The Green Goat - Hybrid Diesel-Electric Switching Yard Locomotive!

[benburch]

There is already a hybrid diesel-electric locomotive; The Green Goat - http://www.railpower.com/products_hl_ggseries.html

Quiet, low polluting, and uses 30-70% less fuel than the locomotive it was a conversion of!

http://www.railpower.com.nyud.net:8090/gallery/img/gg20b-6.jpg

http://www.railpower.com.nyud.net:8090/gallery/img/emerald-4.jpg

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Aren't all...

...modern locomotives hybrids insofar as they run generators or alternors off the diesels, and then use electric motors for actual traction?

The idea of regenerative braking came originally from the railroads, IIRC.

[benburch]

2. Well, yes, but they do not store any energy.

When a diesel-electric locomotive uses its dynamic braking system, all of the energy heats a huge resistor bank and the heat is then vented to the air using blowers.

Long ago, the Milwaukee Road used 3000 volt DC electrification in its mountain division, and the regenerated electricity went back into the catenary and the trains going down one side of a pass would power the trains going up the other, and that was quite efficient, but there was no actual storage of electricity.

The New York transit system is looking at flywheel storage for regenerative braking energy where the flywheels are in fixed locations and the light rail cars can be kept simple.

The Green Goat is a battery-based diesel-electric hybrid.