Re: Durango Smoke fuss

To summarize the report, WRC found that a great deal could be accomplished by correcting the problems, not the symptoms. Excessive smoke is a symptom of poor coal combustion in the locomotives.
The report discusses the possibilities of implementing improved draft and combustion technologies that were researched in the late days of steam by people like L. D. Porta and others. At the very least, this would include improvements to the smoke box and firebox design.
Also discussed are the possibilities of alternative fuels for overnight use. It is noted that the railroad DOES NOT intend to burn anything besides coal during on-the-road operation. If an alternative fuel is used, it will only be for the overnight idling of the locomotives.
The smoke scrubber system currently installed at the roundhouse was evaluated. Also discussed is the expansion of the system, and different systems used for filtering smoke and cleaning the air. The report maintains that scrubbing the air only addresses the symptom (the smoke) and not the problem (poor combustion).
The benefits of improving the combustion and draft systems in a step-by-step process will not only mitigate the smoke issue, but will also improve the quality of the locomotives and result in better fuel economy, better road performance, and less downtime for maintenance and repairs. (Installing more smoke scrubbers does not provide these benefits.)
As mentioned on Dead Goat, PDF's of the report are available by sending a request to John Rimmasch jrimmasch@wasatch-rr-contractors.com">(jrimmasch@wasatch-rr-contractors.com) or Matt Janssen mjanssen@wasatch-rr-contractors.com">(mjanssen@wasatch-rr-contractors.com). Two versions of the report are available. The long report is 130 pages and includes technical details and test results obtained from our rides with K-36 No. 486. The short version includes the introduction, a list of recommendation options, and the conclusion.
It should also be noted that the Smoke Mitigation Task Force feels that this report marks the begining of a process. The task force plans to use this information to plan the next steps in this process.