Rebooting Steam

[NW Mailing List]

I have read several articles about their proposal and listened to a  
presentation from them.  They plan to use the latest state of the art  boiler 
technology, emissions technology, and computerized dynamic analysis to  come up 
with a steam locomotive as efficient, fuel heating value to drawbar  
horsepower, as a diesel, and able to have machinery speeds what would make a J  
blush without destroying the rail.  They also plan to use fuel pellets made  
from plant stalks that have zero NOx and particulates, and negligible ash  
residue.
 
It all sounds wonderful to the uninitiated, and there's just enough  
substance that it's worth studying in detail, as an intellectual exercise in  
being open minded if nothing else.  However, their naive enthusiasm  overlooks 
some basic physical and engineering fundamentals and will  probably die a 
natural death once cold hard reality hits them in the face.
 
They expect to obtain significant improvements in adhesion (coupled axles  
and microprocessor controls); when I asked them if they were going to take  
advantage of microcreep, their hand-waving answer demonstrated that they had 
not  the vaguest idea what I was talking about.  I assure you an EMD or GE  
presenter would have been able to go on at great length on that subject.
 
Until reality does overtake them, I recommend that we do present an open  
mind and ask the tough questions to see how they answer them. 
 
Dave Phelps
 
 
In a message dated 10/8/2012 3:32:34 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:

 
Here's the link.  Not a lot of info. 
_http://www.csrail.org/_ (http://www.csrail.org/)  
Kim 
Huntsville

 
____________________________________
From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To:  "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Monday,  October 8, 2012 12:13:25 PM
Subject: Rebooting Steam

The  October issue of Wired Magazine has an article entitled 'Back on 
Track' that  describes the work of a group called Sustainable Rail 
Iinternational.   This group is rebuilding Santa Fe 3463 with new technology that will 
make  steam power more efficient than other alternatives.  First I'd heard of  
this, so I'm wondering if anyone is tracking this and has an idea of whether 
 it has merit.  A copy of the article is attached.
 
Frank  Akers
_www.ruralretreatdepot.org_ (http://www.ruralretreatdepot.org/) 

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