Hybrid Loco

GE in the United States is working on a Hybrid diesel/electric loco that
they claim will be quieter and use 10-15% less fuel. Just think a Toyota
Prius on a large scale.

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:46:24 +1000, Uncle Joe wrote:

> GE in the United States is working on a Hybrid diesel/electric loco that
> they claim will be quieter and use 10-15% less fuel. Just think a Toyota
> Prius on a large scale.

Not really the same - the Hybrids are intended to be shunters to be used
in California which is moving towards extremely strict emissions
controls. Come to think of it, exactly like a Prius - they only really
work in stop-start city traffic - on the open road, no good at all.

Another approach I've read about is to have 2 or 3 diesel engines as
well and only start enough of them to move the load on offer.

Note GE are not leaders in this at all, a small company called Railpower
Technologies has been selling 'Green Goat' locomotives for a few years
now - they take old locomotives, strip the top part off and put in new
engines and battery banks. Obviously Railpower have sold enough now that
the Big Boys are interested in the market.

The hybrids won't help fuel efficiency at all on the road though - as
the power demands are long and hard. The extra batteries just become dead
weight.

Depending on the duty cycle of a shunting locomotive you might get away
with battery-electric if the shunter can always return to a charging
point when idle.

Strictly speaking GE have been building hybrid locomotives for years -
the big GE Genesis passenger locomotives can apparently be 'moved around
the shop' using their batteries so the diesel doesn't need to be started
just to move it from one work area to another.

"Matthew Geier" <matthew@no.sleeper.no.apana.no.org.no.au> wrote in message
news:4852e508$0$30463$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
> On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:46:24 +1000, Uncle Joe wrote:
>
>> GE in the United States is working on a Hybrid diesel/electric loco that
>> they claim will be quieter and use 10-15% less fuel. Just think a Toyota
>> Prius on a large scale.
>
> Not really the same - the Hybrids are intended to be shunters to be used
> in California which is moving towards extremely strict emissions
> controls.


No, They are working on a full scale Hybrid Loco not just a shunting loco.
They claim it will also be much quieter when going through towns as well as
the fuel savings. They expect a release in about 2 years..

Matthew Geier <matthew@no.sleeper.no.apana.no.org.no.au> wrote:
>
> Note GE are not leaders in this at all, a small company called
> Railpower Technologies has been selling 'Green Goat' locomotives for a
> few years now - they take old locomotives, strip the top part off and
> put in new engines and battery banks. Obviously Railpower have sold
> enough now that the Big Boys are interested in the market.

GE's hybrid locomotive is targeted at a different market than Railpower's
offering. Railpower builds a locomotive intended for shunting, with a
large lead-acid battery pack and a small diesel engine that is used to
provide a steady rate of charge.

GE's locomotive is a full-sized road freight locomotive, with a more
exotic battery pack added to it. The battery pack is used to collect
dynamic braking energy, that would otherwise be lost to heat. The stored
energy can then be used for traction when the locomotive resumes pulling,
reducing demand from the diesel engine when it is needed the most.

> The hybrids won't help fuel efficiency at all on the road though - as
> the power demands are long and hard. The extra batteries just become
> dead weight.

If you believe GE's marketing info, they expect to gain something like 10
or 20 percent in fuel efficiency in road service as a result of reusing
what would otherwise be wasted energy. It is yet to be seen if the
railroads will be willing to pay for the expensive batteries to get the
projected savings.

"Vote out Brendan Nelson" <vote@out.com> wrote in message
news:48541fb6$0$13944$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
> Uncle Joe wrote:
>> GE in the United States is working on a Hybrid diesel/electric loco that
>> they claim will be quieter and use 10-15% less fuel. Just think a Toyota
>> Prius on a large scale.
> Sounds like the perfect replacement the XPT.

The XPT will be replaced by buses