By Bobby Potaris

The Somerville Times talked to two service representatives/technicians, Doug Graybea and Len Nielson, who came to Somerville recently to train railroad engineers on the new technology in locomotives.

The new locomotives produce AC instead of DC power adding 1200 hp to make the engines run faster and quieter at 4600 horsepower. A lot less maintenance and they will be more fuel efficient. Good for the railroad and environment, with enough power to reduce noise in the heavy neighborhoods as well as move faster making up for loss time from delays at and between stations.

The new engines produce 40% less noise vs. the old models, which again makes for less noise for neighbors abutting tracks and near the tracks.