President Putin prods hydrail ahead

by guest blogger Stan Thompson By fiddling with his oil faucets and natural gas valves, Vladimir Putin may be having the same unintended acceleration effect on Europe’s diesel-to-hydrail transition that John L. Lewis had on the coal-to-diesel transition in the USA during the last century. Recently I’ve heard two ambassadors from European countries explaining to American audiences what […]

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Neumünster, Germany, Hosts 9th International Hydrail Conference

by guest blogger Stan Thompson Neumünster, in the Northern German State of Schleswig-Holstein, will host the Ninth International Hydrail Conference (“9IHC”) on 16-18 June this year (2014). This year’s registration details, presenters and agenda information appear on the Appalachian State University hydrail web site, http://www.hydrail.org. German support for the Hydrail Conference has proved so strong that, for the […]

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ARUBA TO DEBUT 1st HYDROGEN STREETCAR FLEET

by guest Blogger Stan Thompson Before 2014, the Caribbean island nation of Aruba will roll out the world’s first fleet of hydrogen hybrid, self-powered, rail transit vehicles. Los Angeles, CA, transit manufacturer TIG/m Modern Street Railways is building both the streetcars—resembling heritage open trolleys—and the hydrogen production infrastructure needed to power their fuel cells. Energy […]

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Hydrail and Sandy: Learning the Hard Way

Posted on November 1, 2012 By guest blogger, Stan Thompson What you won’t hear, but should, in news coverage about Hurricane Sandy and transit service interruptions is that hydrail—hydrogen fuel cell/battery hybrid—subway trains would  be much less impacted by salt water flooding. That’s not to say subway service could have continued.  Signaling, switching and many […]

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UK Hydrail Conference Date Change Now July 3 – 4, 2012

by guest blogger Stan Thompson The 7th International Hydrail Conference (“7IHC”) will be held one week later than originally planned so that conferees at an important German rail conference can attend both events. During the 20th century, coal-fired steam locomotives gave way to diesel and external electric traction power. Now, in the 21st, diesel and […]

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Hydrail: Spain Leaps Ahead!

By guest blogger Stan Thompson It’s way too easy to miss really important events in the history of hydrogen railroading if they don’t contain the magic searchable word “hydrail”. I missed a huge one last month: the demonstration of Europe’s (and perhaps the world’s) first hydrail train—or maybe the first hydrolley—now planned for regular passenger […]

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