Started working on this yesterday from my existing MK1200G 1200 hp hybrid-electric road-switcher I made last summer. Furthermore, I actually finished it too! Handrails, grabirons, cab details, everything. Also lowered the fuel tank, so the trucks don't look as disproportionate to the rest of the locomotive. The MK1200G was built sometime around 1994 from an original EMD GP9 frame and chassis, but the similarities only end at the top of the deck above the wheelsets.

Everything else is fabricated brand new at the MK, now RailPower of Canada, shops. And this engine is the direct predescessor to today's Green Goat locomotive, which now produces 2000 hp. Quite a jump up in power. The locomotive uses rechargable batteries for its primary powersource and runs a 120 hp diesel generator to keep them constantly charged. The newer Green Goats host a 300 hp Catepillar genset and even more efficient batteries and equipment, making it highly competitive in the modern world as a one-to-one replacement for a lot of the older Geep road-switchers now stuck for the rest of their lives in freight yards.

As ungainly as it is, I feel in love with this locomotive when I first saw it, even moreso now that it's affordable, competitive, and good for the environment too, producing 80% lower emissions than conventional diesels (and using 80% less fuel, as well). This example is put in the company colors of the Iron Cobra Defense Force's small switcher pool that services incoming rail deliveries to their main base outside SoaH City as well as pulling strings of cars full of supplies to (empty) and from (full) the city for base replenishment. I like the idea of desert tan with hunter green, and the design of the body is based on Burlington Northern's old colors, with the tan replacing the green and the green moved up to where the black was. For simplicity's sake, I made everything just two color, save the white on the grab-irons and end handrails near the steps for increased visibility.

Ideally, the ICDF will have three of RailPower's GG20H 2000 hp green goats numbered 0101-0103, each able to make the 30-45 mile trip to the city and back with a full load by themselves. I'm very optomistic about this new hybrid workhorse, and so are many of the nation's tier-one railroads too. They make great port and yard engines and are so easy to maintain. <3

For more info on RailPower's Green Goat, go here: [link]