Cargo Business Newswire

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Port of Tacoma wins EPA grant to green Tacoma Rail locomotive

Short line railroad Tacoma Rail will repower its oldest locomotive, thanks in part to a $601,949 Diesel Emissions Reduction grant awarded to the Port of Tacoma from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The 58-year-old General Motors-built GP-20 locomotive will undergo a revamp that will reduce diesel particulates by 62 percent, idling time by 50 percent and greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption by 25 percent.

The port won the grant, to offset part of the $1.5 million cost of the repowering project, in a national competition. The port will also provide a $30,000 in-kind contribution to manage the project.

Tacoma Rail, part of municipally owned Tacoma Public Utilities, will pay an additional $902,000. The utility has received a $200,000 grant from the State Department of Ecology to help mitigate that cost.

In a typical repowering project, an outside contractor replaces the 2,000-horsepower '50s-era diesel that powers the generator that creates electricity for the electric motors that turn the wheels of the locomotive. Sometimes a small additional diesel engine is installed to keep warmed water flowing through the main engine, providing power to restart that engine after it has been shut down.

Tacoma Rail's chief mechanical officer Alen Matheson said three of the railroad's 14 locomotives are equipped with modern emission controls. He said the new project would repower a fourth, scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

For more of the News Tribune story: thenewstribune.com