Propulsion system for a powered rail vehicle and method of adapting the propulsion system between different configurations

1. A propulsion system of a powered rail vehicle comprising:

a fuel engine disposed in the powered rail vehicle;

an alternator coupled with and driven by the engine to produce a fuel-based electric current; and

a tractive circuit including a traction motor and a conductive bus coupled with the alternator, the conductive bus configured to couple with a power conditioning circuit to receive an external electric current from an external electric power source via the power conditioning circuit, wherein the tractive circuit has a fuel-powered only configuration, a fuel- and electric-powered configuration, and an electric-powered only configuration, the tractive circuit supplying the traction motor with the fuel-based electric current in the fuel-powered only configuration, the tractive circuit supplying the traction motor with at least one of the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration, and the tractive circuit supplying the traction motor with the external electric current in the electric-powered only configuration, and

wherein the tractive circuit is configured to be electrically coupled with a utility power grid by the power conditioning circuit and to supply at least some of the fuel-based electric current to the utility power grid.

2. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit alternates between supplying the fuel-based electric current to the traction motor from the alternator and supplying the external electric current to the traction motor from the external electric power source when the tractive circuit is in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration.

3. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit powers the traction motor without the external electric current from the external electric power source in the fuel-powered only configuration.

4. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit powers the traction motor without the fuel-based electric current from the alternator in the electric-powered only configuration.

5. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit is adapted to augment the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current supplied to the traction motor with the other of the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current when the tractive circuit is in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration.

6. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit changes from the fuel-powered only configuration to the fuel- and electric-powered configuration by coupling the conductive bus with the power conditioning circuit located in a trailing unit that is coupled with and propelled along a track by the powered rail vehicle.

7. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit receives the external electric current via the power conditioning circuit from at least one of a catenary extending along a track or an electrified rail of the track.

8. The propulsion system of claim 1 , wherein the tractive circuit is configured to directly supply the traction motor with the external electric current in the electric-powered only configuration without first storing the external electric current in a battery.

9. A propulsion system of a powered rail vehicle comprising:

a fuel engine disposed in the powered rail vehicle;

an alternator coupled with and driven by the engine to produce a fuel-based electric current; and

a tractive circuit including a traction motor and a conductive bus coupled with the alternator, the conductive bus configured to couple with a power conditioning circuit to receive an external electric current from an external electric power source via the power conditioning circuit, wherein the tractive circuit has a fuel-powered only configuration, a fuel- and electric-powered configuration, and an electric-powered only configuration, the tractive circuit supplying the traction motor with the fuel-based electric current in the fuel-powered only configuration, the tractive circuit supplying the traction motor with at least one of the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration, and the tractive circuit supplying the traction motor with the external electric current in the electric-powered only configuration, and

wherein the power conditioning circuit is disposed outside of the powered rail vehicle.

10. A method for reconfiguring a powered rail vehicle, the method comprising:

adapting a propulsion system of the powered rail vehicle from a fuel-powered only configuration of the propulsion system to a fuel- and electric-powered configuration, the propulsion system having a tractive circuit with a traction motor, wherein in the fuel-powered only configuration the traction motor is powered using only fuel-based electric current at least partly provided to the traction motor by an alternator coupled to and driven by a fuel engine of the powered rail vehicle, and wherein in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration the traction motor is powered using both the fuel-based electric current and external electric current received from an external electric power source;

wherein the propulsion system is adapted at least in part by coupling the tractive circuit with a power conditioning circuit that is configured to couple with the external electric power source, the power conditioning circuit configured to supply the external electric current from the external electric power source to the tractive circuit, and

wherein adapting the propulsion system comprises electrically coupling the tractive circuit with the power conditioning circuit disposed in a trailing unit that is coupled with and propelled along a track by the powered rail vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration of the propulsion system, alternating between powering the traction motor with the fuel-based electric current from the alternator and powering the traction motor with the external electric current from the external electric power source.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration of the propulsion system, augmenting the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current supplied to the traction motor with the other of the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current.

13. A method for reconfiguring a powered rail vehicle, the method comprising:

adapting a propulsion system of the powered rail vehicle from a fuel-powered only configuration of the propulsion system to a fuel- and electric-powered configuration, the propulsion system having a tractive circuit with a traction motor, wherein in the fuel-powered only configuration the traction motor is powered using only fuel-based electric current at least partly provided to the traction motor by an alternator coupled to and driven by a fuel engine of the powered rail vehicle, and wherein in the fuel- and electric-powered configuration the traction motor is powered using both the fuel-based electric current and external electric current received from an external electric power source;

wherein the propulsion system is adapted at least in part by coupling the tractive circuit with a power conditioning circuit that is configured to couple with the external electric power source, the power conditioning circuit configured to supply the external electric current from the external electric power source to the tractive circuit; and

adapting the propulsion system from the fuel- and electric-powered configuration to an electric-powered only configuration by decoupling the tractive circuit from the alternator, wherein in the electric-powered only configuration of the propulsion system the traction motor is powered using only the external electric current.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising powering the traction motor in the electric-powered only configuration by directly supplying the external electric current to the traction motor without first storing the external electric current in a battery.

15. A propulsion system of a powered rail vehicle, the system comprising:

a fuel engine disposed in the powered rail vehicle;

an alternator coupled with and driven by the engine to produce a fuel-based electric current; and

a conductive bus coupled with the alternator, the conductive bus configured to couple with a power conditioning circuit to receive an external electric current from an external electric power source via the power conditioning circuit, wherein the conductive bus supplies at least one of the fuel-based electric current or the external electric current to a traction motor to propel the powered rail vehicle along a track, and

wherein the conductive bus is configured to be electrically coupled with a utility power grid by the power conditioning circuit and supplies at least some of the fuel-based electric current to the utility power grid.

16. The propulsion system of claim 15 , wherein the conductive bus is configured to alternate between supplying the fuel-based electric current to the traction motor from the alternator and supplying the external electric current to the traction motor from the external electric power source based on availability of the external electric current.

17. The propulsion system of claim 15 , wherein the conductive bus concurrently couples the alternator and the power conditioning circuit with the traction motor.

18. The propulsion system of claim 15 , wherein the conductive bus receives the external electric current via the power conditioning circuit from at least one of a catenary extending along the track or a powered rail of the track.

19. The propulsion system of claim 15 , wherein the conductive bus is configured to augment power supplied to the traction motor by concurrently supplying the fuel-based electric current and the external electric current to the traction motor.