Electric Locomotive
The electric locomotive picks up electricity at 25,000 volt AC (Alternating Current) from overhead, or trackside, power lines. This is converted into DC (Direct Current) by rectifiers and transformers, and fed via motor control circuits to the drive motors. There are mounted in the locomotive, or “power Car” and they drive the wheels through a series of gears. The main disadvantages of this system is the high cost of building and maintaining the overherd power lines and the fact that the train can not go where there are no power lines.