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The Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad carried coal from the Kayenta Mine to the Navajo Power Plant near Page AZ- a distance of 78 miles. Both the mine and power plant have closed.
Now 100% of freight transportation in the USA is powered by pollution spewing internal combustion engines. The USA has no energy policy, no transportation policy and no industrial policy.
How can we ever tackle "global warming" when the essential movement of freight relies on fossil fuels?
Ask AOC as she has the answers.
In all seriousness, while global warming might very well be taking place (as it has many moons ago on multiple occasions), it is hubris for us to believe we are the cause, and can actually control Mother Nature.
I am all for reducing pollution, preserving natural habitats, insuring clean drinking, helping endangered species, etc., etc., etc.
However since I am not one of the brainwashed masses indoctrinated to believe man is the cause of so called "climate change", I am probably considered a climate denier or some such absurd title.
In this situation, it became convenient for the powerplant to run a line and run the trains off its own power rather than have to use a tremendous number of trucks. In terms of total energy consumed, I have no doubt that powering the trains was far more efficient than any other mode available except maybe a pipeline of coal slurry, and even then I doubt it would beat the train.
This railroad and power plant was in a rare situation where the mine was close by. Everything was self contained. If the power plant needed more coal, they didn't have to call the connecting railroad to schedule a train or two. They just sent their own crews down to the mine. At one time they ran three trains a day from what I have heard.
There were other electric railways in America at the time. One near me was the Piedmont & Northern. They all went under or converted to diesel. Like steam, the industry decided it was not economical to keep up the electric railways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MattCW
Wrong. Most electric freight engines are much more capable than diesel-electric freight engines.
I will defer to the railroader on this board and his reasoning for why this is not the case as well as other railroaders i have talked to before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MattCW
Not really. Over in Europe, they don't just change power...
They might work in Europe. I've seen enough Canadian and Mexican locomotives in the Carolinas to know it works differently in America.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wells5
The Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad carried coal from the Kayenta Mine to the Navajo Power Plant near Page AZ- a distance of 78 miles. Both the mine and power plant have closed.
Now 100% of freight transportation in the USA is powered by pollution spewing internal combustion engines. The USA has no energy policy, no transportation policy and no industrial policy.
How can we ever tackle "global warming" when the essential movement of freight relies on fossil fuels?
Europe is now experimenting with hydrogen trains and there are also hybrid trains that use a mixture of battery power to cut down on diesel.
It's possible that the US may want to look at such trains on some of it's commuter routes and diesel trains cam be converted to hybrid.
American railroads have been experimenting with some hybrids already including battery powered. Norfolk Southern seems to have gad some success in this, but a lot of the alternative powered locomotives are not proving reliable at all in moving freight trains.
But this train DID carry it's own fuel, it carried it all the way to the power plant which then burned it to produce electricity to power the train which was used to pick up more COAL.
Are you guys not understanding this article? The only reason this ever made sense was because it only carried coal to a power plant.
The coal train is not the issue. The attack upon catenary electric rail is.
Not offhand. Name rings a bell. He was in the Havre sub?
Last I knew he was actually in Havre. Moved there from Illinois. Roadmaster.
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