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third rail

mechanics

Learn about this topic in these articles:

use by electric locomotive

  • locomotive; Siemens, Werner von
    In locomotive

    …an overhead wire or a third rail beside the running rails. Third-rail supply is employed only by urban rapid-transit railroads operating on low-voltage direct current.

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  • locomotive; Siemens, Werner von
    In locomotive: Types of traction systems

    …transmute the overhead wire or third-rail current to a supply of variable voltage and frequency suitable for feeding to three-phase alternating-current motors. For railroad traction the alternating-current motor is preferable to a direct-current machine on several counts. It is an induction motor with a squirrel-cage rotor (that is, solid conductors…

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