Drone technology and solar power to cut energy costs of heritage lines
AS energy prices continue to soar, railways are seeking ways to mitigate the financial hit they will face without having to resort to raising prices in already financially uncertain times
– and the use of solar energy is now being explored.
In its own bid to reduce bills to zero, the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway called upon the services of Networx3 UAV, a specialist inspection and surveyor which utilise drone technology, to help.
With its electricity bill expected to treble from £30,000 to £90,000 per year, bosses at the 134-yearold railway brought in the firm to perform a survey of the engine shed and determine whether electricitygenerating solar panels could be fitted to the roof, potentially reducing bills to zero.
In less than an hour, Networx3 UAV managing director and commercial drone pilot Ian Ashworth was able to give the solar panels project the green light.
Hi-tech survey
He undertook a comprehensive bird’s eye survey using the company’s £28,000 Matrice 210 V2 RTK, which uses broadcast quality video, thermal imaging, and high definition cameras that are capable of picking up an image the size of a postage stamp from over a kilometre away. Ian said:“Our crystalclear eye-in-the-sky drone footage has meant there’s no need for scaffolding and cherry-pickers to access the roofs and survey them – that’s a big saving in terms of time and cost.
“Drones can get to places which are awkward, inaccessible, and expensive to reach, and beam back live video of what they find to our state-of-the-art mobile drone control centre vehicle, allowing clients to direct the flight in real time.”
The railway’s managing director, David Heys, said: “We managed to do a comprehensive survey in under an hour – something that would usually have taken a couple of days with a visual inspection by a surveyor clipped to a cherry-picker working at height and all the safety risks that come with that. The service Networx3 UAV provided was fantastic, saving time and money for everyone.”
More than 1000 solar panels are planned to be installed on the Embsay station shed roof following the completion of some routine maintenance.
Green energy experts Squirrel Energy are expected to undertake the fitting later this year.
EBASR director Malcolm Harrison said: “We have all this roof space, so it’s an opportunity for us to reduce our carbon footprint at a time when energy costs are about to go through the roof as well.
“We have no end of things on which we can spend the money we save, including carriage refurbishment and an upgrade on our mess room. Using the drone was modern technology meeting oldfashioned steam transport.”
Rising costs
Meanwhile, Bluebell Railway infrastructure director Barry Luck has appointed a team led by Kevin Ruddock to investigate ways in which power consumption and costs can be reduced through low energy lighting, solar power, use of batteries, and insulation.
Across the entire line, the Bluebell has been paying £750 a day for electricity in summer – the equivalent to fares paid by the first 20 to 30 visitors who enter its stations.
In the spring of 2021, a feasibility study into the use of solar power was carried using grant aid from the Government’ Covid Recovery Fund.
In August, the Bluebell board, supported by the line’s preservation society, approved the installation of solar panels on the roofs of the locomotive workshop and the aboveworkshop facility at Sheffield Park.
To preserve the historic appearance of the station, the panels will be hidden from view from the ground by being located in the ‘valley’ between the west-facing roof of the aboveworkshop facility and the east-facing roof of the locomotive workshop.