D&SNG Smoke Mitigation Study Complete

Wasatch Railroad Contractors, under the direction of Matt Janssen has completed the Smoke Mitigation Study as directed by the Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado. The Smoke Mitigation Task Force, made up of local residences, railroad officials and city and county leaders hired Wasatch Railroad Contractors last July to complete a study regarding poor air quality in southern Durango.

Wasatch Railroad Contractors endeavored to first find the problem and then present to the Task Force feasible options to resolve the problem. In so doing, the contractor opened the debate to the public by seeking advice from any and all concerned parties. A number of “railfans” submitted detailed ideas, solutions and written reports. The contractor also pursued a number of options including alternative fuels, smoke stack filters and scrubbers as well as crew training and mechanical changes to locomotives.

The final report, prepared by Wasatch Railroad Contractors was delivered in public forum on Thursday, October 19, 2006. The members of the Wasatch Railroad Contractors team included Matt Janssen, Foreman, Dave Griner, CMO, Mike Lewis, Training Specialist, Nigal Day, Special Consultant and company founder John E. Rimmasch. A small portion of this group was on hand for the public presentation.

In short, Wasatch Railroad Contractors sought to “Solve the problem, not the symptom”. The symptom is poor air quality and thick smoke. The problem is poor fuel combustion. The PROBLEM can be fixed by applying a number of technological advancements, namely some of the technology introduced to us by Mr. L.D. Porta. The SYMPTOM can be addressed by expensive scrubbers and filters.

By addressing the PROBLEM, Wasatch Railroad Contractors feels that the bulk of the SYMPTOM is eliminated. Sure, you can cover the symptom, but until you solve the problem, you have only covered it up. If improper combustion can be corrected, why not fix it?

The report which is well over 130 pages long is open to the public. A shorter version of the report is also available. The long version, which includes all findings, studies and explanations, is available upon request by sending a simple written request to either jrimmasch@wasatch-rr-contractors.com or to mjanssen@wasatch-rr-contractors.com . The short version, which includes only the introduction, Chapter 6 (The Options) and the conclusion is also available upon request. The document is available in non-editable PDF format. The long report is color; however it can be printed in black and white. The short version was produced only in black and white.

Both versions of the report will be available on our web page with-in the next 10 working days. Until then, the report will only be available upon request.

The Wasatch Railroad Contractors team would like to thank the citizens of Southern Durango for their support in this study. We would also like to thank all of you who took the time to contribute to the study. We afforded a great deal of time to the real consideration of all ideas. We attempted to include all public comments and apologize up front if we missed a few. We would also like to thank the Management of the D&SNG for their willingness to not only support this study but also for aiding in the success there-of. It was proven time and time again that the railroad is concerned about this issue. A big thank you also goes to the City and County for their time and support.

Where do we go from here? Mr. Dan Ranger of TRAIN was in attendance for the public meeting. He assured us that this issue will be brought before the Board of Directors at the annual fall meeting of TRAIN. This issue is sure to be something that most, if not all steam tourist railroads will face in the future. Wasatch Railroad Contractors and most of the team who conducted the study will be on hand at TRAIN to discuss not only the proposed technology but also the study as it relates to the industry.

Again, please visit our web page for more information regarding the study. Feel free to request a free copy of the report by sending a short note to the above listed addresses. See you all at TRAIN!

John E. Rimmasch
Wasatch Railroad Contractors

www.wasatch-rr-contractors.com

Fascinating John - and thanks.

Unfortunately, my old computer doesn't do PDF, but I am very interested in your methods and results.

Two questions:

1. Will you please bring along some hardcopies to TRAIN? I'd love to have a copy I can read.

2. Will you bring Nigel to TRAIN? I owe him a pint.

dave

Both versions of the report are now available for download from the Projects section of www.wasatch-rr-contractors.com.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed (latest version is highly recommended) to open and read the documents.

If anybody has difficulty in downloading or viewing either document, please contact Mike Lewis ( mlewis@wasatch-rr-contractors.com ) or John Rimmasch ( jrimmasch@wasatch-rr-contractors.com ).

Mike Lewis
Wasatch Railroad Contractors

Interesting study.

Here are a couple of points that seem important to me:

1) they appear to keep the engines hot overnight with active fires, that is, light, bright, flaming fires. 20 years ago on the Strasburg (and I assume not much has changed) we banked all fires at night. We frequently built our banks while on the return trip, and the fire was quiet before reaching the enginehouse. Smoke was very light by that point and remained light to none all night. A big engine like #90, which I suppose is comparable in size to a 480 class, has so much mass that it holds much of its heat all night. We would turn off all appliance and close the main steam stop valves, and it was fairly easy to arrive the next morning with more than a half glass of water and 160+ psi remaining. Breaking up the bank and cleaning the fire created thick smoke, but only for an hour or so.

2) If other, non-railroad, smoke sources are an issue, some simple tests could be performed. Make some air quality tests for a period of time, then, without any publicity, bring some people in on overtime and sneak all of the engines out of town and hold them hot at Hermosa for a few nights. Run more air quality tests. How much does the air quality improve?