Y'all,

I was killin' a ton of mosquitoes in Spencer last weekend, tossing good old fashioned Kentucky real estate into the 1925's firebox. I'm the coal buyer for NCTM and we've used the same supplier now for several years, however, as I travel I hear stories of various folks having not such goo experiences with "clean burning coals." Seems they tend to have lots of clinkers, poor steaming qualities and the like. I'd like to try something cleaner and would welcome recommendations for sources. Jim

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

The touch stone throughout my railroading career has been, "If it doesn't make smoke, it won't make steam". The BTU content may be the same, but the volatiles that make the smoke, also make the quick heat that short runs need. Smokeless coal has more carbon in place of the volatiles which is slower to light, and longer to burn. It may work on a non stop, constant load situation, but for start and stop running, its a disaster. It seems that smokeless coal usually has a higher ash content that causes the fire to build up and choke itself in short order.


kelly@strasburgrailroad.com

Jim,

The Wilmington and Western buys some great coal that makes little smoke and burns very well. If you are looking for good coal call them and ask them where they are buying coal.

Tom

Wilmington and Western RR
tom@forgottendelaware.com

Given we run trolleys in Scranton, the thought of Phoebe Snow and clean-burning anthracite comes to mind. However, I understand anthracite with a much higher carbon content also burns hotter than soft coal. Nevertheless it might be worth a try since your engines don't work up that much of a draft. NCTM's cars will certainly feel at home behind an anthracite fire.



Electric City Trolley Museum Association

In my stationary boilers, the best I have found is West Virginia Pocahontas. The only bad thing I can say about it is it cakes and requires the slice bar to be run through it to keep it open. This usually happens when feeding green coal and not enough draft otherwise the only smoke it makes is just after placing a shovel full in the firebox.

pwtraubert@aol.com

We have burned Pocahantas coal sold by Tower Fuel Co. (now Tartan Energy) for over ten years without smoke or clinkers or excessive ash and it is low sulphur (<1%). Is it expensive? Yes, it cost about $54.00/ton at the mine and we pay $38.50/ton to haul it up by rail. We also pay our guys to unload it. This coal is great, and it solved many problems, not the least of which was calls from neighbors every time the train went by making smoke. It is almost impossible to make this coal smoke (much to the dismay of photographers). In this day of heightened environmental sensibilities, we feel that the extra expense is worth it.
J.David


jdconrad@snet.net