From our President Rich Hane

Those of you that made it to the July meeting were treated to some great treats by Steve Miller and a great program from Tim Moore on the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The photography was very good.

Jumping, perhaps into the future, I have been pleased to see that a number of railroads around the country are giving the new diesel genset engine a chance to prove if it has a place with some railroads.  Bunge North America has purchased 4 of these and they will be used at their operations in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Neptune Bulk Terminals will be using a pair of these in British Columbia, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis had a demonstrator on the property earlier this year.  The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority bought two in March and was even nice enough to put one in an engine house until the New England Railroad Club had a chance to look it over at their monthly meeting at the end of March. Others have been sold around the country but I have not seen a complete list. I know that the San Diego yards had some in operation.

These are made by National Railway Equipment and utilize an interesting concept for saving fuel. Basically, they use either one, two, or three smaller diesel prime movers each equipped with its own generator in each engine.  These individual prime movers can be cut in as needed depending on the load on the engine.  The engine has a sophisticated control system that maximizes fuel efficiency by running the engine at 700 horsepower, 1400 horsepower, or 2100 horsepower depending on the load, thus using only as many prime movers as necessary. And even Lionel has shown interest by announcing that they will offer a new scale sized and detailed model for O Gauge modelers. It sounds to me like National Railway Equipment has an interesting product that may fit in with a lot of railroads and save a bunch of oil.

I do hope to see your smiling faces at the next meeting at 7pm at The Center in beautiful downtown Madisonville on Monday, August 24th and don’t forget that I would appreciate anyone who would like to volunteer to fill out the year as Vice-President and/or to run as VP this fall.