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Re: Wabtec road battery loco testing
Author: Keith Ode
Date: 01-01-2020 - 01:08
FUD Wrote:
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> Your comment about EPA got me speculating about
> another reason for this. GE/WABTEC and
> Progress/EMD haven't been building Tier 4
> locomotives much, despite the requirement for them
> having been in effect for several years. Nobody
> wants them, really; while they work, they're
> expensive and require new types of maintenance
> (even if, like GE/WABTEC, they don't require
> Diesel Exhaust Fluid), and less fuel-efficient
> than the Tier 3s.
Exactly. The Class-1s have waited nearly two centuries for locomotives as cheap, efficient, powerful and reliable as an SD70ACe or a Tier-III Gevo. They aren't about to start buying more expensive, less efficient, less reliable locomotives. Diesel-electric locomotive development essentially ends with these two models. Where do you go from here? The hardware is essentially perfected. Stick with these or start investing in catenary. I suspect we'll see 70-80 year old SD40-2s and SD70Ms in service before that happens.
A few months ago I photographed a "new" GP22T4 in Benicia and noticed the DEF tank. The first time some laborer forgets to top off the DEF will have management thinking twice.
Bottom line is, nobody is going to tolerate further restrictions on internal combustion engines. Any further regulation will make electric cheaper by default.
Batteries will never power road locomotives and software/regulatory/insurance issues will never allow fully autonomous cars in any serious capacity.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Your comment about EPA got me speculating about
> another reason for this. GE/WABTEC and
> Progress/EMD haven't been building Tier 4
> locomotives much, despite the requirement for them
> having been in effect for several years. Nobody
> wants them, really; while they work, they're
> expensive and require new types of maintenance
> (even if, like GE/WABTEC, they don't require
> Diesel Exhaust Fluid), and less fuel-efficient
> than the Tier 3s.
Exactly. The Class-1s have waited nearly two centuries for locomotives as cheap, efficient, powerful and reliable as an SD70ACe or a Tier-III Gevo. They aren't about to start buying more expensive, less efficient, less reliable locomotives. Diesel-electric locomotive development essentially ends with these two models. Where do you go from here? The hardware is essentially perfected. Stick with these or start investing in catenary. I suspect we'll see 70-80 year old SD40-2s and SD70Ms in service before that happens.
A few months ago I photographed a "new" GP22T4 in Benicia and noticed the DEF tank. The first time some laborer forgets to top off the DEF will have management thinking twice.
Bottom line is, nobody is going to tolerate further restrictions on internal combustion engines. Any further regulation will make electric cheaper by default.
Batteries will never power road locomotives and software/regulatory/insurance issues will never allow fully autonomous cars in any serious capacity.
