Considered as a whole, the difference between a tramway and an electric railway on the third-rail system is a difference in degree, not in kind. The traffic is greater and the speeds higher, but both serve the purposes of comparatively short-distance transit. Indeed, within certain limits they compete with each other.
There remains to be considered another type of British electric railway which points the way to the extension of the new mode of traction to main line railways.
CHAPTER XIV
ELECTRIC TRACTION ON MAIN LINE RAILWAYS
On tramways, automobiles, and 'third-rail' lines, the electric current used belongs to the type described as 'continuous' or 'direct,' because the flow is always in the same direction. The other type of current is known as 'alternating,' as it flows backwards and forwards many times per second. There are several kinds of alternating current—single-phase, two-phase, three-phase, and polyphase—each produced from generators designed in a particular way.
It is not possible to give any adequate account of these different kinds of alternating current without going rather deeply into the theory of electricity. The ultimate practical point is that in transmitting alternating currents the circuits increase in number with the phases. Thus, three-phase current requires three wires, two-phase current three or four wires, and single-phase current a single circuit like that of continuous current[1].
Fig. 12. Photograph of a train on the electrified section of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The overhead wire is suspended from cables stretched between insulators, and current is conveyed from it to the trains through a 'bow' which slides along its lower side. The photograph is taken from the rear part of the train. The front and rear cars are both equipped with electric motors.