California's air may start to look a little cleaner, thanks to the California Department of Transportation and its project partners. Caltrans's revolutionary "green locomotive" debuted Wednesday morning at the Amtrak Sacramento Valley station. Members of Caltrans and its project partners assembled within the train station at a press release to make statements regarding the new locomotive, considered a major step toward reducing California's carbon footprint. It is one of the 15 F59PHI model... JennWalker William Burg 2009-07-24T22:35:16Z 2009-07-24T22:35:16Z

Union Pacific uses the "Green Goat" in yards: it was at Roseville for a while, and I saw several in operation in southern California near Ontario earlier this year. Both Union Pacific and BNSF use the GEVO, which is a freight locomotive (they are geared for more traction than passenger locomotives and heavier loads than switchers.) http://www.fev.com/data/documents/Spectrum_25_A4_eng.pdf I know so much about them because, as my avatar might suggest, I am an avid railfan.

William Burg 2009-07-24T22:35:16Z Dale Kooyman 2009-07-24T18:32:40Z 2009-07-24T18:32:40Z

Great step forward on the locomotive side. In a few months, we'll see if the on-board engineers will be equally enthusiastic about performance ease and reliability. Hopefully, they will. I ride the San Joaquin about once a month. Now Caltrans and Amtrak need to concentrate on services and amenities in its passenger cars on that route. For one, the California Cars serve the shorter runs such as the Capitol Route quite well, but alterations are needed to make them more comfortable and suitable for the long distance trips from Sacramento to Bakersfield for example. Another is their ill-informed decision to position the snack car in the middle of the passenger cars, which causes major boarding de-training problems. Waiters (when they had waiters) warned them about that, but management ignored those valid concerns. Attempts to "manage" passengers and full car reservations are two other factors which cause customer dissatisfaction. Train travel down the Valley is still the way to go, but there is much room for improvement.

Dale Kooyman 2009-07-24T18:32:40Z Jenn Walker 2009-07-24T17:10:01Z 2009-07-24T17:10:01Z

Hi William. I read your commentary on "eco train engine unveiled" and meant to ask you about it. Do you know who is using the "Green Goat" locomotive so far? And what is the General Electric "GEVO"? I'm just curious -- how do you know so much about them?

Jenn Walker 2009-07-24T17:10:01Z Jenn Walker 2009-07-24T05:41:39Z 2009-07-24T05:41:39Z

Thank you Suzanne

Jenn Walker 2009-07-24T05:41:39Z Suzanne Hurt 2009-07-23T18:16:18Z 2009-07-23T18:16:18Z

Nice story, Jenn!

Suzanne Hurt 2009-07-23T18:16:18Z William Burg 2009-07-23T17:51:13Z 2009-07-23T17:51:13Z

As I mentioned in the last story on this subject..."Electro-Motive Diesel" used to be the "Electro-Motive Division" of General Motors. Maybe GM should consider getting them back into the fold, as selling cars hasn't been working out too well for them lately...

William Burg 2009-07-23T17:51:13Z