Hydrogen-Powered Road Locomotive

Canadian Pacific has announced that they will be converting a road locomotive (did not specify, but likely a road switcher) with hydrogen-powered engines, similar to what BNSF did in 2009 with their hydrogen-powered switcher.

https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2 ... locomotive

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific has announced a program it says will develop North America’s first line-haul hydrogen-powered locomotive, retrofitting a current locomotive with hydrogen fuel cells and batteries to drive the traction motors.
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CP has previously tested lower-emission locomotives using biofuels and compressed natural gas, as well as battery-powered units. As it notes in its press release, virtually all freight locomotives in North America are diesel-powered, representing railroading’s most significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The move comes as Canadian Pacific is among railroads facing pressure from investors to reduce greenhouse gases, which has increased interest in hydrogen technology as well as revived talk of mainline electrification

https://www.railwayage.com/mechanical/l ... -advances/

Bilton Welding and Manufacturing Ltd. is wrapping up work on the second of three hydrogen fuel cell-powered freight locomotives for Canadian Pacific (CP), the Class I confirmed March 7. The first, currently under test, marked a milestone in November with its first revenue move.

Bilton, based in central Alberta, has provided fabrication expertise and services to CP since the railroad’s Hydrogen Locomotive program began in December 2020 with the retrofit of an existing diesel-electric linehaul locomotive. The diesel prime mover and traction alternator were replaced with hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology to power the unit’s electric traction motors. In November 2021, CP received a $15 million 50% matching grant from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to expand the initiative to three locomotives (two linehaul units and one switcher), install hydrogen production facilities at two locations, and create a “global center of excellence in hydrogen and freight rail systems” in Alberta. On Jan. 24, 2022, CP shared a video on Twitter of the first fully painted locomotive, which the railroad said had run under its own power.

CP on Nov. 16 reported via LinkedIn and Twitter that the linehaul unit pulled seven freight cars from a customer facility. The locomotive had also pulled the Empress, CP’s 1930-vintage steam locomotive, at its Calgary mechanical shop, located some 62 miles south of Bilton’s facility in Innisfail.
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