Where do electric trains get the electricity to power their engines?

Question

How does the energy in a fuel determine an engines performance in torque and power? Are trucks etc, that need a lot of power stuck with oil as a fuel because of it's btu per gallon ?

Answer 1

The older trolley cars were connected to an overhead wire, while  the modern Electric train are powered by the Electric from the tracks.as in the subways, but the trains that are electric on regular tracks, have very big batteries.

Trucks can run on bio-fuel. but would required too large a battery to travel very far.

Answer 2

From coal burning electric power or hydropower.

Answer 3

Vehicles that would require very large amounts of energy may have to get their power from an overhead  line like the city trolley, or stick with electric-powered trains for most long distance transport.

To switch to a lot more electrical power for transportation we would need to build a lot of big nuclear stations.

Electric trains often carry a diesel engine to provide the electricity or get the power from the tracks or overhead lines.

Answer 4

Trains have a very large diesel motor that drives the electric motors. The plants is needing the CO2 in order to recycle our oxygen. Then the plants keep  the C to make its food. After the plant dies it will deteriorate into OIL  & Gas . As long as plants have CO2 we will not run out of oxygen or fossil fuels.

Answer 5

If we could figure out wireless energy then we would rule!

Answer 6

Albert Einstein is perhaps the most famous scientist of this century. One of his most well-known accomplishments is the formula E=mc2. Which answers your question

Answer 7

True "Electric" trains get the power from the normal electric power grid through overhead or rail mounted electrical contactors. Most long distance trains are Diesel-Electric with a diesel engine driving an electric generator on board which supplies electric to the on board motor.

The BTU content (Energy) of the fuel is a measure of how much heat the fuel will produce when burned. The amount of heat and rate of burn determines the amount of pressure built up in the combustion chamber of the engine, which is directly related to the torque / power produced.

For now, trucks are kind of stuck with it because of cost. It (Diesel) is still the cheapest overall