TTC: Streetcar Network | Page 179

reaperexpress · 2026-02-24T21:21:06+0000

nightstreak said:
↑ Maybe there is a benefit to adding batteries to the existing fleet. Even just a smaller battery that charges while the pantograph is connected, that can skip short sections of unpowered wiring and even diminish or eliminate the need for complex intersection wiring.

Modern trolleybuses also include small batteries for this reason. They can go off route or move around the yard without the need for wires everywhere. And since their usual routes (or at least most of the route) has wires, the batteries can be quite small, cheap and light

Admiral Beez · 2026-02-24T21:25:44+0000

reaperexpress said:
All these people who dream of eliminating the overhead electrification we already have clearly havent thought through the amount of energy losses involved with charging and discharging batteries (much higher energy loss than just running the train directly off the grid),

Can we go to ground level power, something like the below, but WITHOUT onboard batteries? Surely someone can sort out how to make it work in winter's salt, ice and muck?