BEYOND THE WIRES, OR WITHOUT THEM.

An old idea whose time might still come?  " Railroads have, for a long time, looked for ways to run an electric locomotive beyond the wires, either with an onboard power plant or with a battery."

Once upon a time, it looked like this.

Lackawanna tri-power locomotive 3501, somewhere in New Jersey.

Railroad Magazine photograph. 

Scanned from p. 302 of Middleton, When the Steam Railroads Electrified.

The outside looks different now.  Internally, the idea is the same.

Federal Railroad Administration sketch retrieved from Trains.

The idea is the same as with the Lackawanna tri-power locomotive, only with hopes of traveling further.

A Federal Railroad Administration study on mainline electrification recommends that the railroad industry develop a prototype dual-mode freight locomotive and battery tender that could test the feasibility of leaving cost-saving gaps between sections of overhead catenary.

Over the decades, North American freight railroads have studied electrification but have always reached the same conclusion: Stringing wire over every mile of main line is prohibitively expensive and poses a colossal financial risk.

“Freight rail electrification has not been implemented to date by U.S. Class I railroads because of various economic, technical, and institutional barriers,” the report says. “The primary barriers to freight rail electrification were found to be its high up-front capital costs, high risks due to the uncertainty of electrification in the North American context, and the presence of alternative investments that carry less risk. Over time, changing technology and a shift from using electrification to reduce energy costs to using it to reduce emissions have potentially altered the impact and relevancy of some of these barriers, and created pathways to overcome them.”

We've looked at those barriers previously.  Railroaders remain freight electrification skeptics.

As for catenary, the report identified three important ways of bringing down initial costs of electrification.

First, intermittent electrification — or leaving gaps between catenary — would shave installation costs.

Second, railroads could partner with electric utilities to share risks and benefits of electrification projects. Railroad rights-of way could host electric transmission lines — giving utilities a far easier way to build new power lines from generating stations to metropolitan areas — that also could power catenary.

And, finally, railroads could seek public funding to aid in their decarbonization efforts.

The Association of American Railroads says stringing wire over freight main lines is a no-go. “Our position remains that overhead catenary is an unviable option for the nation’s freight rail network for a variety of reasons — including exorbitant costs,” spokeswoman Jessica Kahanek says.

The authors of the FRA study say more research is necessary.

I'm not sure, given the current U.S. political climate, whether federal money for either catenary or additional research will be forthcoming.  Where public money might be available, the onboard power projects continue.  A year ago we called attention to a Canadian plug-in hybrid diesel locomotive.  Canadian National are now developing a switching locomotive so configured.

CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) is proud to announce the launch of its new medium horsepower hybrid electric locomotive developed in collaboration with Knoxville Locomotive Works (KLW). This innovative hybrid locomotive will undergo testing in various operational conditions across CN’s network as a pilot project, to evaluate its potential to enhance operational efficiency and fuel savings, marking another step towards more modern and sustainable rail operations.

The 3,200 medium horsepower hybrid unit is built on the traditional CN low horsepower locomotive operating in yards and branch lines. It includes a modern control system, increased horsepower of up to 60%, powered by a 2.4MWh-700HP battery-diesel engine, that is 100% biofuel ready. The hybrid system targets up to approximately 50% reduction in fuel consumption compared to a typical locomotive used in similar operations today. CN expects this initiative will help drive the advancement of hybrid technology in locomotives and contribute to immediate emissions reductions.

“This CN-led pilot represents another milestone in our sustainability journey and focus on emerging technologies. We believe that this hybrid system, if successful, could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our yard operations, while maintaining our commitment to customers and communities across our network.”

- Patrick Whitehead, Executive Vice-President and Chief Network Operating Officer, CN.

The hybrid locomotive will be deployed in phases over the next six months across several CN yards and branch lines, including locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Testing will also eventually include operations in cold weather conditions in Western Canada. This phased approach will enable CN to evaluate efficiency and operating protocols for the locomotive. This project is part of CN’s program to meet the deep decarbonization required to achieve net-zero emissions, with the other previously announced locomotive pilots.

Metro-North are also developing "last couple of miles" locomotives to power suburban trains that will serve The Pennsylvania Station via Hell Gate Bridge, rather than run into Grand Central.

Metro-North Railroad plans to purchase 13 battery-electric locomotives from Siemens Mobility for service in and out of Penn Station when Metro-North’s New Haven Line starts serving that station through the Penn Access project.

The battery-electric versions of the Siemens Charger locomotive will generally draw power from catenary, then switch to battery mode in and around Penn Station, where the electrical power system differs. This will be a first in North America, Metro-North says. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Chicago’s Metra have both announced plans for battery-electric commuter trains, but those plans call for multiple-unit trainsets that will mostly run on battery power, charging at the endpoints of their runs.

The locomotives will be purchased by exercising an option on an existing contract with Siemens, which is already building 33 dual-mode locomotives that will operate with diesel or third-rail electric power. The new units are expected to be similar in appearance to those SC42DM locomotives, the first two of which were unveiled last November.

The rationale for the batteries strikes me, and more than a few of the commenters to the article, as odd.  Amtrak's Acela trains run under catenary from Boston's South Station to Washington's Union Station by way of the Hell Gate Bridge and The Pennsylvania Station using both of the electrical power systems, suggesting the switch gear to handle two line voltages and two alternating frequencies already exists, and might have a lower first cost than the batteries.  But as proof of concept for a technology that might work on freight trains, perhaps the motors will serve as test beds.