SC's Charleston-based freight hauler hops on the EV train
John McDermott — Post & Courier
It hasn't arrived at the station yet, but electrification of the freight-train business is moving down the tracks.
Palmetto Railways is on board.
The S.C. Commerce Department's short-haul carrier was recently awarded a $4.17 million federal grant to buy two conventional fossil-fuel-driven locomotives and convert them to battery power in a first for the state-run rail system. The funding also will offset the cost of installing a charging system. The deal requires a 35 percent local match of about $1.2 million.
Palmetto Railways was one of 70 recipients in 35 states and Washington, D.C., to receive money from a program for rail-related safety and supply chain upgrades. Among the key local benefits will be a reduction in diesel-fuel emissions.
"We're excited to be on the front end of a new technology," said CEO Patrick McCrory.
The Charleston-based train operator applied for the money a year ago through a program that targets projects that "will tackle issues facing communities and invest in a 21st century rail network yielding greater benefits," the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration said.
"The technology is robust enough to pursue the funding, which is is why we waited until this point," McCrory said.
The next steps include tracking down a pair of locomotives to purchase, which could take a year. Once converted, they'll be added to the existing Charleston-based fleet of 13 diesel-powered lead-dog behemoths that Palmetto Railways owns.
"I'm shooting for two years," McCrory said.
Power play
The retrofitted locomotives will be assigned to support the area near the State Ports Authority's North Charleston Terminal and the maritime agency's $468 million truck-and-rail hub that's scheduled to open on the old Navy base in mid-2025.
They won't look much different from the locomotives that Palmetto Railways is using now — from the outside. McCrory noted that the existing lead cars date back to the 1960s and 1970s, though they don't show their age.
"We're constantly upfitting them with new motors and electrical technologies," he said. "As years go on you upgrade with the same body. You're repainting, you're maintaining rust."
As for the engines, situated in an aft section of the car known as the "long hood," they're either replaced or overhauled every 10 years
"For this project, you take this diesel component out of it," McCrory said. "You take that out and replace it with a battery transformer unit that supplies and retains the power to drive the motors that move the wheels."
Palmetto Railways intermodal facility at Navy Base
One of the electric-powered locomotives that Palmetto Railways plans to add to its fleet will be assigned to the State Ports Authority's future Navy Base Intermodal Facility in North Charleston. File/Provided rendering
He added that traditional freight locomotives "actually are really well set up" to be converted to run on lithium-based power packs "because the wheel motors — the traction motors is what we call them — are electric already."
"They've been electric for decades. ... All you have to do is replace the main power getting to those motors," McCrory said.
The earliest battery-powered locomotive mounted the rails nearly 180 years ago. According to numerous reports, Scottish chemist Robert Davidson built at least two prototypes in the 1840s. He was followed by Charles Grafton Page, an American inventor who tested an electric locomotive on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1851.
"It reached 19 mph before breaking down," according to Trains.com. "Unfortunately, despite its early pioneers, battery-powered locomotive technology was not advanced enough at the time to make it a practical solution ... to replace expensive steam locomotives."
Duration and decibels
The idea is now getting a 21st century recharge. In early 2022, Union Pacific announced plans to spend more than $100 million on 20 battery-electric locomotives "for testing in yard operations," in what it said was the largest such acquisition by a major U.S. railroad.
“These investments will contribute to further developing this important technology and providing industry-wide benefits,” the Omaha, Neb.-based company said in February.
McCrory said the rail industry's latest electrification renaissance is "at the very beginning," adding that one of the keys to widespread adoption will be stamina, or "duration." At Palmetto Railways, the goal is to ensure the two new locomotives can pull a certain amount of tonnage and put in a maximum work shift of 12 hours.
"Horsepower is not the issue," McCrory said. "We were waiting for duration. ... Just like you have range on an EV, we want time to operate."
Still, he's unsure whether battery-driven trains are suited for the state-owned carrier's longer rail moves of 15 to 20 miles in the Charleston region. The early sweet spot appears to be in the switching side of the business, which involves moving cars short distances within a yard or at the port.
"I’d like to see how this all looks in the coming years for what we call 'line haul,'" he said. "I just don't know about that yet."
McCrory has ridden the rails on an electric-powered locomotive before. He gave the experience a favorable review.
"They kind of move and feel the same when you handle them, but you can program how the energy comes through the throttle system so that it feels like you're driving a diesel locomotive," he said. "It steps up the same way, which is good for our operators because you want this to be seamless from a safety perspective, too."
The other takeaway: "Quiet. I couldn't tell you the decibel difference, but it is much quieter."
