Both my father and grandfather, both of whom had connections to steam locomotives in their life are undoubtedly cheering this story(wherever they are) from the BBC. So am I. Inconveniently, it runs on coal.
Steam train’s snow rescue ‘glory’
Passengers were rescued by a steam locomotive after modern rail services were brought to a halt by the snowy conditions in south-east England.
Trains between Ashford and Dover were suspended on Monday when cold weather disabled the electric rail.
Some commuters at London Victoria faced lengthy delays until Tornado – Britain’s first mainline steam engine in 50 years – offered them a lift.
They were taken home “in style”, said the Darlington-built engine’s owners.
Train services in Kent were hit hard by the freezing conditions at the start of the week.
The weather-related disruption included three days of cancellations for Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel.
Tornado, a £3m Peppercorn class A1 Pacific based at the National Railway Museum in York, was in the South East for one day, offering “Christmas meal” trips from London to Dover.
…
About 100 people were offered free seats, according to Mark Allatt, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust – the charity which built Tornado.
…
Mr Allatt, who was on the service at the time, said he only saw a handful of other trains between London and Dover throughout Monday.
…
A spokesman for Southeastern Trains congratulated Mr Allatt on his “moment of glory”.
He said: “I’m sure those passengers were saved from a lengthy wait, all credit to him.”
Read the complete BBC article here
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Ho Ho Ho!
Adam from Kansas (16:11:44):
Q) Would the electric train indirectly spew out more or less Co2 due to its energy power generation as opposed to a coal powered steam engine?
(unless of course its source is nuclear).
I have heared similar arguments against electric cars V petrol driven cars.
“_Jim (21:35:48) :
Henry chance (20:50:33) :
Passenger rail uses more fuel per passenger mile than any other form of transportation. Much more than even flying.
Really? Even the electrics that use regenerative braking to return energy to the caternary (the overhead wire and back into the system)?”
I shouldn’t be at all surprised. Remember, we’re looking at the total energy trail, from raw fuel to passenger miles. I live at the end of a line and we have a four-coach shuttle from here to the main line about six miles away. The total tare mass of the train is about 200 tons and it has about 200 seats and runs once per hour. The only trouble is, it is only full on about three occasions per year. All the rest of the time there are about twenty passengers, maximum, on board.
So if the previous commentator is right about only a third of the fuel energy making it to the wheels I’d say that the overall efficiency is abysmal.
I still love steam trains, though!
Roger Knights wrote:
“There’s only white smoke (steam, I presume) shown in the photo, not black. That can’t be right.”
There is nothing odd about the whiteness. The steam would have been even more obvious than usual in the cold weather. The amount of smoke produced by the coal and its colour would depend on the type of coal. It is the impurities in coal that produce the dirty smoke. Soft coal would produce plenty of smoke. Anthracite, which has the highest proportion of carbon of any coal would produce very little smoke. After all, carbon dioxide is a colourless gas.
It is unlikely that the train used anthracite but it might well have used “steam coal” of the kind that was produced in South Wales before our mining industry was wiped out. Steam coal has quite a high carbon content and therefore the colour of the smoke would have been easily masked by the whiteness of the steam.
Oh spit! I forgot to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and extend my thanks to Anthony, his crew and all readers of and posters to this blog.
(And to the Richards – I grieve for anyone else so called on this blog as he will now be Richard the Third, or Dick the S**t as they say in Ireland.) For anyone who is really interested, my real name is Jerry Monk, but we already have one Jerry, and a Jerry M, so the nickname “Disputin”, which I acquired during a course as a play on my disputatious nature and the Mad Monk of Russia, will have to do. I’m not trying to conceal anything.
Re Southern Railway 3rd rail system (post from A Jones).
I assure that it still exists and is fully utilised. About 500 3rd rail electrics on the London & Southampton main line pass my study every day (except Christmas and Boxing Day). Along with about 100 diesels which go down to Exeter.
The third rail technology does work reasonably well. But the worst difficulty seesm to be with falling leaves in autumn. Because there is no heavy locomotive needed on the front of the train..power units being distributed throughout the 4- or 5-car multiple units, they find it very difficult to get a grip when frequently starting and stopping on the primarily commuter services that are run here. The infrastructure company (Network Rail) now runs special ‘deleafing’ equipment that zooms up and down the line from about August to December and makes matters better, but its still not perfect.
