Canadian Railway Observations

GREEN RAIL NEWS

GreenRailNews.com “Green” Locomotive Roundup

Edited by Jody Moore of greenrailnews.com

NATIONAL RAILWAY EQUIPMENT:

The US NAVY’s newest 1GS7B has been released from NRE. According to press releases when USNX 7 was released last year, this locomotive should be joining the 7 at Crane Naval Depot in Indiana.

RAILPOWER TECHNOLOGIES:

Former Railpower GG20B RPRX 1705, the last Green Goat hybrid locomotive built, has been cut down for its frame at TMS in Altoona, PA as the first of two RP20BD Genset locomotives being built for CENTRAL RAILROAD OF INDIANA, a RailAmerica property. According to AltoonaWorks info, the other locomotive being used for this conversion is ex-Railserve GG20B RSSX 414.

AltoonaWorks.info’s Lance Myers shared this photo of the 1705 with us: http://www.altoonaworks.info/pics/l-myers/jbs3/120522_15.jpg

On June 27, RJ Corman Railpower announced the sale of one RP14BD genset locomotive to the ALABAMA STATE PORT AUTHORITY’S TERMINAL RAILROAD. The locomotive is expected to be delivered later in 2012. Here’s a link to the Railpower press release: http://www.rjcorman.com/pressreleases/RJCorman_Press%20Release_TASD%20June%202012.pdf

According to documents from the EPA, the conversion will be performed on TASD 802, an MP15DC built in Oct. 1980. Here’s a link to the info from the EPA, which was released in Oct. 2011: http://www.railresource.com/content/?p=1595 According to the EPA info, the engine can be converted to meet EPA Tier 4 specifications with the addition of particulate filters.

Railpower RP20BD lease unit RPRX 5406 has been moved to FOSTER FARMS in Traver, CA. According to reports, the locomotive arrived on May 29. It is expected to be joined by a second RP20BD, RPRX 5403, soon. The units are part of a group of three RP20BD leasers that was being stored on the Modesto & Empire Traction in Modesto, CA following the conclusion of a lease there.

THOROUGHBRED MECHANICAL SERVICES:

In April, NS and Axion Power International announced that they had reached an agreement for a $400,000 order for advanced lead-carbon PbC batteries for use in the battery-powered NS 999. The batteries were expected to be delivered within 90 to 180 days of the announcement. NS 999 was initially built using truck batteries in storage racks, and wasn’t entirely successful.

According to Axion Power Chairman & CEO Thomas Granville as quoted in the press release, the batteries "are ideally suited for hybrid locomotive applications due to their high charge acceptance, fast charge and discharge capabilities (important in regenerative braking), and their inherent ability to equalize voltage when utilized in large string configurations."

Granville also stated that Axion was working with NS on an over the road battery locomotive, which would use approximately twice the number of batteries as the 999.