Steam locomotive that runs on used vegetable oil.

YES ... Eat more Fwench Fwied Foodz ... Go Green !

I wonder if it does smell like McDonalds in the cab ?

In the 1920's alot of things ran on peanut oil ... so it is not a brand new technology.
 
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I saw something about this a few months ago on TV. It runs quite well as its just a matter of adjusting the spray nozzles (or whatever they call them) for a different fluid consistency.

Ben
 
Yeah, if I remember correctly it was Grand Canyon #18... modified to use cooking spray... I heard on TV the thing smells like burgers when it's running :D
 
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50153937n

I found out that a railroad modified a steam locomotive to run on used vegetable oil. I think that they had to add sand to the oil to create smoke from the smoke stack.

Good on you Americans for catching on to a thing we've been doing over here for years, we started using old chip shop oil in our diesel engined cars
years ago (but we don't have zillions of barrels of Texas crude to guzzle), the problem is collecting enough to make it a viable proposition for rail traction.
My query is, WHY ADD SAND just to see a bit of smoke, surely that defeats the object if you burn sand, you're burning bits of the planet, you don't
need smoke just for the sake of it, the loco runs fine without it.
 
Actually BLackwatch, most oil fired locomotives in the United States burn recycled motor oil. Also, the sand helps keep the flues and such clear of particulate buildup and comes back out of the stack as sand.
 
This is pretty interesting and is good news for both steam engines and the environment. Now if someone at UP would think big, we could have an articulated McDonald's waste recycling plant pretty soon. :p
 
the lady newscaster was luvin' it...

McDonalds.jpg
 
Good on you Americans for catching on to a thing we've been doing over here for years, we started using old chip shop oil in our diesel engined cars
years ago (but we don't have zillions of barrels of Texas crude to guzzle), the problem is collecting enough to make it a viable proposition for rail traction.
My query is, WHY ADD SAND just to see a bit of smoke, surely that defeats the object if you burn sand, you're burning bits of the planet, you don't
need smoke just for the sake of it, the loco runs fine without it.


We already have bio-diesel cars and trucks. There are kits to convert the standard Mercedes and VW diesel cars to bio-diesel which burns, as you said old chip oil from the local restaurants.

John
 
Yeah, if I remember correctly it was Grand Canyon #18... modified to use cooking spray... I heard on TV the thing smells like burgers when it's running :D
No no, #18 was sold to the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad. The loco in question is #4960.



On a somewhat different note, what if Union Pacific modified the Big Boy they're restoring to run on waste vegetable oil like 4960?
 
Hi Everybody.
I found out that a railroad modified a steam locomotive to run on used vegetable oil. I think that they had to add sand to the oil to create smoke from the smoke stack.

I would think that anyone who ran an engine which blew sand out of the smoke stack had better be prepared for an awful lot of personal injury claims from people with damaged eyesight Or More realistically "claiming so" (LOL)

Bill
 
Also, the sand helps keep the flues and such clear of particulate buildup and comes back out of the stack as sand.

This happens (or at least did) in the UK too. On the Ffestiniog Railway they used to run the steam locos on "waste oil" (which essentially meant if it was liquid, flammable and cheap they burned it), because this oil was often of low grade it clogged the tubes up so sand was thrown into the firebox on section where the engines worked hard in order to unclog it. The practice was stopped when environmental legislation meant waste oil was no longer acceptable and the fuel quality consequently improved. Now most UK lines with oil fired steam locos are rapidly going back to coal as oil is so expensive here.
 
Hi Their edh6
This happens (or at least did) in the UK too. On the Ffestiniog Railway they used to run the steam locos on "waste oil" (which essentially meant if it was liquid, flammable and cheap they burned it), because this oil was often of low grade it clogged the tubes up so sand was thrown into the firebox on section where the engines worked hard in order to unclog it. The practice was stopped when environmental legislation meant waste oil was no longer acceptable and the fuel quality consequently improved. Now most UK lines with oil fired steam locos are rapidly going back to coal as oil is so expensive here.

The wife and me travelled on the Ffestiniog Railway three or four years ago and wondered why we felt so gritty at the end of the journey(s). Now after all this time I may have the answer and will tell her when she comes in later.

Bill :D
 
Sanding the flues, is a common practice on all steam locos, to sandblast the carbon build-up out the stack.

When you ride a steam train ciders are always getting in passengers eyes, so outside railfan flatcar passengers on rail lines should face away from the train of smoke and cinders, or wear protective eyewear or goggles.

If you are holding a double dip ice cream cone ... You will get unexpected black steam locomotive crunch-ity "Jimmies" on yer' ice cream ... for free !

Removing a cinder from ones eye is done by gently touching a folded up paper napkin to the scalera or cornea of the eye, and the cinder or sand is magicly picked up by the napkin.

The cost of re-refining of the used vegitable oil outweighs the cost of buying new diesel or bunker oil ... but at least it is recycled waste oil ... Green technology !
 
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Hi cascaderailroad and Everybody.
Sanding the flues, is a common practice on all steam locos, to sandblast the carbon build-up out the stack.

When you ride a steam train ciders are always getting in passengers eyes, so outside railfan flatcar passengers on rail lines should face away from the train of smoke and cinders, or wear protective eyewear or goggles.

If you are holding a double dip ice cream cone ... You will get unexpected black steam locomotive cruchity "Jimmies" on yer' ice cream ... for free !

Removing a cinder from ones eye is done by gently touching a folded up paper napkin to the scalera or cornea of the eye, and the cinder or sand is magicly picked up by the napkin.

The cost of re-refining of the used vegitable oil outweighs the cost of buying new diesel or bunker oil ... but at least it is recycled waste oil ... Green technology !

Great posting cascade, I thoroughly enjoyed that one. Well, I don’t know what your age is cascade but I can remember (unfortunately) when steam was the only motive power on British Railways. In those days passengers had no alternative but to get smoke and cinders (smuts in Britain) in your eyes as you had to lower the carriage window and stick your head out towards the engine as that was the only way to know where you were and what the station you were coming into was. It was often a question of who would be brave enough or desperate enough to be the first to stick their head out and then bring it back in coughing and sputtering. They would then be unable to answer the one question of all the other passengers as to where they where.

Stations especially terminal ones in those days were filthy places being smoke stained and everything covered in coal dust and ash. Those pretty GWR seats you see on the download station where nothing more than ornaments in real life as no one would actually sits on them for if you did you would rise with black stripes across your backside from all filth.

Equally as I recall you could never actually buy an ice cream on a British station as station managements worried that with everybody’s eye pupils fully extended trying to see through the smoke and gloom, the sudden appearance of an ice cream would probably cause snow blindness to anyone who looked at it.

British rail never provided anything much for removing smuts from your eyes at stations. However, in an emergency there was an implement provided on platforms with a notice above it stating “firehose” which would undoubtedly do the trick.

For those of us still around who remember the above, the emergence of diesel powering on the railways was a true blessing. Electrification is now taking place on my local line between Somerset and London but i for one one will be sad to see the diesels replaced as they have given many years of solid and versatile service and never got smuts in anyone’s eyes.

Bill
 
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On a somewhat different note, what if Union Pacific modified the Big Boy they're restoring to run on waste vegetable oil like 4960?

I guess if that happened, other businesses that recycle the waste oil would go out of business to curb the appetite of that locomotive.

Paul
 
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