My grandfather made steam engines, my father made a scale steam locomotive for taking children on rides in the park and at the fair. Some of my happiest memories as a child were of sitting behind my father in the coal tender, chugging down the tracks, so any picture of a steam engine brings back fond memories.
[ UPDATE: I hadn’t realized it from the photo above until later, but the 4-6-4 “Hudson” locomotive above is the one my dad modeled for the 1/8th scale train of my youth, except his had the feedwater tank over the front like this one. Our family had to sell the train due to financial hardship after his death to somebody in Lebanon Ohio (probably the saddest day of my life). I’ve since lost track of it and would give anything to get it back, but I fear it has been scrapped. I hadn’t thought about this in a long time but the image provoked some long repressed memories. On the plus side, I’ve located a Lionel model Hudson 4-6-4 Steam Locomotive 665 with 736W Tender on Ebay, and exact match to the engine and tender my dad constructed, which I hope to buy so that I can show it to my children, and pass on the story with something to show them, along with the family photographs. I never thought this topic would come up on my blog, but here it is, serendipitously hitting me with emotion. – Anthony ]
When I saw this, all I could think of is how silly this idea is. All the greens seem fascinated with high speed rail due to Euro-envy, and in California they are ramming it down our throat at an anticipated huge loss, even worse than Solyndra. With a forecast price tag in the tens of billions and growing, it is just nuts given the economic climate right now, not to mention we don’t have people clamoring to climb aboard.
In retrospect however, anything that would put a steam locomotive back on the tracks is music to my ears, even if they ran it on used McDonald’s french fry oil like some of those hippie buses we see here in California.
Here’s the strange part, they are converting an oil burning locomotive to run “biocoal”, and somehow they magically think the production process and the burning of it won’t produce any net CO2, saying the process is “carbon neutral”. I think they’ve left out some parts, like the energy needed to produce and transport the biocoal fuel in the first place. Excerpts from the MSNBC story:
A steam train built in 1937 is getting a makeover that will turn it into a “higher-speed” locomotive that runs on biocoal, a coal-like fuel made with woody plant material.
When finished, the train will be able chug along existing tracks at speeds up to 130 miles per hour without contributing to the greenhouse gas pollution blamed for global warming.
…
“Computer simulations already show that the locomotive is about as powerful as two modern passenger diesel locomotives,” Davidson Ward, president of the Coalition for Sustainable Rail, told me Thursday.
“But it will burn carbon neutral fuel.”
The biocoal is based on a so-called torrefaction process pioneered at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. To make it, woody material — in this case trees — are heated in the absence of oxygen. The resulting flaky matter is then rammed together under high pressure to create coal-like bricks.
The charcoal briquettes aka “biocoal”
Biocoal has the same energy density as regular coal, but is cleaner burning, and since trees (the fuel source) sequester carbon as they grow, the system is considered carbon neutral, according to Ward.
…
Today, most higher-speed passenger trains are diesel-electric locomotives, which generate their peak horsepower at low speeds — about 25 miles per hour. Steam locomotives, by contrast, get their peak horsepower at higher speeds — about 40 miles per hour.
“Initial computer simulations suggest that the CSR’s modern steam engine will significantly out-accelerate a modern diesel-electric locomotive to 110 mph,” according to the coalition’s website.
…
I got a big chuckle out of this part though:
If all goes according to plan, they might build a new steam locomotive from scratch, which will have some modern looks.
For example, “no cowcatcher,” Ward said. “You don’t need a cowcatcher today unless you are a ‘Back to the Future’ fan.”
Just wait until they plow into some green gawker driving a Prius, you know it is going to happen.
