Just curious as to what your thoughts are
I bet the interest in clean burning coal fired power stations with steam turbines will continue! Should start to see a lot more coal drags, which has to be good for the RR companies.
I doubt steam will come back because not only the sulphur air polutant in the coal is one deterant but the water issue to make steam is another…the trains have to stop more often to fill up with water…it takes 1 gallon of water to make 8 pounds of steam and most tenders carried only 30,000 gallons of water…that’s a lot of stopping for a steam locomotive to run on average of a 200 psi steam load…I did pick alternative because the railroads are trying to experiment with a diesel powered generator that switches to battery powered electricity when they are fully charged…I believe there was an article on it in an MR mag just a few months ago…chuck
As much as I’d like to see it, this will probably never happen.
I read an article in Popular Mechanics about a new engine being produced by GE that has a much more efficient and powerful engine. Don’t have it it front of me to give a better explaination, but they are trying to produce better equipment as we speak.
One of the cool things about this new engine is that they are going to use the breaks to feed battery packs.
10-15 years back GE had a test engine running on a mixture of diesel and super fine pulverized coal, injected just like any diesel. It ran for quite a few years. The major problem noted was the pulverized coal wore out the injectors very fast, maybe with newer technology you might see that come back.
Yes, we are working on that as we speak, it’s going to be a high horsepower version of the Green Goat, that rail power makes. Dynamics will feedback to charge batteries for addtional power rather than relying on a higher notch and fuel consumtion. Details are unknown to me at this time, but it may be in production late this year.
Steam the way you want to see it will never return in mainstream use. However liquid fuel made from coal will probably be in our future.
Can you just see the enviro nuts when a coal buring Challenger pulls up to their town!!
Sorry but not in our liftime, MAYBE if the could use an atom source to generate steam but that would be more practicle for electric operations.
No, too many inefficiencies in traditional steam, too many technological problems with the above mentioned. Be more likely to see more electrification powered via nukes than the return of traditional steam.
IF coal ever returns to powering our trains, I think it will be in the form of coal-fired power plants supplying electrified rail lines. The steam locomotives, majestic as they may be, were inefficient, and unreliable (Stereotype…In general).
I don’t think it will bring back steam locomotives. But higher gas/oil prices could spur electrification if the cost of generating the electricity is far enough below gas/oil. Even that would only be on some higher density lines.
Enjoy
Paul
I voted no,because if you cant smoke in public in California the liberals wont want coal smoke in the air either,and they are the biggest consumers of gasoline in the world,one day the big one will hit there and they can become there own country.
No the economies of steam operations are non existent (outside of coal generated power plants), the same infrastructure requirements for the steam locomotives and the added burdens of environmental and safety compliance makes steam even more expensive.
I voted No.
Union Pacific did a study during their deiselization. They found it took three people per diesel locomotive to keep that unit sufficeintly supplied and operating properly. (Not considering heavy maintence) It took 17 people for a steam locomotive.
James
Sure it’s coming back. I hear BNSF called ALCo and ordered 100 4-8-4s[;)]
Actually it’s not coming back and I voted “no”.
No way steam will ever come back. Too expensive to wire all the track for electric operations. They will stay diesel for the foreseeable future with possible tricks installed as regenerative braking, computer efficency controls, and even remote or computer operation. They could save some fuel by slowing them down if not for the increase in cost for operators, so I see them slowing them down and letting a computer drive them from point a to b. Any other changes are probably cost prohibitive. Now if fusion comes on line all bets are off. Fred
Most likely not. Now that we’re going to start producing cars than run on an ethanol/gas mix (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline), they’ll probably develop a locomotive that can run on that stuff too.
I’m really curious where you came up with that, Chuck. Can you explain, please?
MR did a story during the oil crisis before last (seventies or eighties) about a modern steam locomotive using modular coal packs and a high-efficiency water system. Diesels replaced steam because they are much, much more efficient in their use of fuel: in order for steam to return, it would have to be more efficient than gas/diesel power.
1 gallon of water weighs 8 pounds (1 pint = 1 pound; 8 pints in a gallon).