Railpower Technologies
RJ Corman Rail Power is an American company for the development and production of low-emission locomotives, headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania. The company belongs since 2009 to the group of RJ Corman Railroad.
History
1995 found Frank Donnelly and Gerard Koldyk Rail Power Technologies Inc. to implement developed by Donnelly patents for low-emission locomotive drive ( liquefied natural gas and hybrid engines). The merger with Envirotrain Capital Corporation by Gerard Koldyk the company was converted to Rail Power Technologies Corporation on June 30, 2001. In the same year, the first prototype of the "Green Goat " Hybrid locomotives was completed. Multiple shares were issued in the following years in order to finance the company. As of 2003, the venture capital firm Richardson Ventures Inc. acquired shares in the company. As a consequence, the company's management has been completely replaced. In 2004, one U.S. subsidiary Rail Power Hybrid Technologies Corp.. headquartered in Erie. 2006 were, as another production line locomotives with reduced emission Genset diesel engines before. With these vehicles, the most successful production run was created. This is also because there was a fire in the hybrid models produced until early 2006. Therefore, in mid-2007 was a recall of the locomotives to evaluate them and bring them to the technologically updated. The hybrid drive system has since been modified as a power generator for portal cranes. In early February 2009, it was requested receivership for the company in Canada and in the United States and the beginning of May acquired RJ Corman Railroad fixed assets.
Vehicle production
By mid-August 2007 172 locomotives were manufactured. Since Rail Power does not own workshops, the production orders to other companies will be awarded. So locomotives will be built ( after delivery of appropriate kits ) at Alstom in Calgary at Canadian Allied Diesel in Montreal, at Super Steel in Schenectady and in the workshops of Norfolk Southern Railway and Rail Serve.
The locomotives are not complete rebuilds. For the vehicles you can use the reclaimed frames of locomotives of the EMD GP or the comparable GE products. This is then the drive unit and the neugefertigte engine cowling and the cab to be set.