From the “Coalition for Sustainable Rail” website:
Once its modernization is complete, CSR 3463 will have little in common with the smoke-belching steam engine it once was. Featuring a gas-producer combustion system, improved steam circuit, modernized boiler, low-maintenance running gear and steam-powered electric generator (to power the passenger train), CSR anticipates 3463 will be able to pull a passenger train with electric-like performance for less than the cost of diesel-electric locomotives. In order to further prove the viability of biocoal and modern steam technology, CSR plans to test the locomotive in excess of 130 miles per hour, out-performing any existing diesel-electric on the market and breaking the world steam speed record. In light of this achievement, CSR has named this endeavor: “Project 130.”
Historical 3463 Tech Specs
Locomotive 3463, acquired by CSR through the generosity of its former owner, the Great Overland Station of Topeka, Kansas, is the largest locomotive of its type left in the world and features the largest wheels of any engine in North America. CSR will completely rebuild and modernize the locomotive, doubling its thermal efficiency, converting it to burn biocoal and more. When done, locomotive 3463 will share only the most fundamental resemblance to the engine it once was.
The table below outlines characteristics of locomotive 3463 as built in 1937 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works:
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Gail Combs
June 1, 2012 5:58 pm
I should add that high speed rail makes perfect sense under one condition, and that is under Smart Growth/Agenda 21.
The idea is to restrict all human use/development except in designated cities and to essentially drive private property owners into the city. See DEMOCRATS AGAINST U. N. AGENDA 21 for the details of our private property take over. Rosa Koire works for the state of California on Eminent Domain cases so she is positioned to know what she is talking about. Wildlands Map (green is where normal human use is allowed)
This map was compiled from documents at the United Nation’s Geneva Headquarters in 1994. It was produced and shown to The United States Senate as they prepared to vote on the Global Bio-Diversity Treaty. The Global Bio-Diversity treaty was ready to pass until Congress saw the map above. The treaty failed because it could not be brought to the floor for a vote. The good news is that the treaty failed…The bad news is this program is being implemented aggressively through ICLEI as Sustainable Development/Conservation Programs by unelected bureaucrats.
Also see http://stewardsofthesequoia.org/Wildlands_Project.html for California.
My farm sits in the red line slashing through North Carolina. I have the “Community Development Plan” draft for my county. My farm and that of my neighbors for miles around is “….positioned so that it could be linked to the XXX county gamelands and to the XXX lake and XXX lake natural areas to provide a continuous corridor for wildlife….” ~ Draft Copy 5-4-01 So I know Rosa is not lying about Smart Growth/Agenda 21. I have the nasty 46 page document that is proof sitting right next to me.
u.k.(us)
June 1, 2012 6:21 pm
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did, Anthony.
Great comments, and a respite from …… the fury.
“My grandfather made steam engines, my father made a scale steam locomotive for taking children on rides in the park and at the fair.”
Was your grandfather’s name, by any chance, James Watts?
Dave
June 1, 2012 8:30 pm
I want to respond to all the people who answered me, but I think it’ll take too long to do so individually, and some of the objections were repeated.
Let me start with a few general ones:
1) Time. The reason I picked LA -> NY for my example was that it’s about the longest journey, distance-wise, in the USA. Even on a journey that long, a 250mph train works out taking about the same time as air travel, in total.
There are some exceptions, though. London to Amsterdam is quicker by plane, even with airport delays, because the train goes much further round. If there wasn’t a sea in the way, though, the train’d be quicker.
2) Cost. No, it’s not cheap to set up, but then planes and airports aren’t cheap either. Rail lines last a long time, though. Wouldn’t you pay more for something you’ll pass down to your children and grandchildren than you would for something which’ll be worn out in a few years? In the long-term, even extensive rail networks are cheaper than air travel in most cases. Just as a back of an envelope estimate, there are maybe $3-4 billion worth of planes flying just between LA and NY. They have a lifespan on such routes of what, 15 years? Jet fuel’s not cheap, either. As long as you spread the cost over a long period, almost anything is cheaper than air travel – but air travel’s normally cheaper in the short-term, so we end up stuck with it,
A rough figure for new HS rail lines is anywhere from $50 million to $200 million per mile. For the USA, it’s probably towards the lowest end of that range, so let’s say $100 million per mile. That would cost $250 billion for LA-NY, or a bit less than the smallest budget deficit the US has run in any year in the last decade. If you’re spending money you don’t have anyway, why not spend it on real infrastructure that’ll still be paying back a century from now?
