by RussNelson
I like the article in this month's TRAINS Magazine about hybrid locomotives. Of course, in a sense diesels have always been hybrid hydrocarbon-fueled / electric-driven. However, this one is very clever. It's driven by two separate truck engines and a battery pack. For short moves, they don't even fire up the engines; just run it on batteries. If they need more/longer power, they fire up one of the engines. If they need more, they fire up more. The engine / generator (aka genset) is mounted on a pallet, so if it needs repair, it can be pulled and replaced with a forklift. If one fails, the other one can be used to bring the engine in for repair. They're standard truck engines, so they use standard truck parts, so they don't need specialized knowledge to repair. They run at higher speeds and generate less pollution.
This seems like SUCH a wonderful improvement.
This seems like SUCH a wonderful improvement.