dave2-8-0 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Full disclosure up front.. I crew, maintain, and
> shovel coal into D&RGW 315. I'm also on the BOD of
> the DRHS. Oh and I rebuild and paint rolling
> stock. I am very biased to coal!!
>
> I have read ALL the comments on the discussion of
> Coal vs Oil for our steam engines.... And after
> all the discussion it seems that the only
> alternative to using coal is the oil fired
> option...
>
> I present yet a third option.... I think that
> there is enough engineers in the world of steam
> and outside of railroading that a modern solution
> of an add on scrubber of some sort, to prevent
> live cinders from leaving the stack, could be
> developed if we put enough brainpower and outside
> of the box thinking and engineering behind it.
Yes indeed. I agree with every word of your assessment. As you say, there has been a lot of engineering evolution to improve spark arrestors. With that, it may be easy to conclude that the goal of perfection can never be achieved. But the truth may be that it is achievable, but just has not been achieved yet. Throughout most of railroad history, engines have started fires and there may have been a reaching of equilibrium with the cost of more R&D being rejected in favor of just the cost of settling the fire lawsuits. Thus the threat of accidental fires would never reach the point of putting the railroad company out of business.
But now with the Forest Service regulating the activities of private recreational railroads, we may have finally reached the point of total spark elimination being required to stay in business. So maybe with extra incentive, we can develop a new solution to the problem that is 100% effective.
I am curious about the water spray system that D&S has used in their spark arrestors. Has that ever been used by other railroads in the past? How much has it helped reduce spark emissions on the D&S? I can understand how there would probably be diminishing returns where too much water jetting overly impedes the draft and may create too much water falling back down on the train. It may even require changing the appearance of the engines to the point of raising objections.
It seems to me that a perfect solution might require not only water and screens, but a very precise arrangement and progression of those measures. The point would be to progressively divide and wet the hot embers rather than to catch them all at one point in the stack system.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2020 10:33AM by Ron Keagle.