Modoc academy orders hybrid

[chad thomas]

from Progressive railroading:

Modoc academy orders hybrid Green Goat switcher

The Modoc Railroad Academy recently placed an order with RailPower Technologies Corp. for one Green Goat® hybrid switcher.

The academy plans to use the 2,000-horsepower locomotive — which features a 130-horsepower diesel generator and long-life recyclable batteries — to train students on up-to-date equipment.

“This purchase represents the first part of our multi-million-dollar expansion program to keep our railroad education programs leading the industry,” said Modoc Executive Director S.L. Berdall in a prepared statement. “A Green Goat allows us to retire older, less efficient locomotives.”

Founded in 1995 and based in Sacramento, Calif., Modoc trains locomotive engineers, conductors and carmen for Class Is and regionals.

For more information on railroad training schools, see Progressive Railroading’s July issue, page 17.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

It sounds like an excellent move on the part of Modoc since it appears that hybrids will become more common in the foreseeable future.

[chad thomas]

I wonder how they can afford a new locomotive. They can't be pulling in THAT much money. Must be using some creative financing.

[coborn35]

Possibly donated??

[BNSFGP38]

Clean air grants probally. Thats the same way alot of RR are buying them.

Man I would like to meet this Grant guy, he sure has a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Does this mean the end for there GE centercab?

[Anonymous]

I have not seen anything about them other than the Trains magazine article a few years ago.

BUT if they can pull or push as well as the switchers or GP38-2s that some railroads use in the yard then more power to them.

We can use all the help we can get on trying to keep the air clean.

[Anonymous]

Speaking of hybirds, I saw a treat tonight, it was UPY 2300 a GG20GE. [:0]

Here is a little more info:

http://www.trainweb.org/utahrails/up/2005order.html

[Anonymous]

They are buying the Green Goat according to what my instructor, Dave Rangel (Executive Director Susan Berdall's husband), told us when I attended there in March of this year. I do not know for a fact, but I suspect that there are some sort of grants involved. Dave suggested that they were considering a green and white paint scheme for that locomotive, but no final decisions had been made on that yet.

Regardless of how they afforded it, this locomotive will provide the engineer trainees there with much more relevant experience than their GE 80-ton center cab or Plymouth 25-ton locomotives could ever do. It really does not make much of a difference for the conductor trainees (such as myself).