So, how are Railpower's Green Goat Sales Doing anyway?

[Sir Ray]

Saw the Train's article on the cabless Green Goats (for BNSF, I think), and went to their website (I see they have two Green Goats models GG20B & GG10B, and I guess the Green Kid is a dead end... - plus there were no photos of the RP road switchers, so maybe those are on hold too).

Anyway, does anyone have any solid sales figures (I see mentions here and there about Army Units, 100+ UP units, 35+ for CPR, a handful for BNSF and so on, but I'm wondering if there is a consolidate, up-to-date list anyway).
Also, are all the frames used salvaged GP unit frames, and would they ever have the capability to obtain new frames from some source?

[2spot]

The most complete answer to most of your questions was in the January issue of Model Railroader. In fact, Railpower has a link to this issue. http://www.railpower.com/dl/media/media ... roader.pdf In short they've sold around 175 units, they also build them out of GE frame and truck donors. Railpower has a Memorandum of Understanding with a builder in Japan and possibly Britain. They are built in the USA and Canada now.

[oleanfuzz]

(I see they have two Green Goats models GG20B & GG10B, and I guess the Green Kid is a dead end..

Green Kid is the Nickname for the GG10B green goat IIRC.

[Trackmobile]

Checkout the prototype drawings in the January 2006 Model Railroader.

[Sir Ray]

OK, so while I was clipping some old Model Railroaders, I came across the RailPower Green Goat article. Article made it sound like 175 locomotives were in production/sold at that time (I'm guessing mid 2005, as the article appeared in the January 2006 issue).
Fine, except the latest news on Railpower's web site is the 1st quarter was that only 1 unit was build, and 52 were in various stages of production.
1 per quarter is no way to get up to 175 units in a hurry (they also lost 8.7 million C$ this quarter).
http://www.railpower.com/dl/news/news_2006_05_04.pdf
Well heck, this doesn't seem too hot compared to the media buzz of last year - although they do state they had 162 firm orders at the end of the quarter, I'm just wondering about their production - they hope to ramp up to 10-15 deliveries per quarter. Meh.
So, just how many darn Green Goats are out there on the tracks right now?
Also, trying to figure out if they are producing (or contracting for) new frames and trucks yet, or continuing to dip from the heavily-tapped used GP frame pool (although the MR article did mention GE frames - now that's a somewhat different tack...)

[tominboise]

There are around 44 Battery green goats out and about, most built on EMD frames of the GP7/9/etc, but at least 10 built on GE B23 and B30 frames.

[UPRR engineer]

Couple months or so ago i saw one (UP) that looked like it caught fire, going for a ride on flat car. Think it was on an east bound.

[Alcoman]

Super Steel in Scotia,NY is now building them. I saw 3 completed units recently. Photos soon. And the best part is that there NOT green!

[Sir Ray]

There are around 44 Battery green goats out and about, most built on EMD frames of the GP7/9/etc, but at least 10 built on GE B23 and B30 frames.

44, OK, that seems reasonable - do any of those 10 GE-based frames include the 7 frames mentioned in this thread on the GE forum http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26364
Hopefully the Goat that looked burned wasn't due to internal factors - that's a great way to kill sales...

[tominboise]

No, the 10 built to date are not in that bunch you refer to.

[2spot]

Railpower has revised its production target from 90 to 100 units down to 50 to 65 by the end of fiscal year 2006. Railpower PDF: http://www.railpower.com/dl/news/news_2006_07_06.pdf

[duramaxdiesel]

Since were on the Topic of GreenGoats here's a link to the Demo that was built there.


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=152846

[mxdata]

So how are they doing? All I see on their website indicates the anticipated production estimates have been dropped a lot. Anybody got any recent news?

[Sir Ray]

Well, the December 2006 Railpace may have a hint as to why their stock prices and finances are taking a hit (as mentioned in other threads on this forum):

The Rail Power locomotives have been suffering from a series of failures in recent months due to fires and explosions occuring during battery chargings

The article also mentions CP reducing it's initial order - that can't be good.

[2spot]

CP has sold its first Green Goat #1700 to Amtrak, to become#599. It should be heading south from Vancouver this coming week after being rejected by BNSF earlier for not having alignment control couplers. This situation has been remedied. I understand its headed to LA. CP is building another GG20B phaseIII to become #1700, replacing the earlier one. Picture link: http://www.mountainrailway.com/Roster%2 ... 201700.htm