Re: the Flimsies piece below. I've heard the SP had some gas burners they stuck into fireboxes of oilburners to keep engines hot during idle times. Anyone know more about that?http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/05/news050913_5.htm

Neighbors are complaining about the smoke from the steam engines, even though the air meets EPA regs. Sounds to me like somebody moving in at the end of an airport runway and complaining about the jets flying over. Stupid, selfish, egocentric jackasses! (That's considerably cleaned up from what I wanted to type.)There ought to be a law that you have to pay a substantial fine every time you complain about something that was there before you were. If you don't like coal smoke, don't live near a steam railroad, stupid!

I couldn't agree more about the hand wringing whiners. I'd bet these are people who have moved there from somewhere else and want to change the whole town to suit themselves. My advice to them is GET OVER IT and SHUT UP or move. Shut the RR down and see what happens to the town, it's economy and the legitimate townspeople's attitude. Impose wacko devices or regulaitons on the RR and see how that flies. These sort of ridulous schemes are going to give a stroke someday.Maybe someday I'll come out of my shell and really say what I think.

SP 982 in Houston does have a 3/4" plug valve mounted in the oil line between the in-line heater and the burner. It was used to fire the boiler on natural gas in the roundhouse.

I think there are some valid points to discuss here. Regardless of whether a railroad meets emissions standards now, if it is borderline, it should be proactive in finding ways to meet or exceed compliance in the future.Standby and startup of locomotives might better be facilitated by a modern central boiler plant. A locomotive bay can be equipped for adding and removing hot water and steam. In this way, boilers can heat quickly, but evenly, and maintaining a predetermined pressure. When a fire is laid-in, combustion is greatly improved because the firebox is already hot. When the locomotive is put away, the steam and hot water can be recovered (saving energy) and a hot washout can be performed. This system is essentially what mainline railroads had. The article also mentions particulate emissions. This is a hallmark of the American practice of self-cleaning front-ends. It is also a product of an archaic combustion system which admits all air to the fire through the firebed, essentially lifting the fire from the grates when the coal particles have been consumed to a small size. Locomotives around the world have been upgraded to gas producer combustion systems. This system used in stationary practice was developed for steam locomotives by L.D. Porta and successfully applied to a fleet of narrow gauge 2-10-2’s in the 1960’s. In this system, the combustion at the firebed is done in an oxygen-starved environment using very small air holes in the grates. The combustible gas rising from the firebed meets air introduced from inlets and combustion is completed. The firebed is not lifted as much and combustion is more complete. The Anderson front-end often used by these locomotives is necessitated by their primitive combustion system.Another way to reduce particulate emissions is to lessen the load on the boiler. One of the easiest ways to do this is to increase the insulation of the boiler, appliances, and piping. Another good measure is to eliminate steam leaks. This can be taken further by applying internal combustion-type piston rings.It would not be out of the question to think about more modern classical steam locomotives. Few people in the future will want to see grease, oil, and rod dope thrown all over. New locomotives can be efficient and clean, but maintain an aesthetic similarity to their predecessors while preserving the “best” aspects of the steam locomotive.

Roaring Camp has hostled on natural gas for some time. Once just over 30lbs of steam is raised, the gas is cut off from the burner and an oil fire can be lit. A good practice that has proven to work well in Felton (it had nothing to do with complaints from local residents)

Hi,The Durango & Silverton has been proactive by taking several steps to reduce air polution even when they met current standards.Since the president of the company that owns and runs the railroad is moving his family to Durango, I'd expect to see more proactive efforts to improve air quality there!Roger, 45 miles west of DGO