Waste is a greener thing to mind with KLW

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief

The New York & Atlantic Railway (NY&A), Waste Management of New York (WMNY) and the New York City Department of Sanitation have joined forces on a Locomotive Repower Project to redesign and repower a diesel-electric freight locomotive with state-of-the-art low-emissions diesel technologies supplied by KLW (Knoxville Locomotive Works). The U.S. EPA, through the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program, as authorized by the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), is funding this project.

The repowered, EPA Tier 4-compliant locomotive will be based at NY&A’s Fresh Pond Rail Yard in Glendale, Queens. It will serve approximately 20 local businesses in Queens and Brooklyn, among them WMNY’s Varick Avenue, Williamsburg, and Review Avenue, Long Island City truck-to-rail waste transfer stations).

The project involves replacing one pre-1973 1,200-hp switcher locomotive with a mother-slug configuration to improve efficiency. The conversion is expected to save an estimated 18,000 gallons of fuel and reduce emissions by 9.75 tons of NOX, 0.22 tons of PM (particulate matter) and 230 tons of CO2 equivalent, annually.

“Repowering to a low-emission configuration is recognized as an effective means to substantially reduce locomotive emissions, and will benefit many New York City neighborhoods including Bushwick and East Williamsburg in Brooklyn’s Community District 1 and Glendale, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Blissville and Long Island City in Queen’s Community districts 2 and 5,” WMNY noted. “The Locomotive Repower Project will make New York City’s solid waste management plan more sustainable, lower the locomotive’s fuel consumption and improve air quality in residential neighborhoods adjacent to the rail line. It will provide direct benefits to the communities of Western Queens and Northern Brooklyn. Both are Environmental Justice communities where local elected officials are supportive of this project. Repowering locomotives to run on clean diesel will increase the environmental benefits of rail transport.”

 

 

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