Is there a hybrid train? If not, could they make one?

Question

Is there a hybrid train? If not, could they make one?

Answer 1

Yes.  A few new locomotives are hybrid.  

And some older ones! Our local museum has a hybrid built in 1928.  It ran either on trolley wire, or internal batteries.  The batteries recharged off the trolley wire.  They were originally built with Edison nickel-iron batteries that lasted about 40 years, then those were replaced with lead-acid batteries that lasted about 10 years.  

The locomotives were built for Kennecott Copper Company, which ran a large copper mine in Utah. There were railroad tracks all over the mine, and MOST of it was electrified with trolley wire (like a city streetcar).   The operative word is "most", and that is the reason they built hybrid locomotives.  So they could use the tracks that were put down temporary and save the trouble of stringing trolley wire.

After the lead-acid batteries failed, Kennecoot Copper was very kind and donated three of the four locomotives to museums.  You can find them in Rio Vista California, Boone Iowa, and Snoqualmie Washington.  I don't know where the fourth one went.

Locomotives have a big advantage as a hybrid: You generally want locomotives to be heavier.  So adding 12 tons of batteries (as was done in this case) is no big deal.  

Answer 2

The concept is not new. When I was at School in the 1960s in the south east of England some lines were not fully electrified and they ran Diesel electric trains on them, when on an electrified section it picked up current from the third rail, on non electrified sections a diesel generator ran the electric motors.

Answer 3

like has been pointed out, they are`already hybrids sorta

Answer 4

None that I know about. I suppose one could be made but the issue is the power requirements of trains vs the batteries that are currently available. The auto industry is trying to solve that issue for their relatively small power issue.

That said, you may not know that electric locomotives like those used by Amtrak in the Northeast already recover energy in braking and put it back into the overhead wires to conserve energy.

Answer 5

I had a GE Evolution hybrid locomotive in an engine consist a while back.It was the GECX 2010.The number stands for the expected release date for sale to the railroads.It has a bank of batteries that are charged when the engine is in dynamic brake.Then when the engine is in power the batteries discharge to the traction motors to reduce the load on the regular generator thus saving fuel.The interesting thing about the batteries was that they are made from sodium chloride(salt).I asked the GE techs riding with me why they used that and they said that in the event of a short the battery basically tuned into an inert block of salt.Much safer than lithium polymer which is prone to explosion and fire.They said they expect this engine will save around 25,000 gallons of fuel a year!   http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPic...

Answer 6

Railpower Technologies experienced an hybrid locomotive name 'Green Goat' built from old locomotives frames. They were used for yard and road switching because that type of locomotives is often unused, often idling or running at low speed. What they tried is to replace the huge diesel generator by batteries and having just a small generator to recharge these batteries.

This concept doesn't seem so popular as the same company also builds a more popular GenSet (Generator sets) locomotive, a 100% fossile fuel technology but having multiple small engines instead of a big one, with systems that start and stop engines as necessary, leaving only one small engine running when idling.

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Not exactly hybrid, Bombardier build a very popular dual-mode self-propelled 3-car trainset named AGC which consist of a diesel cab-coach at one end, and an electric cab-coach at the other end, splicing one or two unpowered coaches in between. This concept is very interesting for runs using both electrified mainlines and non-electrified secondary lines.

Bombardier also won a contract to build dual-mode locomotives for New Jersey Transit and Montreal Transporation Agency.

Answer 7

All trains are already hybrids.  They have been for about 50 or 60 years (or 20 years in China).

The fact that diesel-electric trains are hybrid is pretty obvious.  Many trains are full electric, but these are wired, and consume power coming off a steam turbine in a power house miles away.  So taken as a whole, that's a hybrid power system also.

Answer 8

In the U.S. most all locomotives are hybrid ,they use diesel engines to power generators that in turn power electric motors located at the driving wheels.

Answer 9

Somones mentioned road/track vehicles 1930s one such service a bus-train ran to Stratford On Avon from Blisworth/Northampton