4 ms·

https://scag.ca.gov/sites/main/files/file-attachments/crgmsais_-_analysis_of_freight_rail_electrification_in_the_scag_region.pdf?1605991886 https://scag.ca.gov/

https://scag.ca.gov/sites/main/files/file-attachments/crgmsais_-_analysis_of_freight_rail_electrification_in_the_scag_region.pdf?1605991886 https://scag.ca.gov/sites/main/files/file-attachments/crgmsa... According to this study from 2012, the cost of electrifying railroads in California is about $4.8M/track mile, and according to google, there are about 140,000 route miles of freight rail in the US. I'd assume that doing this in bulk might drop the costs substantially, but we're still talking about a huge network.

bobthepanda 5y ago
It's not necessarily doing it in bulk that would make it cheap, it's basically turning it into an assembly line capable of doing a small amount of miles every year for ever cheaper cost. American infrastructure projects tend to be super big, then don't do anything for 10+ years before you kickstart everything up again. This is a fairly poor idea if you want to keep knowledge around from the last time it was done.
- trothamel 5y ago
  It's one of those things that's kind of useless if you only do a small number of miles a year though - if you don't have the ability to make the entire journey electric, you have to involve two locomotives and the cost to switch them. That might be why Battery-Electric looks good, as you only need to electrify the two stations.
  - bobthepanda 5y ago
    Not necessarily. Amtrak is currently investing in dual-mode locomotives: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-siemens-finalize-deal-for-new-equipment-to-replace-amfleet-i-equipment/ https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-sie... My understanding of how these work is that when not connected to wires directly, a diesel generator supplies electricity instead. So partial wiring is possible with these. Amtrak has some additional constraints (they can't run diesels under the Hudson River) but to some extent a lot of freight operators have similar restrictions but deal with them differently; due to ventilation concerns, most Western mountain tunnels only permit one train in them at any given time, and the crews have to carry respirators and oxygen in case the trains stall inside the tunnel. --- Britain also has trains that do this running with a program of incremental electrification: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_802 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_802 Once the electrification is complete, the equipment can be converted to full electric operation simply by unplugging the diesel generators.
  - mlyle 5y ago
    It's not too hard to make locomotives that can use electric power in addition to diesel, because the architecture is already an electrical connection between the diesel generator and the wheels.
- seanp2k2 5y ago
  laughing / crying in CAHSR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Spe...

bobthepanda 5y ago

It's not necessarily doing it in bulk that would make it cheap, it's basically turning it into an assembly line capable of doing a small amount of miles every year for ever cheaper cost. American infrastructure projects tend to be super big, then don't do anything for 10+ years before you kickstart everything up again. This is a fairly poor idea if you want to keep knowledge around from the last time it was done.

trothamel 5y ago
It's one of those things that's kind of useless if you only do a small number of miles a year though - if you don't have the ability to make the entire journey electric, you have to involve two locomotives and the cost to switch them. That might be why Battery-Electric looks good, as you only need to electrify the two stations.
- bobthepanda 5y ago
  Not necessarily. Amtrak is currently investing in dual-mode locomotives: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-siemens-finalize-deal-for-new-equipment-to-replace-amfleet-i-equipment/ https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-sie... My understanding of how these work is that when not connected to wires directly, a diesel generator supplies electricity instead. So partial wiring is possible with these. Amtrak has some additional constraints (they can't run diesels under the Hudson River) but to some extent a lot of freight operators have similar restrictions but deal with them differently; due to ventilation concerns, most Western mountain tunnels only permit one train in them at any given time, and the crews have to carry respirators and oxygen in case the trains stall inside the tunnel. --- Britain also has trains that do this running with a program of incremental electrification: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_802 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_802 Once the electrification is complete, the equipment can be converted to full electric operation simply by unplugging the diesel generators.
- mlyle 5y ago
  It's not too hard to make locomotives that can use electric power in addition to diesel, because the architecture is already an electrical connection between the diesel generator and the wheels.
seanp2k2 5y ago
laughing / crying in CAHSR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Spe...