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The
Ultimate Steam Page
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updated 28 January 2011
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This page provides news on working
operation of steam locomotives, construction of new steam, technical
improvements to existing steam locomotives, and similar news
items.
Current Headlines:Steam Returns to the Grand Canyon- AgainIndia Announces Constructuion of New Steam Locomotives for the Nilgiri Railway A1 Trust Sends Tornado Boiler Back to Builder for Repairs Old Headlines Brief Steam Return to the Grand Canyon Railway British Steam Car Challenge Sets New Land Speed Record See the Steam News Archive for
older news stories. Steam Returns to the Grand Canyon- AgainThe Grand Canyon Railway, which ended regular steam operations in 2008 when a new environmentally concious company (Xantera) took over management of the railway, announced that they will be featuring limited operations of their two steam locomotives in 2011. Part of the reason for the company's change of heart were successful test runs in 2009 in which GCR steam locomotives were fueled with Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) which is obtained from the two restaurants operated in the Grand Canyon area.WVO is considered "environmentally friendly" as it is a "carbon neutral" fuel. Basically any fuel produced from plants, such as vegetable oil, wood, or bagasse is considered carbon neutral. The plants from which these fuels are derived take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then release this carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere when they die and rot or when they are burned as fuel. The two active steamers on the Grand Canyon, 2-8-2 #4960 and 2-8-0 #29 were both significantly modernized previously by the railway's mechanical shop. Both locomotives were fitted with Lempor exhaust systems, feedwater heaters, and improved oil burner arrangements among other improvements. Click on the link below for more information; the site features a nice video with some very good running and still shots of #4960, as well as a discussion of the use of WVO in the locomotives. India
Announces Constructuion of New Steam Locomotives for the Nilgiri Railway
The 19 January issue of "the Hindu" newspaper reports that the Golden Rock Railway workshops are building 4 new rack and adhesion oil-fired steam locomotives to replace the Swiss-built SLM locomotives which have served the line for many years. Based on the photo above, the new locomotives appear basically identical to the original SLM locomotives apart from the change from coal firing to oil firing. The article notes that the locomotives will have a pilot burner fired by diesel fuel, and a main burner which will burn "furnace oil" which is likely a heavier, less expensive fuel. The cost of the new locomotives is reported as 40 crore, which works out to about $8.8M U.S. or a little over $2M U.S. each. The first of the new locomotives is
expected to be delivered by February 2011. Read more at this link: http://www.thehindu.com/business/article1102920.ece
A1
Trust Sends Tornado Boiler
Back to Builder for Repairs The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust recently revealed that the
boiler of their A1 Peppercorn Pacific, completed by DB Meiningen of
Germany around 2007, had suffered cracks to the firebox and a
higher-than-expected number of cracked stays during the relatively
short service life of this locomotive. Repairs will include weld
repair of the cracks and replacement of broken stays as well as the
pre-emptive replacement of several hundred stays. This expensive
and unexpected setback is of interest to many steam operators around
the world, many of whom will eventually have to fabricate new welded
boilers for their own steam locomotives as their original boilers pass
the point of economical repair. Hopefully the A1 Trust will share
the technical findings of the analysis of their boiler's problems with
other steam operators so that lessons learned can be incorporated into
future locomotive boilers. Read more at the A1 Steam Locomotive
Trust's site: http://www.a1steam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=123 |
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Brief Steam Return to the Grand Canyon RailwayAfter the new owners stopped all steam operations last year, they have announced a special commemorative steam trip to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the railway's rebirth on 19 September 2009. 2-8-2 no. 4960, previously modernized extensively under Nigel Day's direction will be returning to steam. Fuel for this run will be recycled vegetable oil. More information at the railway's website at: http://www.thetrain.com/Steam-Event-7275.html British Steam Car Challenge Sets New Land Speed RecordWhile not locomotive-related, I'm sure this story is of interest to most steam enthusiasts. From a team press release: Edward’s Air Force Base, California: Wednesday August 26th 2009: Yesterday at 8.22am (California time) Don Wales successfully set another land speed record for a steam powered car. The car set the record for a measured kilometre – achieving an average speed of 148.308mph on two runs. After Charles Burnett III’s heroics on Tuesday in breaking the record for a measured mile, test driver Don Wales piloted the car for the attempt at the kilometre record and reached a peak speed over 155mph. Both new international records are subject to official confirmation by the FIA. Don Wales said: "What a great feeling, the car felt better
than ever today. We peaked over 150mph and the car was handling
beautifully. The team has worked so hard over the last 10 years,
especially over the last few weeks! Having set two FIA world records is
an amazing achievement and no-more than the team deserve after their
perseverance” More info on the project's website here: http://www.steamcar.co.uk/ |
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For more steam news from around the world, I highly recommend:
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Rob Dickinson's "International Working
Steam Locomotives" |
John Craft's "Steam Central" |
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