GE diesel/electric/battery with regen

Cool, but, depressing. We've really been dumping all those lovely electrons to heat since the series hybrid diesels first started rollin'? That's such a shame...

 

Pretty Neat. I'm glad to see they are doing this, and as you pointed out, it is better late than never.

Something that comes to my mind though ... that's A LOT OF ENERGY!!! (I'm guessing that entire blue section is nothing but batteries).

...this leads me to think of a (possibly) better idea .. perhaps at rail depots and places where trains will be coming to a complete stop on a regular basis, they could have electrical wires above (like an electric train) that captures a massive amount of energy and feeds it into the grid. When the trains accelerate, that electricity for the first ~1000 feet could come from the grid.

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Nope, the batteries on the GEVO Hybrid locomotive are all located under the walkways. The blue section is still the engine and radiator compartments as on a regular GEVO diesel locomotive..

As far as regen goes, the Amtrak Acela Express electric train does that-- It returns the electricity regenerated from braking right back into the overhead catenary.

 

Yep, dynamic braking has been with diesel-electric locomotives ever since General Motors started mass-producing the first-ever FT diesel locomotive back in the 1930s-- The FT was the diesel loco that killed the steam locomotive.

All that time since the 1930s from the first FT locomotive to today's 6000-horsepower EMD SD90MAC and GE ES44AC, dynamic braking has been converting regenerated electrons into heat.

 

General Electric also makes another locomotive that uses regenerative braking-- The P32AC-DM Genesis passenger locomotive.

Both Amtrak and Metro-North Commuter Railroad here in New York uses this dual-mode locomotive. It operates on its diesel engine while running on regular train tracks, but when it reaches New York City's tunnels, it switches to using all-electric power by using a third rail (like the NYC Subway). The regenerated electricity from braking is used to power HEP (electricity for lighting and air conditioning in the passenger coaches it hauls). Very neat locomotive.