That's an interesting proposition. Of course, the industry would have to see some solid cost estimates to determine where it might be a suitable substitute. I don't see anything that addresses the cost of setting up a biomass fuel plant or the estimated cost per ton.

As for the 416 fire, all I can say is that the United States Attorney's Office would not have filed suit if they didn't think that they have a good chance at winning. I can see the property owners maybe taking a chance but not the USAO. What makes you think it was an arson?

Legal wise... didn’t the forest service themselves allow the steam train to run that day? So wouldn’t they have to prove the D&S was being negligent?

Because the forest service has asked D&S not to run in dry conditions in the past correct?

I mean the damage has been done either way to a point, I’m just wondering how that affects the possible outcome of the case.

Even if the Forest Service did permit the railroad to operate that day, the railroad also has a legal responsibility to determine whether the conditions are safe as well. All the plaintiffs are required to prove is that the locomotive caused the fire. If the locomotive caused the fire, the railroad is liable for any costs incurred by the government to extinguish the fire. Final responsibility always rests with the operator.

The thing is, that in a civil case, the burden of proof is preponderance of evidence-not absolute proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The government can argue that the fact that the locomotive set the fire is proof that the D&S was negligent. Given that the case will be tried in Colorado and any jury (if drawn) will be from that area, that might not be a hard argument for the government to make.

I believe it could have been arson. There seems to be a number of people writing letters to the editor of the Durango Herald that are bitterly opposed to D&S, and would like to see their entire operation cease to exist. That is a decent motive for setting a fire to bring about a lawsuit that could result in D&S going out of business.

I would think that as long as the Forest Service cannot rule out arson, the circumstantial evidence citing that D&S trains have started fires in the past and the fact that this fire started near their tracks would not be enough to prove that they started this fire.

I have yet to hear of any solid evidence from the Forest Service that shows that a D&S locomotive started the fire. They have mentioned finding ashes or burnt material long the D&S track near where the fire started. However, we already know the fire started somewhere near the tracks, perhaps within the range of a thrown spark. But this is also the exact type of location that an arsonist would use if they were igniting a fire that they wanted to see blamed on the D&S.

Another fire broke out right after the passage of a D&S train, which seems to have raised a few eyebrows and interesting viewpoints. Of particular interest is the transient van which was observed emptying the ash tray. I have not unpacked this entire article yet, but it looks interesting on many levels. One is the apparent increasing fire danger. Another is the lack of a pop car trailing the train. Then there is the cancelation of the helicopter contract.


https://durangoherald.com/articles/2904 ... -passed-by

Basically it's a story about nothing. Fire officials said that because it was a small fire and no structures were burned, they will not be wasting their time investigating the source.

.

Jerry Day (the photographer) was at the spot when the train passed by. They discussed this on the NGDF.

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php ... msg-376138

While the fire was not of any consequences in terms of property damage, many elements of the story parallel the circumstances that are said to have caused the 416 fire. As such, they will serve to shape and reinforce public opinion which may play a role in charging D&S for the 416 fire.

In my opinion, this new story is more about the Durango Herald than it is about the fire. The article clearly leaves the impression that it is almost certain that a D&S train started this fire. For instance, they say this:

“”Milt Hunsaker, a Durango resident who witnessed the blaze, said two tourists taking pictures of the D&SNG were the first to spot the fire as the train passed. He and others quickly notified authorities.

“It literally started within a second of the engine going by,” Hunsaker said. “It was just like, ‘poof,’ and it took off.””

On the NGDF site, it seems that one of those two tourists was Jerry Day who reports there that the train had come and gone before the fire started.

The article also says this: “Dick Waltz, an attorney representing the D&SNG, wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon that the cause of the fire had not been determined and added “that a transient van was observed leaving the area after dumping their cigarette butts.”

Neither witnesses nor fire officials interviewed for this story noted the presence of a van dumping cigarette butts in the area.”

Jerry Day said: “The local FOX radio station in Durango reported tonight that the fire was started by an RV owner dumping cigarette ashes. I saw an RV when I was there Monday.”

There was a new article posted on RT&S :
https://www.rtands.com/railroad-news/u-s-judge-says-durango-silverton-knew-fire-risks-of-coal-powered-locomotives-before-416-fire/

[/quote]

The judge seems to imply that D&S claims they were not aware of the fire risk while the record of fires proves that they must have been aware of it. Since D&S reported and perhaps extinguished these 48 fires in the course of just a couple months, it seems to me that they had to have been aware of the fire risk. How could they not be?

It also suggests that D&S was not only aware of the risk, but was addressing it with diligence by using surveillance and firefighting crews to spot and extinguish these fires.

And it does seem to me that the Forest Service does bear blame for not adequately restricting D&S use of coal fired locomotives when conditions became extremely dry. After all, it is the job of the Forest Service to limit ignition sources during times of high fire danger.

In the news yesterday: Judge: Federal government’s lawsuit against Durango railroad over 2018 wildfire should proceed

Breaking news from the Denver Post:
also:

Link to the March 21, 2022 article:
D&SNG to pay feds $20 million over 416 fire - Historic railroad still contends it did not start 54,129-acre wildfire in 2018

I think that torrified biomass was a scam. Didn't work out. Note that the one locomotive that heavily tested it has just been converted to oil, and that the CSR people have mysteriously disappeared?

Everett #11's conversion to oil had nothing to do with whether or not the CSR tests worked or didn't work. And according to the Everett people and the CSR people - it actually worked pretty decently: https://csrail.org/everett

Unfortunately, I think their lack of progress is very much pandemic-related. Granted, we haven't heard from them in a while, either...