Accumulator railcar
Encyclopedia
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
whose energy is derived from rechargeable batteries that drive its traction motor
Traction motor
Traction motor refers to an electric motor providing the primary rotational torque of a machine, usually for conversion into linear motion ....
s.
The main advantage of these vehicles is their clean, quiet operation. They do not use fossil fuels like coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
or diesel fuel, emit no exhaust gas
Exhaust gas
Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline/petrol, diesel fuel, fuel oil or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe, flue gas stack or propelling nozzle.It often disperses...
es and do not require the railway to have expensive infrastructure like electric ground rails
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
or overhead catenary
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
. On the down side is the weight of the batteries, which raises the vehicle weight, and their range before recharging of between 300 and 600 kilometres. Accumulator cars have a higher purchase price and running cost than petrol or diesel railcars and need a network of charging stations along the routes they work.
History
Experiments with battery-electric railcars were conducted from around 1890 in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. In the USA, railcars of the Edison-Beach type, with nickel-iron batteriesNickel-iron battery
The nickel–iron battery is a storage battery having a nickel oxide-hydroxide cathode and an iron anode, with an electrolyte of potassium hydroxide. The active materials are held in nickel-plated steel tubes or perforated pockets...
were used from 1911. In New Zealand, a battery-electric Edison railcar
NZR RM class (Edison battery-electric)
The NZR RM class Edison battery-electric railcar was a popular and successful railcar that ran in Canterbury, New Zealand for eight years. The prototype was arguably the first successful railcar in New Zealand but it was not developed into a class...
operated from 1926 to 1934. The Drumm nickel-zinc battery
Nickel-zinc battery
The nickel–zinc battery is a type of rechargeable battery that may be used in cordless power tools, cordless telephones, digital cameras, battery operated lawn and garden tools, professional photography, flashlights, electric bikes, and light electric vehicle sectors.Larger nickel–zinc battery...
was used on four 2-car sets between 1932 and 1946 on the Harcourt Street Line in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and British Railways used lead-acid batteries in a railcar in 1958
British Rail BEMU
The Battery Electric Multiple Unit was an experimental two-car multiple unit, built at the same time and in the same style as the prototype Derby Lightweight Diesel multiple units....
. Between 1955 and 1995 DB
DB
DB may refer to:In science and technology:*Decibel , a logarithmic unit of measurement in acoustics and electronics*Dubnium , a chemical element*DB connector, a size of D-subminiature electrical connector...
railways successfully operated 232 DB Class ETA 150
DB Class ETA 150
The accumulator cars of Class ETA 150 were German railbuses used extensively by the Deutsche Bundesbahn over 40 years. The driving cars were very comfortable to travel in because they were quiet , rode well on the rails due to the weight of the batteries and were pollution-free...
railcars utilising lead-acid batteries.
Germany
In 1887 the first German accumulator cars were placed in service by the Royal Bavarian State RailwaysRoyal Bavarian State Railways
As a nation-state, Germany did not come into being until the creation of the German Empire in 1871 from the various German-speaking states such as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Baden and Württemberg. By then each of the major states had formed its own state railway and these continued to remain...
. Their development continued with the pre-Second World War classes ETA 177 to 180, the post-war DB Class ETA 176 and finally ended with DB Classes 150, 515 and 517
DB Class ETA 150
The accumulator cars of Class ETA 150 were German railbuses used extensively by the Deutsche Bundesbahn over 40 years. The driving cars were very comfortable to travel in because they were quiet , rode well on the rails due to the weight of the batteries and were pollution-free...
. The latter were used until 1995 having been since modernised into the Nokia ETA, painted light grey and green and deployed onto the so-called Nokia Railway (timetable number RB 46), nowadays the Glückauf-Bahn from Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof
Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station and Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Gelsenkirchen...
via Wanne-Eickel
Wanne-Eickel Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof of the former city of Wanne-Eickel, now part of Herne in western Germany.-History :The station grew out of the Pluto-Thies freight yard, opened in 1856 on the Duisburg–Dortmund line section of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company's trunk line, which was opened in 1847. In 1864, a...
to Bochum
Bochum Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Bochum in western Germany. In its current incarnation, it was built from 1955 to 1957 and is one of the most notable 1950s railway stations in Germany....
.
United Kingdom
Accumulator railcars used by British RailBritish Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
included the British Rail BEMU
British Rail BEMU
The Battery Electric Multiple Unit was an experimental two-car multiple unit, built at the same time and in the same style as the prototype Derby Lightweight Diesel multiple units....
and British Rail Class 419
British Rail Class 419
The British Rail Class 419 Motor Luggage Vans were built from 1951-61 by BR at Eastleigh Works.-Description:Ten of these units were built for the boat trains from London Victoria to Dover and Folkestone...
. The Class 419 could work either on batteries or a third rail.
United States
The Edison-Beach battery rail car was developed by Thomas EdisonThomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
and Ralph H. Beach. The latter headed the Railway Storage Battery Car Company and the Electric Car & Locomotive Corp . Car #105 of the Alaska Railroad
Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...
was an Edison-Beach car . A notable feature of the Edison-Beach cars was the Beach drive system. Each wheel was mounted on ball bearing
Ball bearing
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this by using at least two races to contain the balls and transmit...
s on a dead axle and was driven by an individual traction motor
Traction motor
Traction motor refers to an electric motor providing the primary rotational torque of a machine, usually for conversion into linear motion ....
through gear
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
ing .
Accumulator locomotives
In addition to accumulator railcars there are also accumulator locomotives that are used on underground trains, for mining and industrial duties. Examples include the London Underground battery-electric locomotivesLondon Underground battery-electric locomotives
London Underground Battery-electric locomotives, most commonly known as battery locomotives are used for hauling engineers' trains, as they can operate when the electric traction current is switched off...
.