CHICAGO — Siemens is investigating the cause of a battery fire in one of its Charger locomotives that halted an Amtrak Hiawatha train Tuesday evening. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a southbound Milwaukee to Chicago Hiawatha stopped near …
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/08/16-siemens-battery-fire
Lithium battery or traditional lead-acid battery?
Based on what I’ve read elsewhere, probably a lead-acid battery.
I believe the PRIIA 305 standards essentially call for lead-acid. Hoppecke Industrial, which is a prime supplier for Siemens Mobility, is just now getting around to deploying Li-ion batteries for locomotives … to optimize a kind of hybrid operation.
The battery boxes dangle on either side of the locomotive, all the way at the rear, almost entirely separate from the carbody and structure. They seem to me to be peculiarly exposed to road damage in that position, and perhaps that will turn out to be a contributing factor here.