3) Population density. If you have the density for flights, why not for trains? Sure, it’s not suitable to connect every single small town, but any major city will generate enough traffic to make rail a good investment over a century-long timespan.
Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, all that is entirely irrelevant. You can have all the practical arguments for and against rail/air travel that you like, but one thing that will never change unless we bring back airships is that rail travel is infinitely more comfortable. As long as they’re even close in terms of practicality, high-speed rail is the only civilised way to go. Try it before you knock it.
@ur momisugly Roy
“The last of our deep coal mines in Wales closed 5 years ago and there are only a few left in the rest of the UK. ”
That’s because Thatcher hated the miner’s unions, and they hated her. So she picked up the idea of “Global Warming” and promoted it as a global issue. Then hse had an excuse for shutting down the mines.
Steam was a great technology. It was high technology that gave a source of motive power that didn’t depend on animals or weather, transformed the world, and still provided a role for strong men with big hammers.
The British made steam locos for speed. They wanted short trains to run short distances. The Americans made much bigger ones for really long hauls. (And a really imaginative one in which the pistons were vertical and drove the wheels through a crankshaft.)
But there are other options now, and neither the Japanese, the Chinese, or the Koreans seem terribly interested in using steam for their high speed rail.
The rails run through my family’s history also. http://southern.railfan.net/ties/1982/82-3/ties.html
My greatuncle was the construction engineer on that bridge and tunnel. Lake Cumberland now covers all but the top 3 or 4 feet of tunnel. His brothers also retired from the railroad.
One of my brothers has Dad’s Lionel Hudson. The other has the Southern Crescent. I have the N&W model J.
Anyway, lots of memories here also. Cling to the good ones.
A steam engine powered by charcoal briquettes … er …., I mean, “Biocoal”. Does that mean the dining car will be serving BBQ?
George E. Smith;
June 1, 2012 9:30 pm
Please Sir; isn’t coal a renewable bio fuel ?
George E. Smith;
June 1, 2012 9:39 pm
I see you have your history down pat. According to that recent historical biography of Dame Margaret Thatcher, she was simply too senile demened to have ever conjured up a complex conspiracy such as you suggest. Like Ronald Reagan, and more recently George W. Bush; the whole lot of them collectively didn’t have the brains to have invented global warming.
No I think the Liberal left probably dreamed itup, to get all those dusty coal miners out of the mines. In any case, I am sure they are overjoyed and constantly thank Thatcher for saving them from a choking femise.
“According to that recent historical biography of Dame Margaret Thatcher, she was simply too senile demened to have ever conjured up a complex conspiracy such as you suggest. the whole lot of them collectively didn’t have the brains to have invented global warming.”
Of course she was. She was all of fifty when she became Prime Monster, and spent fifteen years as a senile PM. And her lack of brains is shown by the fact that she got a degree in Chemistry from Oxford, worked as a research chemist, and then retrained as a barrister.
(But I don’t need a historical biography to tell me about that. I remember her. )
“I think the Liberal left probably dreamed itup”
Naturally. Everything is the fault of those commie pinko liberals. It always is.
Mac the Knife
June 1, 2012 11:50 pm
Bruce Cobb says:
June 1, 2012 at 4:25 am
“In honor of all of the other fantasies they have about this proposed charcoal briquettes-powered train, I suggest they number the platform from which it will be boarded 9 3/4.”
Perfect!
Mac the Knife
June 2, 2012 12:02 am
In the true spirit of steam powered locomotives… The Wreck of the Old 97 – Johnny Cash http://youtu.be/FHKxk719AMc
David A. Evans
June 2, 2012 3:26 am
Dave.
