Cool vid bro
Very informative and for a Mixed System you're at something like parts of London that have it since I'm from the United States New York City Region has those at the Penn Station area and Metro-North Pelham Station for Mixed System. One more thing about overhead wire those permit a maximum speed of 355 mph 573 km/h since there's a British Broadcasting Corporation footage of the 2007 French high-speed train record which attained that speed
Generally, top possible speeds are much higher with overhead wires. With 3rd rail, 100 M.P.H/160 km/h seems to be the absolute limit, beyond that the shoe breaks contact with the rail, making it harder to keep up the speed.
The standard voltage these days is 25,000 volts, but there have been others (from 6,500 to 50,000 when AC. There have been DC overhead lines, still re in places like France and Belgium, where 1500 or 3000 volts is normal. Higher speeds are available on higher voltages, generally (MOST of the "high speed" lines out there are 25,000 volts, except Germany's ICE, which uses 15,000 volts.)
@@raakone Good point there are other high-speed trains that use 15,000 volts ac 16.7hz OBB Railjet SBB CFF FFS Rabe 500 501 502 & 503 Austria Switzerland. 15,000 volts AC 16 2/3 Hz X2000 Sweden BM 71 73 Norway
Good Video about the Electrification that I didn't know. Also, the Class 373s have been Overhead Only for over 10 years now.
How time flies, still haven’t been on one :/
@@networknathan I have when I was tiny. I couldn’t remember it very well but I went to Paris with my family
Nathan I am 63 and noone has explained this better!
There is also both 3rd/4th rail and overhead lines at Kensal Rise station
good explanation
I’ve already subscribed to your channel
We’ll explained, thanks for posting this!
Big man ting rate this channel
Nathan, can you do a video on HS1 Javelin trains?
How have I only just found your channel… great content 👍🏾 you’re very accurate there ! I’m a train driver and I’ve learnt quite a bit so thanks 😊
Learn some more. You are a LOCOMOTIVE driver, not a train driver.
Wow - a very informative discussion about the rail conductor. Do you know that when a rail conductor is reversed, it ends up inside the train? Think about it - the "rail conductor" -I'll see myself out :)
phaha, that took me a second to get it
You know, all of those trains you listed are cool-looking enough to have equally cool names that wouldn't feel out of place in a Final Fantasy game. Or maybe I just hate having to memorize numbers :/
Hi Nathan you need to do an update to this to talk about battery trains and trials with hydrogen power
I wonder if you could explain something: Recently a station in the NY subway system--which uses a third rail--was flooded. Someone took a video of the flooded station, and it very clearly shows a train making its way past the platform: twitter.com/PaulleeWR/status/1413234413337563138
How is that possible? Shouldn't the water be shorting out the live rail?
To be honest I feel a third rail is better, but the only concern with them is how lethal they can be if they're within animal reach. Any human and other animal can reach them? That's the biggest concern because the voltage can vary in third rails (Not all third rails carry the same voltage, as some locomotives may require more electricity to work more efficiently). I've heard stories about people who have come in contact with third rails and either burst into flames or just outright fucking exploded from the intense amount of voltage they absorbed.
Most UK 3rd. rail uses TOP collection!
Is the 3rd rail constantly live?
This guy should teach science
I actually am a science teacher. 32 years strong ( I know what your thinking, He doesn’t look that old) ;)
So why are electric trains classified as in the Class 300 category are AC 25kv OHLE and DC 750v 3rd Rail. I thought that numbering trains in the Class 300s are only to operate on AC 25kv overhead wires only. And Class 400 and Class 500 are DC 750v 3rd Rail only (Class 500s on Merseyrail).
And the trains classified in the Class 700s category are trains that are built as dual voltage. And hybrid trains which are classified in the Class 800s that are Bi-Mode or Tri-Mode. It does sound so confusing. Probably confusing myself as well.
So in both systems the circuit is completed by the wheels and main rails
4:40 MTA, Metro North, and LIRR all use cover boards. The ladder two I believe are because of the abundance of grade crossings and careless pedestrians.
It would be the NYCTA, MNR, and the LIRR. The MTA owns all three.
I just wanna know which track to avoid touching incase u ever fall onto a train track and need to climb back up
Tbh I prefer the sound of a diesel hst though an electric high speed train does also sound nice
If you're laying underneath the train platform when the train is there how do you avoid getting smacked in the face by the electric third rail shoe on each 4 axle truck assembly???
For the 375 all 375 cannot run on over head wires unless it its a 375/6
Come to think of it,I've never seen a tube train arc underground
Exactly !!
@@networknathan shouldn't they just do this above ground too. I'm sure it also prevents damage to the contact shoes? Like the whole damn train jolts hahaha. Especially 465s
R u a fan of dbz?
@@Nice_Person7379 yes
Do you have any idea why thameslink uses AC currect for North and DC for the South? I've always been curious.
Well for years the canal tunnel was closed which is the tunnel which connects the north and south of london together on the thameslink line. Prior to that, the south had third rail and the north had overhead wires. So once they reopened them, they just used trains that could change from either electrical systems so it can be used in the north and the south.
@@networknathan The Canal Tunnels were built in 2004. The link from the widened lines to Kings Cross used to be made just north of the old Kings Cross Metropolitan Station (latterly known as Kings Cross Thameslink) via the Hotel Curve (northbound) to Kings Cross suburban station and southbound from from Kings Cross York Road. When these were closed in 1976, the Snow Hill tunnel linking Farringdon to Blackfriars was closed. The widened lines and the ECML out of Kings Cross were not electrified.
In norway only the metro runs on 3rd rail whilst the trains are electric
That unsolved Rubik's cube in the background lol
I just gave up. Been there for ages 🤣
Don't let it overwhelm you. Once you know how to solve it's easy. 😉
_Cries in no electrification near my city_
I think third rails should be scrapped and replaced by overhead lines because people have been killed by third rails without knowing they existed trying to run across the track to the right platform and that stuff
6:34
The 373s had their third rail shoes removed, which I personally think is stupid.. What happens if part of HS1 closes off?!
Ok, but DC has positive and negative, and there is only one wire which is either + or -, doesn't it need both to work? (same goes with the 3rd rail)
The rails act as the negative "wire", the negative part of the circuit passes through the train wheels to the normal rails, completing the circuit.
most London underground use 4th rail
About the 100mph third rail thing, hasn't the Class 442 achieved 109mph on third rail?
7:35