Why US Railroads should Electrify their Mainlines

I'm feeling that Conrail Vaporwave.

Y'all are probably gonna argue in the comments either about nationalization or how diesels are more efficient or some shit, I know it.

My Discord:

[alanthefisher]

As you can tell by the intro being set in the winter of 2018-2019, this video has been stuck in editing purgatory. Well it's finally out now, abet with a few problems here or there. Enjoy!

[brandonlink]

Imagine thinking it's impossible to electrify American railroads today when 150 years ago they were running telegraph lines along the railroads.

[notarotomwithhair]

“What about doublestacks?” Look at India, I am not Indian but I am amazed by the fact they managed to get doublestacks under pantograph

[wewillrockyou]

As a European the first thing you mention which strikes me is that they change locomotives in a major station like Washington... Here in Europe almost certainly you'd just get out and hop on different diesel powered train... In the Netherlands all the major stations have "coordinated" schedules where basically all the useful changes give you 5-10 minutes to go from one train to the other... I guess if the trains have terrible timeliness that becomes a problem, but basically all services here are twice hourly so at worst you lose half an hour.

[btomimatsucunard]

I'm kinda surprised that Amtrak takes 25 minutes to switch out locomotives, when in the old days the railroads could switch out locomotives between electrified and non electrified territory in 5-10 minutes.

[lukasegeling]

Switzerland's railway network has been fully electrified for a very long time. Funny enough, when a storm caused big damage to the electrification fixtures that took weeks to repair, the Berner Oberlandbahn had to borrow DMUs from Germany because Switzerland had none.

[goliathprojects]

People: "Save the climate!"
Gouvernement: "Let's electrify the railroad then."
People: "Hell no, you crazy!?"

[robmoney]

Creating jobs to build and maintain rail lines. Like that would ever happen.

[Alcofoamer]

From here on out v a p o r w a v e C a r a m e l l d a n s e n is the official theme song of C o n r a i l .

[adriandaniel]

When that Soviet anthem started my capitalist iPhone just shut down and typed the FBI number and started calling them.

[penncentral]

Sadly the way things are at the moment, electrification ain’t gonna happen but is a really good idea. And it would be very expensive. Americans are so focused on automobiles and planes that they could care less about our railroads. I doubt the freights companies would even allow this. We suck at improving our infrastructure

[ja-vishaara]

It's amazing how much mileage you get out of the vaporwave-esque shot of a train with 'the conrail era' on it

[fb]

As someone from Europe, I love diesels, but electrics are superior in almost every way. While I do hope a lot more rail gets electrified, I think It would be nice to leave a few diesels around. A single diesel locomotive is still going to be more efficient and less polluting than several trucks. Great video!

[crvcrfing]

Someone: *spitting the facts about electric trains*
NJT ALP-46: *vibing*

[Pwyou]

I really like the Milwaukee Road! but the whole system wasn't electrified. the was a GAP in the system because the railroad had ran out of money to fill the gap. various amount of bankruptcy later. they still had this gap, thought about closing it, because Changing engines on your freight trains also take time and Profit from freight runs. When Dieselisation happened to the rest of the system they decided it would be easier to have them everywhere, instead of some sections. So they scrapped the electric wire and engines.

So one of my Biggest what if's is Just that, if the Milwaukee Road had been more Financially stable, closed the GAP and kept and updated their electric fleet. I really just want to see what American electric Freight locomotives design would've looked like if development had continued.

[SleepTrain]

As an American railfan, I can see why one can support electrifying US railroads! After all, North America is the only continent I can think of (apart from Antarctica, which doesn't even _have_ railroads) that hasn't embraced the overhead line!

[dragonstormdipro]

India will electrify it’s entire railtrack within 2024. Out of 65000 km, 40000 is finished, another 7000 km will by added by July 2021. The goal is to make the rail Carbon neutral by 2030. It's progressing pretty well. US needs to work urgently on this regard, it'll save a lot of money on the long run.

[funnygeorge]

6:22 You're gonna make me fucking cry showing me that utopian, electrified, separated rail

[briandynamite]

I do just want to add some notes, when it comes electrification because of the oil crisis, is because the oil crisis did not last as long as many had thought, so railroads who planned on electrification just decided not to when the crisis died down. Also in a way Amtrak and conrail are to blame for the lack of freight electrification on the ne corridor. Apparently Amtrak owns the electrification system, access charges were low at first but because Amtrak was made to be financially self sufficient, they increased electrification access charges, soo conrail also trying to be “self sufficient” they didn’t like these access charges and went with diesel. Conrail was basically trying to manage the finances of all the railroads under their control, mainly because it was designed to be a for profit railroad. With all of penn central’s debut.

[Mars-evqg]

Indian national railways is quickly expanding the electrification of its system. Just a few minutes ago, I saw a video of a double stack container train running on one of India's new electric freight corridors. This was some of the most modern railway infrastructure I've ever seen. I'd even go so far as to say it was better than the northeast corridor. Electric trains are not new in India. The Delhi to Agra lines have been electric powered for many years. Diesel smoke is especially bad for the ancient stone temples and other monuments in Delhi and Agra. Pollution from car, train, and power plant emissions have already damaged the Taj Mahal. Now, with the price of oil skyrocketing, the Indian government has decided to make the entire network electric. It will take many years for this project to be completed, but it will reduce Indian dependency on imported oil dramatically. Any project of this scale must be done in stages. Lines that see the most traffic and those that pass close to particularly sensitive natural or cultural sites are first in line for electrification. When I was in India in 2018, the first few poles for the overhead wires on the Agra to khajuraho line were being put up. That line was selected because it ends just a few kilometers from the temples of khajuraho, an unsco world heritage site that has become a popular tourist destination in recent years. There's also a state park that's home to endangered birds near the end of the line as well. I doubt this particular line is a top priority for the project, but it's clearly something the Indian government was definitely working on.
Another thing to consider is that trains don't just burn diesel they also leak it. Older locomotives can actually leak a significant amount. During a train crash, diesel tanks can rupture, turning the wreck into an inferno. Diesel spills, large and small, can't be good for India's critical rice crop either.
Here's a video of one of India's new electric freight corridors in action.