John C Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The engines are completely different
> animals. They have more power, have fewer boiler
> issues, make less smoke, they're louder, and look
> classier. How could you not enjoy that?
John, I totally agree with most of what you said here, but I'd be curious to know why an oil-fired locomotive would have fewer boiler issues. As a mechanical engineer, I would think that having a constant, hot bed of coals in the firebox would help avoid the kind of thermal transients that you could potentially get with an oil-burner, where you have just a little spot-fire when sitting, and a large blow-torch when running. I also have to believe that sitting overnight with a banked fire keeps the temperature more constant than just shutting the fire down completely, as happens most nights with oil-burners. What piece of wisdom am I missing?
/Kevin Madore