HS2 as is going to be implemented in the UK, I have dubbed H2S because it stinks. It is supposed to go from London to Birmingham but if I lived in High Wycombe, (32 miles outside London,) it would be quicker to just hop on the current train from London to Birmingham. The whole idea of high speed rail is a waste of money because the population density is such that the time travelling to a terminus, waiting for a train to go to the other terminus and travelling, you may as well have gone direct on the slow train.
As for going from where I live to Paris. I’d just go to one of my local airports & fly. Why would I even want to go to London?
DaveE.
Hitchhiking was cheapest, required no infrastructure, and the poor could afford it. Too bad society became less safe. Back in the day I traveled thousands of miles, and like to believe I was an entertaining guest and good company. The only real problem was rainy days.
H.R.
June 2, 2012 9:01 am
The Age of Steam didn’t end due to a lack of steam.
And while we’re at it, the Age of Windmills didn’t end due to a lack of wind.
It’s mentioned by others above that getting to, waiting boarding, riding, then getting local transport to the final destination often takes longer than just driving to one’s destination. Example: I drove to North Carolina to engage with one of our customers a couple of weeks ago. It took 7-ish hours to drive there and the scenery was spectacular. The same trip by commercial air takes – including drive to airport, park, security delay at airport, flight to hub, delay, flight to destination, car rental, drive to destination – 8+ hours. And I could start my trip any time and not just when the airlines are ready to fly. But that’s just one example. YMMV.
The upshot is that I’m still waiting for my anti-gravity vehicle so I can go directly from point A to point B at… oh 150-200mph would be OK… and cut the ties to rails and roads.
The Age of Cars won’t end due to a lack of cars (nor an increase in track-bound transportation).
John Wright
June 2, 2012 9:30 am
I went and looked at the website in a mood as sceptical (yes I am an Englishman with that spelling) as any here.
Then I noticed that the Director of Engineering is Shaun McMahon one of the tiny handful of fully qualified steam locomotive engineers in the world today and a “disciple” of Livio Porta, mentioned above, so it’s not a naïve dream.
As a project it is entirely doable – see: http://www.martynbane.co.uk/modernsteam/smcmahon/stm-biog-2006.pdf.
Like many here I remain unconvinced about the “biocoal” fuel (But if that’s an excuse to modernise a steam locomotive, I don’t mind going along with it go along with it).
As for hauling freight, with 7ft wheels it would be quite unsuitable, especially as this type of locomotive was notorious for slipping when starting a train.
Other Modern Steam links: http://www.martynbane.co.uk/modernsteam/ldp/ldp.htm (on the work of Livio Porta) http://www.dlm-ag.ch/ (Roger Waller’s work in Switzerland) http://www.5at.co.uk/
…One nitpick, it always annoys me when people refer to this machine as a “train”. It’s a locomotive (or an engine) – that’s intended to haul a train of cars and becomes part of that train when it’s coupled to it.
The rest of the world has been towards electricity and high speed electric multiple units for almost five decades no. US is going back to steam.
I mean, locomotive pulled trains are soooooooo last season on high speed rail.
Bruce Cobb
June 2, 2012 10:30 am
The entire U.S. passenger rail system known as Amtrak is a financial and operational boondoggle. Overall, it operates at a load factor of less than 50%, as compared to the airlines’ 80%. Much of that is due to long-distance rail lines set by Congress 40 years ago, all vying for service in their states to particular areas, regardless of the numbers involved. Union labor, and heavy regulation are also burdensome. The answer is, of course, to deregulate and privatize Amtrak: http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/transportation/amtrak/subsidies
Yes, that would mean a number of routes would go the way of the dodo, and that would be sad. I have ridden on the “Vermonter” which travels from St. Albans, Vermont all the way to Wash. DC. We would board it in Claremont, NH, and go to Wilmington, DE. I couldn’t help noticing the paucity of passengers when we first boarded (the reverse being true on our ride home). It wouldn’t really start to pick up many passengers until Springfield, and of course New Haven, reaching its maximum in New York. I would imagine that our tickets probably only covered about half the true cost of our ride. The rest, of course, was picked up by Uncle Sam, for which I say Thanks! It’s a beautiful ride, following, and crossing the Connecticut River more than once. We prefer to drive down now (visiting my dad), for various reasons, but we took the train about a half dozen times, and will cherish the memories.
