doing a little reading on this, one thing I had not known is that the power companies complained about the first generation thyristor regulators on TVs because they induced DC in the grid.
GE claims to be developing a hybrid that can run on regenerative breaking - no overhead lines to offer easy storage
In the context of the diary, I mis-interpreted this to mean a hybrid running both on overhead line (as electric) and diesel (as diesel-electric), despite the last sentence. But just this past week, I read of the GE hybrid in a print issue of the IRJ. So I see now that it's a "hybrid" for being diesel-and-battery-run.
GE ecomagination: Evolution Hybrid Locomotive
GE engineers are designing a hybrid diesel-electric locomotive that will capture the energy dissipated during braking and store it in a series of sophisticated batteries. That stored energy can be used by the crew on demand - reducing fuel consumption by as much as 15 percent and emissions by as much as 50 percent compared to most of the freight locomotives in use today. In addition to environmental advantages, a hybrid will operate more efficiently in higher altitudes and up steep inclines.
I also read that at least one European rival, diesel engine maker MTU, wants to develop something similar. Whether flywheels or batteries, past attempts I'm aware of failed on maintenance issues; I hope this time it will work in practice (more so than KERS in Formula One).
(BTW, I suspect they chose to call it "hybrid" in analogy with hybrid cars; but that would be a bit of a misnomer: in the car sense, all diesel-electrics are already hybrids.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
