Well, electrified rails are, surprisingly, not all that stupid. The reason is simple -- you don't have to carry the energy with you, and if DC it can be carried over extremely long distances with very little loss (AC, not so much.)

But, there are construction and maintenance issues that are more-daunting than for conventional D/E drive. Rail engines are an interesting case-study in that D/E undergoes two conversions (to electricity and then to traction) that straight diesel does not, but in a locomotive it still "wins" due to complexity and cost considerations, even though you eat the two conversions. Much of that has to do with the need to accelerate an (insanely heavy) rail load from zero, which is a REAL bitch to engineer for in a conventional traction drive.

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