Electric Locomotive - Battery Locomotives

Battery Locomotives

A battery locomotive (or battery-electric locomotive) is a type of electric locomotive powered by on-board batteries; a kind of battery electric vehicle. Such locomotives are used where a conventional diesel or electric locomotive would be unsuitable. An example of use is the hauling of maintenance trains on electrified lines when the electricity supply is turned off, such as by the London Underground battery-electric locomotives.

Another use for battery locomotives is in industrial facilities – as an alternative to the fireless locomotive – where a combustion-powered locomotive (i.e., steam- or diesel-powered) could cause a safety issue, due to the risks of fire, explosion or fumes in a confined space. Battery locomotives are preferred for mines where gas could be ignited by trolley-powered units arcing at the collection shoes, or where electrical resistance could develop in the supply or return circuits, especially at rail joints, and allow dangerous current leakage into the ground. An early example was at the Kennecott Copper Mine, Latouche, Alaska, where in 1917 the underground haulage ways were widened to enable working by two battery locomotives of 4½ tons.

In 1928, Kennecott Copper ordered four 700-series electric locomotives with on-board batteries. These locomotives weighed 85 tons and operated on 750-volt overhead trolley wire with considerable further range whilst running on batteries. The locomotives provided several decades of service using Nickel-iron battery (Edison) technology. The batteries were replaced with lead-acid batteries, and the locomotives were retired shortly afterward. All four locomotives were donated to museums, but one was scrapped. The others can be seen at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad, Iowa, and at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California.