Each of the two Ice Trains have four primary sources of heat/power:
- Caterpillar D6N vehicle engine
- 16kW generator
- Heaters for the cabooses
- Portable pre-heater (for preheating engines)
For vehicle start-up, blow-air heaters are preheated by the generator and then used to preheat the vehicle engines. While the vehicles are running the D6Ns engines provide 250V power to both of the cabooses via a generator which runs off the D6Ns hydraulics. This is sufficient for moderate energy demands.
At the end of each day when the Ice Trains stops for camp, the main caboose generator (16Kva) is started prior to shutting the vehicle engines down. One generator is able to power both of the cabooses, the other is a back-up. The generator is used until major power activities (such as cooking, communications and any technical work) have been completed. The generator is usually then switched off and a 24V low power system running off a battery bank is used for LED lighting and other low power requirements. Caboose heaters may be kept on for background heating.
