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How much power is generated by dynamic braking?

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Ok, since we're in scribble-on-envelope mode here, i spliced in a few of my own numbers: (and using your simplifiying assumption of 100% electrical efficiency) -off-road Diesel Fuel, Delivered to the property: $1.00/ Gallon -prime movers produce roughly 14hp/hr per gallon in notch 8 (that's a number out of the air based on aircraft numbers that are 15 years old; modify to suit) -8 trains down implies 8 trains up the same grade, same time at max power (might be a bit of a stretch, but we're playing here. Up time seems like it would be longer than down.) -neglecting costs of converting the locomotives (might be reasonable as the locomotives could be used on many 'wire-hybrid' grades) -assuming free maintenance of wires and connections (emphatically NOT valid, but again, we're playing with numbers here) -50% power gets recycled in moving trains up-grade, also 'billed' at $0.04/KwH I come up with just shy of $2k/day in avoided cost of diesel, which, when added to your numbers gives an 'accelerated' payback of 15 years or so. On the face of it, I agree: that's not a terribly tempting investment, even at today's low interest rates. (which i see we've neglected) I predict, however, that the rate of increase in the cost of grid power will be lower than the rate of increase of diesel fuel; particularly with the available sources of low-sulphur crude shrinking and the EPA already thinking about Tier III. So that improves the return on investment a bit. Then some improvement in traffic control might be feasable, based on someone's "micro-block" suggestion, and might get more trains over the hill (up and down) which would bring the payoff horizon closer still. the question becomes one of "when does the payoff horizon get close enough?" I submit that we (as a nation) are going to be increasingly in competition with China and the pacific rim nations for all mineral resources, not just oil; and that the longer we put off major upgrades to our infrastructure, the more expensive (in real GDP) we're going to find those upgrades.
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