(The following column by Phil Kadner appeared on the Southtown Star website on March 25, 2009.)
CHICAGO — I call it the Prius of locomotives. The folks at the National Railway Equipment Co. factory in Dixmoor quickly correct me.
The N-ViroMotive system, as they call it, actually is three diesel genset engines controlled by a computer that tells each how much power to generate depending on need.
See, that’s sort of like a Prius, without the battery power.
In addition, horsepower is automatically reduced or increased to each of the wheels to improve traction.
I would compare that to Positraction, like in “My Cousin Vinny,” but I fear Len Mysiewicz, the shop superintendent, would crack my head with a wrench.
I’m probably the worst guy to be writing this story because my eyes glaze over at the mention of a carburetor.
But to discover that the cutting edge of fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly locomotive technology is taking place in a plant in a tiny south suburb is a stunner.
Actually, National Railway Equipment, founded in 1984, claims to be the world’s largest distributor of remanufactured locomotives. It moved its headquarters to downstate Mount Vernon several years ago and now has four plants (three in Illinois, one in Kentucky).
Around 2001, with new federal guidelines for locomotive emissions scheduled for 2012, the company saw an opportunity to not only rebuild engines but create something new. By 2006, it had developed a prototype.
They’re called green locomotives because nitrous oxide and carcinogenic particulate-matter emissions are cut by 60 percent. Fuel costs are cut by 50 percent. And the company contends its locomotives are much quieter than the old-fashioned single-engine kind.
President Barack Obama probably didn’t have National Railway Equipment in mind when he spoke about investing billions in 21st century fuel-saving technology to create jobs and promote economic growth. But the folks who work in Dixmoor believe that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Now if only they could get some help.
Metra, the commuter rail agency, plans to purchase 10 new locomotive engines for about $35 million. When Ed Paesel, a Metra board member and Southland resident, heard about the plan, he notified National Railway.
But the initial bid specifications called for only the traditional, single-engine diesel-powered locomotives.
James M. Wurtz Jr., National Railway’s vice president of marketing and sales, said he only wants a fair chance for his company to compete in the bidding process.
National Railway employs about 500 workers at its Illinois plants but also creates jobs for a number of local suppliers. The largest may be Funk-Linko Rail Products in Chicago Heights, a 100-year-old company that began by making signposts. Funk-Linko makes the platforms on which the N-ViroMotive engine system sits.
Other local suppliers include Capital Engineering in Harvey (locomotive cabs and fuel tanks) and a business in South Holland that makes undercarriage components.
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd), of Chicago, and state Rep. David Miller (D-Lynwood) urged Metra to reconsider its bidding procedures, which were supposed to close Tuesday.
Early Tuesday morning, Metra’s executive director and board chairman met with representatives from National Railway and Funk-Linko.
The companies were given five days to determine if they could submit a bid that met federal rail safety standards, according to a Metra spokeswoman.
If they can, the bidding deadline would be extended by anywhere from 30 to 60 days.
But Metra contends that its guidelines already meet or exceed all current standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Of course, those are the standards in 2009, not those for 2012 and beyond.
The Metra spokeswoman emphasized that the locomotives will be purchased using Metra’s capital funds and a matching grant from the state. Federal stimulus money will not be used.
Back at the National Railway plant in Dixmoor, some employees have been laid off, victims of the economic crisis. Yet there are nearly a dozen locomotives in various states of repair or manufacture throughout the yard.
“It looks like a junk yard from the (nearby) Interstate 57 overpass,” Wurtz said, referring to an area littered with locomotive parts.
Indeed, the factory at 144th Street and Robey Avenue is difficult to see from the nearest road. The entrance to the plant is marked by a sign so faded that it’s easy to miss.
Rail lines run directly into the plant and just north and south.
Mysiewicz, the shop superintendent, is a genial man who has devoted his life to building locomotive engines. He explains that his father and grandfather also were railroad men.
He’s hoping this is his future as well as his past. He allowed me to sit in a locomotive cabin, every kid’s dream.
I can’t help feeling that Metra ought to give these people a fair shot at landing the bid. Maybe it should consider rewriting the specifications with the future and a local manufacturer in mind.
Requiring fuel-efficient, pollution-cutting locomotives might actually be a good idea.
Rules have been bent for far worse purposes in the history of Illinois.