 |
Electrifying American Railroads - Once upon a Time...
Author: Sparky
Date: 03-05-2019 - 17:02
So in the late 1980s/early 1990s PG&E believed that we're going to have a surplus of electricity in California and was courting the Union Pacific as a consistent consumer. I do not know if they also approached the Santa Fe and the SP, but I assume they would have. With the UP's blessing they conducted a survey and submitted a proposal. The offered to help build the infrastructure and said they would only meter the power at the locomotive, so the UP wouldn't eat the transmission loss.
Problem was when they looked at capacity trains would be lucky to be 50-75 cars going over the mountains. You couldn't just add another engine like with diesels. Since all the electric engines would be pulling their juice from the same source adding an extra engine to the consist would derate the others and you wouldn't gain any net horsepower. They were basically listed to 9K-12K HP. Even with using short electrical blocks, they couldn't be made small enough to separate individual engines.
The UP decided to pass. Wish I'd kept a copy of the study as it was interesting ready.
Problem was when they looked at capacity trains would be lucky to be 50-75 cars going over the mountains. You couldn't just add another engine like with diesels. Since all the electric engines would be pulling their juice from the same source adding an extra engine to the consist would derate the others and you wouldn't gain any net horsepower. They were basically listed to 9K-12K HP. Even with using short electrical blocks, they couldn't be made small enough to separate individual engines.
The UP decided to pass. Wish I'd kept a copy of the study as it was interesting ready.
