Green (environmentally-friendly) locos

[zardoz]

RailPower Announces First Major Sale of Its Hybrid Locomotives


RailPower Technologies Corp. is selling seven of its hybrid locomotives to Railserve, Inc.

The purchase is being made possible by a grant under the Texas Emissions Reduction Program ('TERP').
Now, six 1,000 horsepower equivalent Green Kids and one 2,000 horsepower equivalent Green Goat(R) will be built as a sales order for Railserve, subject to finalization of contracts, for future deployment in Railserve's customer sites in Brazoria County, Texas. The TERP funding, when fully applied, will significantly subsidize the cost of the locomotives for Railserve.

RailPower(R) President and CEO, Jim Maier said, “The TERP funding jump-starts the introduction of our emissions-reducing hybrid locomotives into what is one of the most polluted regions in the US, the Houston-Galveston area. The hybrids can make very real contributions to reducing smog-precursor NOx.”

Railserve Co-CEO and Controller Tim Benjamin, stated, “TERP is a powerful incentive with it projected to significantly subsidize the cost of the hybrid locomotives under the current applications. We are very excited to be introducing RailPower technology which we anticipate will be closely observed by industry and public alike. The operating costs benefits, with major savings in fuel, lube and overall maintenance, are of particular significance to us. We now hope to have the initial contract paperwork completed with both the state of Texas and our customers by the end of February.”

Railserve is a leading provider of in-plant switching, track maintenance, and other rail services. It operates a total of 127 locomotives and is a member of the Marmon Group.

http://www.aar.org/Index.asp?IACID=1940

[dharmon]

Psst Ed....Hey did you remember to plug the switcher in before you left work?

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

So an old concept appears to have been successfully revived. I see that the first sale is to an operator in a warm climate. I won't consider the dual-power (hybrid) concept to be truly successful until they are sold and operate successfully year-round in a climate where it snows in the winter.

[AltonFan]

A "Green Goat" has been operating at Proviso Yard during the previous year. I have not heard about its cold weather performance, however.