AIMS To determine the effects of break duration and time of break onset on the amount of sleep that locomotive engineers obtain between consecutive work periods. METHODS A total of 253 locomotive engineers (249 male, 4 female, mean age 39.7 years) participated. Data were collected at 14 rail depots, where participants drove electric or diesel locomotives; worked with another engineer or drove...

The Center for Electromechanics has developed and is currently testing a 2 MW, 130 kWh (480 MJ) flywheel energy storage system (FESS) designed as a load leveling energy management device. The flywheel energy storage system consists of the energy storage flywheel, a high speed induction motor/generator, and a bidirectional power converter. The FESS is a key element of the Advanced Locomotive Pro...