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Friday, February 3, 2012
A greener locomotive will make its official California debut in Sacramento Wednesday.
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will present the locomotive during a press conference at the Sacramento Valley Rail Station, which holds a prestigious spot in railroad history as the western starting point for the Transcontinental Railroad.
Caltrans and Amtrak are partners operating "Amtrak California." Caltrans owns this locomotive, plus 16 others and 88 train cars. Amtrak operates the trains and stations.
The first in the Amtrak California passenger fleet, the locomotive has been upgraded to operate using the cleanest diesel technology available for train engines.
“This is really a big step for Caltrans. We took a proactive role to get a cleaner locomotive on the tracks, and we’re proud to see this project through,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton. "It aligns with Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger's objectives to clean up Caltrans’ carbon footprint, and it contributes to the bigger goal of California going green."
The locomotive -- built in 2001 by Illinois-based Electro-Motive Diesel -- was upgraded in May by the same company to produce lower greenhouse gas emissions and use less fuel, among other things.
The locomotive has been powering Amtrak trains on the Capitol Corridor Route between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area since June.
Amtrak California expects to reduce its operating emissions by up to almost 50 percent after converting 14 other locomotives of the same model to this technology, according to Caltrans' rail division.
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Even a conventional diesel-electric locomotive, pulling a full train, is far more fuel-efficient than trucks for carrying long-haul freight. Diesel locomotives use an electric transmission, the disel engine powers a generator that drives electric motors attached to the wheels. This locomotive is part of a large-scale shift to even more fuel-efficient locomotives, like the General Electric "GEVO" and the Railpower Technologies "Green Goat."
The "Green Goat" is a switching locomotive, intended for light-duty chores in yards. It is essentially a giant hybrid car, with a comparatively small diesel engine (about the size of that in a Ford F-350) and a big battery bank. The body is built from reconditioned 1950s era locomotives like the EMD GP-7, so it's not just fuel-efficient, it is also recycled!