If oil prices went super crazy.
If we run out of oil just were will the electricity come from is a question that is often on my mind. So electric locomotives are not the answer, the transmission of power is only one more place to loose the amount of energy generated. Solar Turbines at one time had a wood chip fired turbine that could generate electricity and that might be adaptable for mobile applications. Our rail system is reaching the point of saturation, and many of the rail lines that have been abandoned can not be reclaimed. Which means we had better develop the transporter beam and do away with so many other methods of transportation. Beam me up Scotty, there is no intelligent life here!
If oil prices continue to go up with no sign of relief (meaning years into the future) then, as others have already said, I think many of the large railroads which could afford it would begin contemplating energizing at least their most heavily used main lines. Still, even with today's AC technology being very efficient and allowing one to string wires over vast distances without a significant power loss it is still awfully expensive. Trains Magazine covered a piece a few years ago on the likelihood of railroads (Class Is) ever electrifying significant portions of their systems and came to the conclusion that unless absolutely justifiable they would seek other alternatives due to high costs of construction. While steam might be such an alternative they would try it's still pretty maintenance intensive and would require frequent fuel stops resulting in increased transit times (even with the newer technologies the motive power would employ). Just purely an educated guess but I think that the industry might go for something like the locomotives developed by RailPower Technologies, which use batteries and diesel generators as prime movers. If a company like RailPower could develop a much more powerful model than what they currently offer (which is only around 2,000 hp), similar to the SD70ACes and ES44ACs of today, then you would have an extremely fuel efficient locomotive that is powerful enough to move the heaviest freight yet also very environmentally friendly.
The cost of diesel goingup is actually good for railroads. Due to their efficiency they move much more freight per gallon of fuel than a truck. As fuel goes up, the railroads are better able to compete and like any business, it is just one more expense and they have to pass it on to their consumers. There is vegetable oil substitutes for diesel fuel but I dont think we have anywhere near the capacity to produce the amount of vegetable oil necessary to replace petroleum based fuel. Turning our food sources into fuel does not seem to be a wise choice, look at the increase in global food prices as we race toward burning more and more corn in our gas tanks. I dont see going back to steam as being an environmentally acceptable substiture, perhpas onboard steam turbine generators but I dont see it happeing. What we are using now is better. Straight electric locomotives work better than diesel once the overhead system is installed, it is expensive but can be done. The country would need more generating capacity but that can be done also. Railroads using clectrictiy via overhead lines are quite efficient, they recycle electricity as trains go downhill. In the future, that is what you will see, starting in inner city areas first but the country will move toward more electrics in a greener world.
People, when you see a locomotive pulling other locomotives doesn't mean they're all doing the work to carry the load. SOmetimes they are just taking them to a different location, or to a shop or if it's a long trip they will rotate them. The diesel locomotive will not be replaced at least for the next 80 years. They came up with ultra low emissions anf fuel efficient locomotives made my General electric. As for 100% electrical locomotives, hmmmmmmm I don't see that happening, they would have either a cable on top or on the rails to energize the locomotive and would be too hard to maintain in case of floods, rain, wind.
Rango is correct.Straight electric would be the way to go.All that diesel does is power a big generator anyways.I don't see it happening in the near future though.The trucks on the highway are wasting much more fuel than the railroads are.One gallon of fuel will move a ton of freight on the rails about 400 miles.A truck gets it about 59 miles. Bob just as a side note we don't have short time rating anymore on locomotives like the SD 70 and the C44ac and theC45ac.They will grind along all day at low speed.
