Didn’t find a thread about this, so bringing it up here.
Do you think these might make ROW’s more productive for railroads? Improve operations - generate electricity, protect trains and ROW’s from weather, vandalism, noise abatement, etc. What about building over yards? Kinda tough for railfans, though.
No. Not here. Too much doom and gloom from our politicians and a population that is hiding in the dark.
The thread linked below is from May 2012:
How about something more a little more mundane but still important?
How about solar powered signaling? I would think that that would make a great backup or replacement for commercial power. This could be beneficial both to lower power costs or keep the lines moving if the power goes out of major storms.
Ungern
My carrier has a number of solar powered installations. Their reliability, from my experiences, has been spotty.
Solar power is found frequently in signaling systems, grade crossing signals, and even radio antenna installations along the rails today. Right now, for American purposes, there would have to be a lot of panels to generate the amount of electricity needed; not sure it is possible yet.
Most of the new tankcars that haul chlorine have small solar panels on top to run the GPS locator system.
Had a solar powered lead switch here for years, and have solar powered radio controlled switches all over the PTRA.
There are also solar powered curve greasers.