Sean
June 2, 2012 10:37 am
“Biocoal has the same energy density as regular coal, but is cleaner burning, and since trees (the fuel source) sequester carbon as they grow, the system is considered carbon neutral, according to Ward.”
So, using their own logic then, real coal is carbon neutral too, or do they just ignore the fact that nature creates coal essentially by the same way as they describe making their synthetic coal.
New plan – lets replace all the windmills with carbon neutral coal power plants.
John Cunningham
June 2, 2012 10:52 am
HI Anthony, there is a tourist railroad operation in Lebanon,OH, running old engines and cars. they are at http://lebanonrr.com/ they could have your dad’s old engine still.
Mmmm – how fast do they claim that old engine can run?
I know some of those honkers ran fast, but is it railworthy to do so?
Is the road bed good enough?
BTW, range of those beasts was limited by water supply.
I once had the pleasure of being briefed by an old fireman, sitting in the cab of the oilburner in the Revelstoke BC RR museum, but I forget how far he said they could go. He didn’t think that water scooping schemes ever amounted to much. (In the NE US at least one RR tested scooping from a water trough between the tracks. http://www.martinmars.com scoops water but spray from the scoop is not a problem for a flying boat.)
My father was a locomotive engineer for 40 years, the first 30 on steamers like that depicted. My brother and I back in the late 40s got to ride with our father on a few trips between Winnipeg, Manitoba to Redditt, Ontario on the CN mainline. We got to blow the whistle at the crossings,eat at the Redditt station “beanery” and we slept in the bunkhouse overnight. The steam smelled deliciously of boiling leeks and I used to love standing on the platform near the rails at a place called Ena , Ontario when the big steamers pulled up. I father built a log cabin on Ena lake that still stands and is enjoyed by family. Access was only by train until about the mid 1950s when a road was put in. Twenty-five years ago, my brother and I stood on an overpass at Redditt and sprinkled my fathers ashes on freight that passed under us.On the emotion-trip you mention Anthony, I’m with you brother!
On the plus side, I’ve located a Lionel model Hudson 4-6-4 Steam Locomotive 665 with 736W Tender on Ebay, and exact match to the engine and tender my dad constructed, which I hope to buy so that I can show it to my children, and pass on the story with something to show them, along with the family photographs.
=======================================
Anthony, did you get the Hudson? Is it the pre-war or the post war?
Anthony, did you get the Hudson? Is it the pre-war or the post war?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That was a dumb question. You gave the model number. It’s post-war.
Locomotive 3463, acquired by CSR through the generosity of its former owner, the Great Overland Station of Topeka, Kansas, is the largest locomotive of its type left in the world and features the largest wheels of any engine in North America. CSR will completely rebuild and modernize the locomotive, doubling its thermal efficiency, converting it to burn biocoal and more. When done, locomotive 3463 will share only the most fundamental resemblance to the engine it once was.
I should add that high speed rail makes perfect sense under one condition, and that is under Smart Growth/Agenda 21.
The idea is to restrict all human use/development except in designated cities and to essentially drive private property owners into the city. See DEMOCRATS AGAINST U. N. AGENDA 21 for the details of our private property take over. Rosa Koire works for the state of California on Eminent Domain cases so she is positioned to know what she is talking about.
Wildlands Map (green is where normal human use is allowed)
Also see http://stewardsofthesequoia.org/Wildlands_Project.html for California.
My farm sits in the red line slashing through North Carolina. I have the “Community Development Plan” draft for my county. My farm and that of my neighbors for miles around is “….positioned so that it could be linked to the XXX county gamelands and to the XXX lake and XXX lake natural areas to provide a continuous corridor for wildlife….” ~ Draft Copy 5-4-01 So I know Rosa is not lying about Smart Growth/Agenda 21. I have the nasty 46 page document that is proof sitting right next to me.
