1/6th-scale battery-electric locomotiveBuilt by Columbia University students
Columbia Locomotives is the first and only battery-electric locomotive student team in the entire United States.
Columbia Locomotives prides itself in doing things differently.
01 / Unrepresented
The U.K.-based iMechE Railway Challenge is the only locomotive engineering competition in the world. We want to be the first American team to compete against its incumbent international universities and companies.
02 / Unprecedented
The United States boasts a staggering 30,000-strong fleet of locomotives, 99% of which are diesel-electric. In an increasingly electric world, we want to compete with the latest and greatest electric traction technologies.
03 / Unwavering
We pride ourselves on our rapid prototyping culture. Rapid prototyping with inexpensive resources encourages first-year university students to dive right into industry practices and gives members the opportunity to fully own a project, no matter how big or small.
From the build log
Build notes are drafted and published from the club’s content system. Nothing is posted here until an editor publishes it.
Explore more
Subdivisions, key figures, and competition details
Open02The student leaders orchestrating the project
Open03Successes and failures written up as the work happens
Open04Verified links for members
Open05Challenges are difficult! Sponsor key parts, software, manufacturing, logistics, & more
Open06It's as easy as clicking this button
OpenCome build with us
Members work on a real machine alongside students across mechanical, electrical, software, manufacturing, and business operations divisions.
