Electrifying America's Railroads - Bill Moyer of 'Solutionary Rail' #BuildIt

What if we could power America's railroads through electricity to make our transportation system cleaner, faster, and safer?

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[rest_in_prince_I_h_trains]

General Electric and a few other mega companies in the US have an enormous potential for railroad electrification and applying EMU technology to passenger trains. The best thing to do after electrifying the entire railway network is to tweak the passenger trains with EMU traction technology and make sure that all trains can run on diesel electric power supply.

I think that this is an optimistic approach to the future rail industry in the US since companies like GE can turn the US into a more competetive manufacturing country competing against Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland, Spain and China in the rail industry.

[anthonya]

I think this electrification of railroads in the US would be really great. We need less diesel and coal powered trains. For example, Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is electric from Boston To Washington DC. But some of the commuter trains on the corridor are still mostly diesel such as, Marc, MBTA, MTA Metro North, VRE and others. The ones that are the pure electric services are SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) and NJT (New Jersey Transit). Plus diesel trains are very slow, dangerous, and bad for the environment. Electric engines are more efficient faster, and need less maintenance also lighter in weight. And also there’s something plenty of land to extend the northeast corridor out west and down south and even north into Canada. And about the freight, electric engines would get to the destination faster than they do now. This is just what I think would be better for the US.

[RaisedLetter]

A great region to start that would be the northeast. Working from Pittsburgh, Richmond and Buffalo working inward to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Jersey City. Within time, you can work out a solid electrified connection between Roanoke, Atlanta, Chicago, and Jacksonville.

[henry]

Then theres the eminent domain problems that California and Texas are currently having. This approach from Solutionary Rail is way better. Keep up the good work Solutionary Rail and Steel Interstate!

[geflasht]

European High Speed Rail Infrastructure - it´s magic.



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[vaska]

Isn't the Northeast Corridor not entirely electrified? I would have thought that the NEC would have been the proper proof of concept for expanding electrification.

[futurefirefighter]

My question is how are you going to get the freight railroads to buy electric engines and replace their diesel engines, especially since electric locomotives built now in the USA are considerably more expensive than their European counterparts. You also must think about how expensive it is to electrify any railroad, Japan, and Europe electrified their systems after world war 2 when it was cheaper to do so. Now it's going to cost multiple billions of dollars. I really like the idea, but you must think how to do it cheaply because if it's going to be a multi-billion dollar project, the oil companies will fight you tooth and nail and you just gave them some ammunition.

[bababoey]

this i can agree on, we atleast need a federal High Speed rail Network nationwide

[hansemist]

I think that greener steam-electric power stations is more efficient for powering electric locomotives everywhere, this could be a solution to the pollution problem in the world! It could have saved the world from being polluted by oil and gas, not to mention being a huge alternative to diesel-electric traction.

[backbonebill]

Demetrius & #BuildIt - thanks again for this opportunity. Hope it is ok to share access to the book with the below. We've been having some issues with Amazon so the below may be helpful.

We encourage folks who want to purchase a paper copy of the book do so through IndieBound.org. An online purchase at Indiebound supports a network of independent bookstores. Amazon is listing Solutionary Rail, but the last order made there had to wait for fulfillment from the UK!
Let's put our money where are values are and support independent booksellers.

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Forward Together!

Bill

[raphaelamor]

As a european, I have always found it so funny that the USA does not improve its infrastructure. You guys have a country which is huge: it is much too big to transport goods by road. Rail is even more appropriate for you guys than for us in Europe where the distances are much shorter. Take a look at China. China is about the same size as the US. They are building rail like mad and it is a commercially the best solution to freight transportation. So, for a country like the US, which is always praising free-trade and capitalism, it just seems really weird that you do not invest in schemes that actually make money.

[johnhanserud]

I think The railroads would have to use a multifueled Steam generator for long distance electric trains!..

[mohammedhossain]

Railroad Crossing Signals in the electric trains.

[hansemist]

I think people are already palling on using steam microturbines and small steam reciprocating engines for railroad electrification..

[WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Our freight trains should be pulled by steam. Steam power. Our passenger trains should be high speed.

[paulafeudo]

Can we top the Mexico-Wall, maybe have a Rail Bond to pay for it...MagLev perhaps!

[Jemalacane]

I am for rail electrification, but electric locomotives will need the enormous tractive effort and adhesion of diesel locomotives. Diesel locomotives have about the highest tractive effort and adhesion and indeed diesels have the pulling record in terms of weight. And actually, diesel-electrics are more energy efficient where freight is concerned than electrics. A 3.2 megawatt diesel-electric can outpull an 8.6 megawatt electric. Holland is not 100% renewable. They have 10, 126 megawatts of installed fossil-fired generating capacity. It's about time we stamped out the 100% renewable fallacy. France does so much better with large amounts of nuclear power.

[chrisherman]

just a question...where will the power come from based on our antiquated grid which has black and brown outs....??

[greynolds]

high speed passenger? maybe, cross country freight and passenger?I really doubt it seeing as the gains aren't worth the cost of the infrastructure to most railroads. You have to build new track if you want more speed, you have to build third rails or panto graphs over the thousands of miles of track, then you have to convert locomotives to run on diesel or electric or buy new ones. I think new routes with short fast trains being built can use electric quite well but existing routes will be difficult.

[tomasdionnet]

Electrifying the 250.000 miles rail network of the US, would cost roughly, 7.75 Billion dollars. Studies must be made in order to analyse the viability of such a huge endeavour.