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did, Anthony.
Great comments, and a respite from …… the fury.
“My grandfather made steam engines, my father made a scale steam locomotive for taking children on rides in the park and at the fair.”
Was your grandfather’s name, by any chance, James Watts?
I want to respond to all the people who answered me, but I think it’ll take too long to do so individually, and some of the objections were repeated.
Let me start with a few general ones:
1) Time. The reason I picked LA -> NY for my example was that it’s about the longest journey, distance-wise, in the USA. Even on a journey that long, a 250mph train works out taking about the same time as air travel, in total.
There are some exceptions, though. London to Amsterdam is quicker by plane, even with airport delays, because the train goes much further round. If there wasn’t a sea in the way, though, the train’d be quicker.
2) Cost. No, it’s not cheap to set up, but then planes and airports aren’t cheap either. Rail lines last a long time, though. Wouldn’t you pay more for something you’ll pass down to your children and grandchildren than you would for something which’ll be worn out in a few years? In the long-term, even extensive rail networks are cheaper than air travel in most cases. Just as a back of an envelope estimate, there are maybe $3-4 billion worth of planes flying just between LA and NY. They have a lifespan on such routes of what, 15 years? Jet fuel’s not cheap, either. As long as you spread the cost over a long period, almost anything is cheaper than air travel – but air travel’s normally cheaper in the short-term, so we end up stuck with it,
A rough figure for new HS rail lines is anywhere from $50 million to $200 million per mile. For the USA, it’s probably towards the lowest end of that range, so let’s say $100 million per mile. That would cost $250 billion for LA-NY, or a bit less than the smallest budget deficit the US has run in any year in the last decade. If you’re spending money you don’t have anyway, why not spend it on real infrastructure that’ll still be paying back a century from now?
3) Population density. If you have the density for flights, why not for trains? Sure, it’s not suitable to connect every single small town, but any major city will generate enough traffic to make rail a good investment over a century-long timespan.
Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, all that is entirely irrelevant. You can have all the practical arguments for and against rail/air travel that you like, but one thing that will never change unless we bring back airships is that rail travel is infinitely more comfortable. As long as they’re even close in terms of practicality, high-speed rail is the only civilised way to go. Try it before you knock it.
@ur momisugly Roy
“The last of our deep coal mines in Wales closed 5 years ago and there are only a few left in the rest of the UK. ”
That’s because Thatcher hated the miner’s unions, and they hated her. So she picked up the idea of “Global Warming” and promoted it as a global issue. Then hse had an excuse for shutting down the mines.
Steam was a great technology. It was high technology that gave a source of motive power that didn’t depend on animals or weather, transformed the world, and still provided a role for strong men with big hammers.
The British made steam locos for speed. They wanted short trains to run short distances. The Americans made much bigger ones for really long hauls. (And a really imaginative one in which the pistons were vertical and drove the wheels through a crankshaft.)
But there are other options now, and neither the Japanese, the Chinese, or the Koreans seem terribly interested in using steam for their high speed rail.
The rails run through my family’s history also.
http://southern.railfan.net/ties/1982/82-3/ties.html
My greatuncle was the construction engineer on that bridge and tunnel. Lake Cumberland now covers all but the top 3 or 4 feet of tunnel. His brothers also retired from the railroad.
One of my brothers has Dad’s Lionel Hudson. The other has the Southern Crescent. I have the N&W model J.
Anyway, lots of memories here also. Cling to the good ones.
A steam engine powered by charcoal briquettes … er …., I mean, “Biocoal”. Does that mean the dining car will be serving BBQ?
Please Sir; isn’t coal a renewable bio fuel ?
I see you have your history down pat. According to that recent historical biography of Dame Margaret Thatcher, she was simply too senile demened to have ever conjured up a complex conspiracy such as you suggest. Like Ronald Reagan, and more recently George W. Bush; the whole lot of them collectively didn’t have the brains to have invented global warming.
