On 28 September 2009 Norfolk Southern introduced their new all-electric switcher engine, dubbed the NS 999, and it’s getting a lot of press. This engine, which is a joint venture between the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Railroad Administration, and Penn State University, could be the future of rail freight. However, in most of the articles available there is nothing mentioned of how this new engine differs from prior ones. We need to take a look at what this engine does and what it means before we can get excited about seeing it cruising down the track.

First of all, let’s look at a brief history of how trains work. Trains have run on hybrid engines for decades, with the first working example being developed in 1917. They have a diesel engine that powers an electric generator that powers a traction motor. For trains running through cities and indoors, that diesel generator can be switched out or off in favor of overhead power lines or an electrified third rail.

So the ability to run an electric train has been around for a long time but hasn’t been implemented outside of major cities. The reason for this is that it’s cost prohibitive. Overhead power lines are unsightly, and electrified third rails are expensive and dangerous.

This new engine replaces the diesel engine or outside power source with whopping 1,080 rechargeable, 12-volt, lead-acid batteries. This train has the ability to run for three shifts before it needs recharging, and a switcher shift is eight hours long. No word yet on how long it takes to recharge, but freight trains never really stop running and switchers are especially busy. It also has an experimental regenerative braking system that recaptures some of the energy from breaking and filters it back into the traction system. It looks exactly like the old switcher engines on the outside, but with an all-new monitoring system for all the batteries and the need for recalibration once a week.

All of this is very exciting, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be seeing one of these very soon. A switcher engine is a good prototype for this type of engine because it doesn’t leave the freight yard. It is only used to move cars around the tracks inside the yard and hook up cars for a regular engine. With a regular engine you would have to worry about the batteries running out before it reached its final destination.

The NS 999 is still in the experimental phase, and as such is not actually in use yet. Budget crunching is still being done on cost-effectiveness, and there is still testing to be done on the effectiveness of the regenerative braking system. Still, it’s an exciting step in the right direction of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from rail freight and possibly rail transit in general if the technology can be adapted for regular engines. For now we all just have to wait and see what the future brings.

Image via flickr user alandbering