And whereas the quality of British Rail sandwiches was a national joke a few years back, the fact that big fancy new trains still can’t run because of a few leaves on the line is still a source of much mirth…and a bit of schadenfreude.
Running electric trains in extreme cold is no problem. The trouble in England is simply due to incompetent design and an unwillingness to learn from others.
The Transsiberian railway is electrified. Electric trains have hauled swedish iron ore across the mountains to Narvik since 1915 in temperatures down to -40 without any problems. Even the Japanese Shinkansen high speed train run through deep snow every winter on the line to Niigata.
Even the particular problem that stopped the cross-channel train, i e very fine powdery snow getting into the electronics by way of the cooling air intakes, was encountered and solved a generation ago here in Sweden.
By the way steam locomotives are by no means immune to cold unless built for it, as the germans learned in Russia 1941-42 when german locomotives froze because the water and steam lines were unsufficiently insulated.
What this story proves isn’t the superiority of steam locomotives, but rather that the people who designed the steam locomotives were competent engineeers, while those who design english electric locomotives clearly are not.
Re Tornado:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7876162.stm
And remember that this is not a restored locomotive. It is a completely brand new locomotive built by a band of enthusiasts from the original drawings. So it is one the newest steam locomotives in the world.
A magnificent achievement.
The swiss minister of Climate (whose wife drives a car without a catalysator) used a special train to transport himself and 80 comrades to Kopenhagen. Cost and CO2-emissions per person were calculated to be:
Train $ 65000 276 kg/person
2 Busses $ 15000 31 kg/person !!
and
Airplane (half full) 191 kg
Car (half full) 169 kg
Trains are very heavy, and Germany, which is between Switzerland and Danmark, uses coal-generated electricity.
If only they had a Steam Train like this train In Australia, I have been on this two times now and it is the best entertainment!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HK3DcM2dLs&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
There are many preserved steam locos in the UK. They often run main line specials. This YouTube video is one of my favourites – Gresley A4 Pacific 60009 “Union of South Africa” (the same design as world record holder Mallard). Note the “chime” whistle.
The Tornado was built using modern components adapted to an original design e.g. modern bearings. The aim was to honour the original design while reducing maintenance and meeting modern safety standards. There’s a good TV documentary on the project.
However, if I recall the documentary, they had to go to ex-East Germany to get the boiler built, as no one in the ‘modern’ west still had the capability to build large boilers suitable for steam trains – so I wonder if the boiler for the next one would have to be shipped in from China! 😉
And yes, this is the steam train Jeremy Clarkson rode in their race to the north.
A fine story, which shows a good taste for publicity by the Typhoon’s operator, nice one. May they do very well.
I believe I’m right in saying that “Tornado” burns fuel oil, not coal. Something to do with it being a new locomotive and so has to meet modern emission regulations, I think.
Very amusing that steam locos rescue passengers on “modern” diesel electric trains. As this loco seems to be from LNER or possibly GWR perhaps the locos in the York museum can be brought back into use, after the original companies take back their place from the politically created “British Rail”. It would be great to see “Mallard” back pulling trains at its record 126 mph, but that might be a bit fast for its age (1938).
I think the reason steam locos are successful in these conditions is a combination of their weight and the large diameter of the drive wheels plus the sanding systems for traction.
Regarding the colour of the exhaust, because the waste steam from the cylinders goes through a venturi to improve boiler draught, the exhaust usually appears white because of the condensed steam. The exception is when the engine is working hard (like when pulling up a steep incline), then because the draught is insufficient for complete combustion there will usually be black smoke indicating incomplete combustion, i.e. fly ash.
p.s. Disputin I prefer to be Richard C instead of Third because my surname (a good Irish name) begins with c. Richard III does not deserve IMNSHO the reputation that the murderous Welsh Tudors impugned him with, but then I’m also a Yorkshireman :-))
The Top Gear race was interesting, because it was between one person on a Triumph motorbike, one in a Jaguar car, and 500 people on a Steam-train.
I did read that there was not much between the fuel economy of Diesel vs Coal. And there is a Swiss experimental steam loco design that I heard burns the same amount of diesel oil as the Diesel equivalent, and with FAR LESS pollution! Apparently the equalising efficiency is achieved in part by using modern boiler lagging to preserve the heat overnight.
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/slm.html
And for Porta’s work;
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/firebox.html
(A classic example of the ‘sailing ship effect’?)