No I think the Liberal left probably dreamed itup, to get all those dusty coal miners out of the mines. In any case, I am sure they are overjoyed and constantly thank Thatcher for saving them from a choking femise.
“According to that recent historical biography of Dame Margaret Thatcher, she was simply too senile demened to have ever conjured up a complex conspiracy such as you suggest. the whole lot of them collectively didn’t have the brains to have invented global warming.”
Of course she was. She was all of fifty when she became Prime Monster, and spent fifteen years as a senile PM. And her lack of brains is shown by the fact that she got a degree in Chemistry from Oxford, worked as a research chemist, and then retrained as a barrister.
(But I don’t need a historical biography to tell me about that. I remember her. )
“I think the Liberal left probably dreamed itup”
Naturally. Everything is the fault of those commie pinko liberals. It always is.
Bruce Cobb says:
June 1, 2012 at 4:25 am
“In honor of all of the other fantasies they have about this proposed charcoal briquettes-powered train, I suggest they number the platform from which it will be boarded 9 3/4.”
Perfect!
In the true spirit of steam powered locomotives…
The Wreck of the Old 97 – Johnny Cash
http://youtu.be/FHKxk719AMc
Dave.
HS2 as is going to be implemented in the UK, I have dubbed H2S because it stinks. It is supposed to go from London to Birmingham but if I lived in High Wycombe, (32 miles outside London,) it would be quicker to just hop on the current train from London to Birmingham. The whole idea of high speed rail is a waste of money because the population density is such that the time travelling to a terminus, waiting for a train to go to the other terminus and travelling, you may as well have gone direct on the slow train.
As for going from where I live to Paris. I’d just go to one of my local airports & fly. Why would I even want to go to London?
DaveE.
Hitchhiking was cheapest, required no infrastructure, and the poor could afford it. Too bad society became less safe. Back in the day I traveled thousands of miles, and like to believe I was an entertaining guest and good company. The only real problem was rainy days.
The Age of Steam didn’t end due to a lack of steam.
And while we’re at it, the Age of Windmills didn’t end due to a lack of wind.
It’s mentioned by others above that getting to, waiting boarding, riding, then getting local transport to the final destination often takes longer than just driving to one’s destination. Example: I drove to North Carolina to engage with one of our customers a couple of weeks ago. It took 7-ish hours to drive there and the scenery was spectacular. The same trip by commercial air takes – including drive to airport, park, security delay at airport, flight to hub, delay, flight to destination, car rental, drive to destination – 8+ hours. And I could start my trip any time and not just when the airlines are ready to fly. But that’s just one example. YMMV.
The upshot is that I’m still waiting for my anti-gravity vehicle so I can go directly from point A to point B at… oh 150-200mph would be OK… and cut the ties to rails and roads.
The Age of Cars won’t end due to a lack of cars (nor an increase in track-bound transportation).
I went and looked at the website in a mood as sceptical (yes I am an Englishman with that spelling) as any here.
Then I noticed that the Director of Engineering is Shaun McMahon one of the tiny handful of fully qualified steam locomotive engineers in the world today and a “disciple” of Livio Porta, mentioned above, so it’s not a naïve dream.
As a project it is entirely doable – see: http://www.martynbane.co.uk/modernsteam/smcmahon/stm-biog-2006.pdf.
Like many here I remain unconvinced about the “biocoal” fuel (But if that’s an excuse to modernise a steam locomotive, I don’t mind going along with it go along with it).
As for hauling freight, with 7ft wheels it would be quite unsuitable, especially as this type of locomotive was notorious for slipping when starting a train.
Other Modern Steam links:
http://www.martynbane.co.uk/modernsteam/ldp/ldp.htm (on the work of Livio Porta)
http://www.dlm-ag.ch/ (Roger Waller’s work in Switzerland)
http://www.5at.co.uk/
…One nitpick, it always annoys me when people refer to this machine as a “train”. It’s a locomotive (or an engine) – that’s intended to haul a train of cars and becomes part of that train when it’s coupled to it.
