As predictable as the swallows returning to Capist...

2009-06-14T09:49:41.082-07:00

As predictable as the swallows returning to Capistrano, the yamer about BNSF electrifying certain traffic corridors has returned.

Converting the freight rail system to electric trains from today's all diesel environment might seem like a far off notion, but BNSF Railways' Matthew Rose says they are starting to explore this new frontier.

New frontier? Doesn't Mr. Rose remember the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific? Hardly a "new frontier."

In my opinion such prattle is mere cocktail hour talk; don't be surprised if Mr. Rose doesn't remember you in the morning.

If his rambling ideas pan out, BNSF's still early planning efforts could help produce historic change for North American freight railroads. Rose, The Great Pumpkin's chairman, president and CEO, says his company in "in talks with electrical power line builders about stringing or burying transmission lines in some of BNSF's inter-city corridors."

With those line-easement leases emerging as a possible new revenue source, (quite a different notion from stringing caterary,) BNSF officials are also weighing how to electrify the carriers mainline track system and asking equipment makers about locomotive that could run both under electric and diesel power.

Hello! You can ask me, Mr. Rose. Fairbanks-Morse built the P-12-42 for both the Boston & Maine and the New Haven. And General Motors Division built a fleet of 60 FL-9's for the New Haven. Both had "electric and diesel power." (Traction motors could care less where the juice comes from.)

What rubbish. The true student of catenary systems know that construction costs would be astronomical and take years in the planning and execution.

Don't hold your breath. You will see high speed rail around the Tehachapi Pass Loops before a single wire is strung!

Comments on Washington Railblog: BNSF Exploring Electrification

As predictable as the swallows returning to Capist...