From a railfan perspective, though I am a career railroader who in a past volunteer life have fired and run coal burners (and still do in 1/12 and 1/8 scale), I will add that when I visited last year (the first time since the D&S started oil conversions) the differences in the experience of watching them run were negligible.
So long as you don't stare at the oil tank on the tender for too long, it's hard to notice a whole lot of difference, aside from the fireman not needing to get out of their seat nearly as often.
As an aside, after riding in the cab of 473 from Tank Creek to Silverton, that was the cleanest I'd ever been getting off a steam locomotive. Not necessarily a bad thing.
I, for one, wholeheartedly support whatever needs to happen to keep steam running.
Dan Lindfors
New Brighton, MN
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2024 09:47AM by DVL1994.