And for those who like to hear that lonesome whistle blow;
http://www.mdwhistles.com/Sounds.htm
I’m just old enough to remember steam hauled mainline services in England, so the sound of a “Steam Special” instantly raises the hairs on the back of my neck. I’m not a die-hard enthusiast, but just like old technology, particularly when it proves to be more reliable than modern designs. As others have mentioned this loco is actually brand new, having been constructed by a group of enthusiasts over the last 17 years.
DirkH (20:04:05) :
Barack Obama flees AGW-induced snowstorm towards a less impacted area:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8430445.stm
(the last pic)
Heh. There has to be a follow up caption comp in this. Talk bubble positions optional.
“steam” does not mean “low tech”. Nuclear power plants and nuclear submarines have steam engines, too.
Modern steam
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026761.600-steam-power-takes-to-the-road-again.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_steam_technology
Calculations for steam in Russia, for example, showed that a natural gas fired steam locomotive would save an estimated 60 percent in fuel costs compared to diesels and 80 percent compared to electric locomotives. Air pollution would also be considerably reduced. Examination of the conditions in different countries show diverse reasons for considering new steam locomotives: low cost of fuel, local availability of fuel, low pollution, and simplicity of construction resulting in long service life and making long-term local maintenance practical.
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/slm.html
Bulldust (22:48:25) :
tallbloke (16:47:23) :
Ayup! Leeds eh? I wus there betwixt1982 and 1985 studying Minerals Enginerring, though there were bugger all engineering in´t course.
I did my engineering out in industry plus day release to tech college and then polytechnic. The university degree from ’85-88 was for fun and interest.
Maybe see you at an Alumni event? This year’s Alumni lecture was great: Kenton Cool on his Everest expeditions.
” westhoustongeo (18:07:40) :
I don’t know the mix of electric sources there. Around here any electric train would be powered about 50% coal and ~28% natural gas. Remember that only about 1/3 of the energy makes it through the generation/transmission process.
I leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine if burning the coal directly in the locomotive is any worse.
The other ~12%?…that would be nuclear! There are more wind powered generators here than any other state and they still don’t amount to any signicficant fraction.
”
In that case, using a 20th Century steam train powered by coal could actually be more efficient than an electric train as the last generation of British steam trains were better than 40% efficient.
“Passenger rail uses more fuel per passenger mile than any other form of transportation.”
From the Daily Mail comes the UK governments answer:
“Ed Milband’s Department for Climate Change is forever urging us to use energy efficient public transport. So you may be interested to know that in a six-month period last year the Department’s ministers and officials clocked up £63,000 on taxis.”
Phillip Bratby (00:08:53) :
Ah, the family memories. My great-grandfather was an engine driver on the LMS line (London-Midland-Scotland). The engine drivers were the elite. He would turn up for work in top hat and tails
My Great-great grandfather drove one of the express trains connecting Chicago with Milwaukee, I believe in the 1870s maybe later. He was required to wear a jacket and white shirt, starched shirt and boiled collar (whatever that was). This meant new laundry for every run. I understand that my great-great grandmother wasn’t enamored of this.
He ultimately asked for a desk job. the collisions with horsecarts and pedestrians finally got to him. His son, my great grandfather drove for the Soo line and wouldn’t retire. He wound up a hosteler into his 80s. he loved the engines.
The English story seems so English. Remember movie from ’50s. The Titsfield Thunderbolt?
It’s a pity they don’t work in the Channel Tunnel…
Ecotretas
For those unfamiliar with this little bit of the UK rail system, Victorian design, the electricity is supplied via 750v third rail & picked up via soft iron shoe pressed not too firmly onto top of rail. No catenary etc as with modern, but looks better! Bit of ice or soft soggy snow (our snow temps usually around 32F) and one gets no contact or arcing to the shoe. The latter can weld the shoe or damage it and rail so the train stops. Thus services withdrawn at first major sign of problems. Everything electric so virtually no diesels/diesel-electrics.
So, fortunate presence of steam train was a God-send, as well as a hugely ironic comment on AGW and modern “progress”. Fired by steam coal – dense, high carbon, little smoke hence “white steam”. “Tornado” recently built by enthusiasts, and ain’t it great? (Shame about the weather, but it isn’t climate you know, and we have a thermometer next to a runway and buildings on a Pacific island to proove it!!)
happy Chrismas and New Year to Anthony et al, keep up the pressure, Keith in Hastings, UK