INTRODUCING THE HYDROLLEY

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INTRODUCING THEHYDROLLEY

• by Stan Thompsonvolunteer, HEAT,
• the Hydrogen Economy Advancement Team,
• Mooresville-South Iredell Economic Development
  Corporation
• Mooresville, North Carolina USA

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(No Transcript)
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WHY STREETCARS ARE BEING REINTRODUCED

• Developers are willing to commit capital to
  business and residential construction on fixed
  rail transit lines.
• This creates urban demographics not dependent on
  car ownership.
• Higher density means much lower infrastructure
  cost per capita.
• Streetcars are widely thought of as being
  up-market from buses draw more riders.
  

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Somewhere between these pictures...
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...and this picture is the reality of overhead
trolley electrification.
Hydrogen fuel cell hydrolleys wont need it.
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THE HYDROLLEY DIFFERENCE

• on-board fuel cells eliminate the need for
  overhead power, leaving utility plant buried in
  peace.
• no poles, catenaries or guy wires
• no substations
• no complex grounding
• much less exposure to rising copper prices

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HYDROLLEY ADVANTAGES

• Avoids US1.5 - 2 million capital investment per
  mile of track by eliminating track
  electrification.
• Avoids interference problems when tall equipment
  like cranes must be moved around the city.
• Eliminates the maintenance costs, shock hazards,
  weather and security vulnerability of overhead
  power systems.

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MORE STREETCARS,SOONER

• Substantially reduced fixed plant cost lowers
  the funding bar.
• The hydrolleys clean, hi-tech verve can attract
  young and Green ridership.
• If cities now planning streetcar systems make
  common cause together, RD and manufacturing can
  proceed more rapidly.

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HISTORY FORCES THE ISSUE

• Once the first hydrolley is deployed anywhere,
  catenary plant and trolley rolling stock sources
  may begin to dry-up.
• Like the steam -to-diesel transition, change
  tends to strand the last old-tech investment,
  undepreciated and short-lived.
• Needed a reasoned, generally accepted,
  hydrolley introduction plan and national
  policies.

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THE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY CHANGE TRANSITION IS
A DANGEROUS, AMBIGUOUS TIME.
AT SOME POINT, THE REAL FINANCIAL RISK OF
HESITATING IS GREATER THAN THE RISK OF
INNOVATING, BUT SEEMS LESS SCARY.
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It seemed like a good idea...
... at the time.
National Railway Museum, York, UK
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SOME PENALTIES OF HYDROLLEY LINES

• Requires a fueling infrastructure not needed by
  overhead trolleys.
• Carries on-board fuel, makes fueling stops,
  fueling requires some labor.
• The regulatory world is geared to heritage
  trolley technology.
• The Hindenburg myth refuses to die.

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HYDROLLEY UNKNOWNS

• Can present electrified rail lines be extended
  without catenaries by adding hydrolley equipment
  or developing double power systems (trolley in
  town, hydrolley beyond)?
• Can abandoned freight spurs economically become
  hydrolley lines, where electrification would have
  been cost-prohibitive?

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VEHICLE OPTIONS

• New-from-the-ground-up hydrolleys (the
  Mooresville, NC, USA Proterra product as
  contemplated)
• Heritage retrofit to hydrolley tech (pioneered in
  Surrey, BC, CA)
• Heritage replica hydrolleys designed new around
  hydrail technology produced and parts-supported
  in volume for the charm factor.
• Mixed fleet heritage and modern equipment on
  same line.

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SOME ANTICIPATED HYDROLLEY APPLICATIONS
(AS PROPOSED FOR CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, USA)
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JOIN THE WORLD HYDROLLEY CONVERSATION

• for general hydrail information, including
  hydrolleys
• Stan Thompson - Hydrogen Economy Advancement Team
• 518 Beaten Path Road, Mooresville, NC, 28117-8982
  USA
• h/o 704 664-5486 cellular 704 458-9410
• email hst2nd_at_aol.com
• for technical information on hydrolley
  applications
• Dale Hill, CEO Proterra LLC, Golden, Colorado,
  USA
• 303 562-0525
• email dale_at_mesbus.com