The Return of Steam?
When gas prices were steeply rising in the early 1980s, businessman and steam proponent Ross Rowland started American Coal Enterprises (ACE). In 1985, his 1948 4-8-4 steam locomotive #614 was used on Chessie System coal trains in West Virginia for testing and collecting data. With the help of engineers, ACE developed plans for a next generation steam locomotive. However, as gas prices fell back below $1 per gallon, the funding never came through to build a prototype.
Flash forward to today… gas prices are rising to record levels. Can we expect a return of the steam engine?
Unfortunately for steam fans, a return of steam does not appear likely. Diesel Electric locomotives, built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and General Electric (GE), are becoming increasingly powerful and efficient. Diesels have some advantages over traditional steam engines in that they:
- require a smaller crew to operate,
- are easier and cheaper to maintain, and
- they can be easily turned on and off.
However, modern steam locomotives have not been manufactured in the U.S. since the 1950s. Is it fair to compare a circa 1950 steamer with a 2008 diesel electric? What would happen if today’s engineering improvements are applied to steam locomotives? What if gas prices continue to rise? How far do gas prices need to get before we take a serious look at steam again?
May 14th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
There’s an interesting discussion of this post going on at Trainorders.com: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,1670279,nodelay=1