Short line: Brookville CoGeneration locomotive exceeds expectations
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefBrookville Equipment Corp. said late Monday locomotive BMEX259 went into “immediate service” at short line Central California Traction Co.’s Port of Stockton (Calif). operations, "working its three diesel GENSETS and powerful regenerative brakes," with both the manufacturer and the railroad claiming significant results that exceeded expectations.
CCTC General Manager Dave Buccolo says he noted a 43% fuel savings over the railroad’s current fleet of SW1500s. “On the CCTC Lodi Line,” he said, “the BMEX 259 achieved a 49% fuel savings over one of the lines where GP1800 locomotives handle the daily train duties and car counts on the main line at 25 mph.” He added, “CCTC saw the locomotive’s dynamic braking system added to the fuel and brake shoe wear savings.”
Brookville says the locomotive’s “Power on Demand” feature employs a microprocessor to sense when additional engines are needed for power and automatically restarts the engine or engines required, reducing engine exhaust emissions by at least 51% over a single-engine application.
CCTC’s Buccolo also said Brookville’s traction and engine control system (TECU) provided tractive effort that allowed the short line to increase the number of cars hauled per trip. He said substituting the CoGeneration locomotive into a standard CCTC train consist allowed the railroad to pull “4,700 tons out of a dead start up a 2.2% grade for 2,900 feet to a speed of 10 mph,” faster than with the railroad’s current multiple-unit consists.
