Children's railway (ride)

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transportable children's train

A children's railway is a transportable, usually electrically operated railway as a ride for children at folk festivals .

Depending on the system, power is supplied with 12 or 24 volts direct current or 38 volts alternating current, mostly via the rails. Nowadays, children's railways are likely to be the only passenger-carrying railways that are supplied with electricity via the running rails.

Since the distances are usually very short (usually a maximum of 50 meters) and the rails have a large cross-section, the transmission losses are low despite the high currents. If the transmission losses are still too high, a second feed takes place, either via a cable laid along the route or via a second “substation”.

The vehicles for direct current operation are often controlled like old tram vehicles via series resistors with a step switch. With some vehicles there is only a simple on / off switch or the only possibility of speed regulation is the possibility of connecting the motors in series or in parallel. In AC vehicles, the voltage on board is stepped up to around 70 volts and then fed to the motors. Some newer children's railways for AC operation use phase control by means of thyristors.

See also