The rest of the world has been towards electricity and high speed electric multiple units for almost five decades no. US is going back to steam.
I mean, locomotive pulled trains are soooooooo last season on high speed rail.
The entire U.S. passenger rail system known as Amtrak is a financial and operational boondoggle. Overall, it operates at a load factor of less than 50%, as compared to the airlines’ 80%. Much of that is due to long-distance rail lines set by Congress 40 years ago, all vying for service in their states to particular areas, regardless of the numbers involved. Union labor, and heavy regulation are also burdensome. The answer is, of course, to deregulate and privatize Amtrak:
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/transportation/amtrak/subsidies
Yes, that would mean a number of routes would go the way of the dodo, and that would be sad. I have ridden on the “Vermonter” which travels from St. Albans, Vermont all the way to Wash. DC. We would board it in Claremont, NH, and go to Wilmington, DE. I couldn’t help noticing the paucity of passengers when we first boarded (the reverse being true on our ride home). It wouldn’t really start to pick up many passengers until Springfield, and of course New Haven, reaching its maximum in New York. I would imagine that our tickets probably only covered about half the true cost of our ride. The rest, of course, was picked up by Uncle Sam, for which I say Thanks! It’s a beautiful ride, following, and crossing the Connecticut River more than once. We prefer to drive down now (visiting my dad), for various reasons, but we took the train about a half dozen times, and will cherish the memories.
“Biocoal has the same energy density as regular coal, but is cleaner burning, and since trees (the fuel source) sequester carbon as they grow, the system is considered carbon neutral, according to Ward.”
So, using their own logic then, real coal is carbon neutral too, or do they just ignore the fact that nature creates coal essentially by the same way as they describe making their synthetic coal.
New plan – lets replace all the windmills with carbon neutral coal power plants.
HI Anthony, there is a tourist railroad operation in Lebanon,OH, running old engines and cars. they are at http://lebanonrr.com/ they could have your dad’s old engine still.
Mmmm – how fast do they claim that old engine can run?
I know some of those honkers ran fast, but is it railworthy to do so?
Is the road bed good enough?
BTW, range of those beasts was limited by water supply.
I once had the pleasure of being briefed by an old fireman, sitting in the cab of the oilburner in the Revelstoke BC RR museum, but I forget how far he said they could go. He didn’t think that water scooping schemes ever amounted to much. (In the NE US at least one RR tested scooping from a water trough between the tracks. http://www.martinmars.com scoops water but spray from the scoop is not a problem for a flying boat.)
My father was a locomotive engineer for 40 years, the first 30 on steamers like that depicted. My brother and I back in the late 40s got to ride with our father on a few trips between Winnipeg, Manitoba to Redditt, Ontario on the CN mainline. We got to blow the whistle at the crossings,eat at the Redditt station “beanery” and we slept in the bunkhouse overnight. The steam smelled deliciously of boiling leeks and I used to love standing on the platform near the rails at a place called Ena , Ontario when the big steamers pulled up. I father built a log cabin on Ena lake that still stands and is enjoyed by family. Access was only by train until about the mid 1950s when a road was put in. Twenty-five years ago, my brother and I stood on an overpass at Redditt and sprinkled my fathers ashes on freight that passed under us.On the emotion-trip you mention Anthony, I’m with you brother!
On the plus side, I’ve located a Lionel model Hudson 4-6-4 Steam Locomotive 665 with 736W Tender on Ebay, and exact match to the engine and tender my dad constructed, which I hope to buy so that I can show it to my children, and pass on the story with something to show them, along with the family photographs.
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Anthony, did you get the Hudson? Is it the pre-war or the post war?
Anthony, did you get the Hudson? Is it the pre-war or the post war?
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That was a dumb question. You gave the model number. It’s post-war.