The 8:1 figure came from N&W for mountain routes. Apparently they just do not run a long a train anymore.
--
Bill Owens wrote:
Norfork & Western did not agree with your premise. They only dropped steam
when
they could not get critical parts any longer. It took 8 diesel locomotives
to to
haul the load of one of their steam engines. It is another case of once
the
infrastructure is gone it is insanely expensive to replace it. Which we
are
going to probably eventually find out is the case with film.
The N&W built their own steam locomotives in the Roanoke, VA shops, including the best looking and most efficient steam locos ever built, the J-series. AFAIK, they still build their own coal hoppers, again, in the Roanoke shops. Also, I believe the 8:1 ratio is a bit optimistic. The most diesel electrics I ever saw hooked to a long string of coal hoppers was 5, which could be handled by one 2-8-8-2 steamer. I imagine the steamers were much more labor intensive to maintain. Especially considering the number of water towers that had to be maintained
Environmentally? That is a question that never has been explored to my knowledge. It was not a factor to be considered back then. But really I
see no
greater problem there with steam than with diesel, maybe less.
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
"You might as well accept people as they are, you are not going to be able to change them anyway."
