The Railpower GG20B Green Goat is a low-emissions diesel hybrid switcher locomotive built by Railpower Technologies Corp. It is powered by a single Caterpillar C9 six cylinder inline engine developing , which is also connected to a large battery bank where both sources combine for a total power output of . To date, there have been more than 50 GG20B diesel-electric hybrid switchers manufactured since their first introduction in 2004.Railpower Genset Switchers
+Locomotives used for the rebuildLocomotiveFormer nos.ModelBuild dateSourceNotesWillamette Valley Railroad 2890SP 2890, SP 3273 (GP9), SP 5887 (GP9)GP9September 1959Frame
Original Buyers Railroad Quantity Road number(s) Notes Bechtel Group 1 2000 Now S&S Sales and Leasing SSRX 2000GG20B Generation-4 Hybrid Locomotive For Sale BNSF Railway 4 1210-1213 1205 Ex-Canadian Pacific Railway Canadian Pacific Railway 6 1700-1705 Railpower contract later terminated, units sent to different owners: Amtrak 599, BNSF Railway 1205 Kansas City Southern Railway 2 1868-1869 Lubrizol Corporation 1 2006 Modoc Railroad Academy 1 2608 Now S&S Sales and Leasing SSRX 2608GG20B Generation- 3rd Generation Hybrid Locomotive For Sale Railpower Technologies 5 2401-2405 Demonstration Units Railserve 10 414, 1602, 1621, 1810, 2402, 2605, 4495, 4547, 8049, & 9140 Ordered with non-consistent running numbers Union Pacific Railroad 21 Y2004 & Y2300-2319 Units classed by UP as "GG20GE" United States Army 4 6000-6003 Total 55Railpower GG20B Roster
Fuel-cell testbed BNSF Railway and Vehicle Projects converted a GG20B to an experimental testbed, for the use of hydrogen fuel cells. The new locomotive is designated HH20B. The locomotive was publicly demonstrated for the first time on June 29, 2009, at Topeka, Kansas.
The locomotive, BNSF 1205, was originally built in 1957 as Canadian Pacific 8637 (renumbered 1544 in the 1980s), a GMD GP9 locomotive. In 2006, it was rebuilt into a GG20B for the Canadian Pacific, but was not delivered, due to the cancellation of the order. It was sold to BNSF in 2008, and shipped to the railroad's shops at Topeka, Kansas for conversion. The diesel generator set was removed, and the fuel cell power unit was installed in its place. Hydrogen storage is in a set of tanks installed in a heavily vented enclosure on top of the locomotive's long hood, above the batteries. To date, it is the largest land vehicle on earth to be powered exclusively by hydrogen fuel cells.
In 2023, the locomotive (without its hydrogen components) was donated to the Oklahoma Railroad Museum, which plans on using it as a control car and for electricity generation on the end of its excursion trains.
See also
List of low emissions locomotives
References