Severn Valley Railway presses on with landmark project to convert diesel engine to hydrogen
The Severn Valley Railway is celebrating after successfully completing the latest stage of a one-of-a-kind project to convert a diesel shunter to hydrogen.
The heritage railway, which has a base in Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, is working in partnership with the University of Birmingham and start-up company Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions to carry out the Harrier Hydroshunter project – the UK’s first-ever conversion of a diesel shunter to run on hydrogen power.
The railway hired in a 100-tonne crane to lift the diesel engine out of a Class 08 shunter, 08635, at its Kidderminster diesel depot.
Now the project can progress to the next stage, the installation of a hydrogen-battery hybrid traction system which is being developed at the University of Birmingham.
The lift of the shunter engine was preceded by the removal of the 34-tonne 2700hp engine from a Class 50. The power unit for 50033 ‘Glorious’ will now have a replacement generator fitted.
Tony Middleton, the Class 50 Association’s volunteer engineering director worked across both engine lifts.
He said: “This stage of the project has been a long time in preparation and it’s given the opportunity for a number of our younger volunteers to work on an exciting and ground-breaking scheme.
“They’ve had to make a lot of preparations, stripping the components and removing the nuts and bolts.”
The original diesel engine is no longer required for the Harrier Hydroshunter, but will be used for training and to provide spare parts for future engineering projects.
Peter Amor, project engineer at Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions, said he was thrilled to see the engine lifted out of the donor shunter.
“We’re really making some fantastic progress on this project and it’s thanks to the hard graft of Severn Valley Railway volunteers that we’ve now reached this stage," he said.
"This has been the culmination of a lot of work and it’s absolutely fantastic to see the lift taking place.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve got this far and I can’t wait to continue pushing ahead with the design of the hydrogen power pack.”
After the Harrier Hydroshunter receives its new power pack, it’s planned that testing will take place at the Severn Valley Railway later this year.
