Utrecht Nostalgie Express 7_5_22 - See Pinned Comment.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rS4kTo3....c3-Q/maxresdefault.j

The locomotive design and the driver and fireman are an excellent crew.

Notice how cleanly the fuel is burning by the exhaust from the smoke stack.

Slightly rich - a very faint bit of smoke haze, is a GOOD hot fire - the question then becomes a small HOT fire or a BIG hot fire.

When you can watch the exhaust and steam venting from the exhaust, you can tell what the crew is doing, what the crew is leaving lie, what transitions they are making or riding through, and the gradient of the track - be it up hill or down hill, and how hard they are pulling away and or uphill, and or coasting down hill.

The exhaust tells you everything.

The steam trains are very dynamic machines.

See these links on how to drive them.

Why do USA steam trains make smoke, but UK ones don't? ( Brilliant Audio )
https://www.mgtow.tv/v/VKzxVd

How to Drive a Steam Train Locomotive at Peter's Railway
https://www.mgtow.tv/v/EwGek6

How to Operate a live Steam Locomotive view from engineers seat
https://www.mgtow.tv/v/vBzbka


Fuel effiency was a HUGE issue almost from the very beginning - from insulating the boiler, to clean combustion, and the amount of freight in tons, that could be pulled over a distance in miles, per ton of fuel used - it all had costs - and these were sort of exponential like a locomotive that could pull 1000 tons of freight, over 1000 miles on 100 tons of fuel, was a LOT cheaper to run that a locomotive that used 160 tons of fuel for the same trip. This is because the cost of the coal, the cost of storing the fuel and refuelling all the lococmotives - as well as buying the coal... Add on all the cleaning and ash and cleaning out the grates etc... so 160% more coal and 160% more handling and 160% more cleaning etc., etc., etc.

And since locomotives did fuck all else besides do miles and use fuel, and required extensive maintenance - FUEL effiency was a HUGE issue, and it became more so, in terms of running costs as private cars and trucks started to develop as effective transport networks, and began to compete with the train services.

AND the bill for the fuel used was HUGE - along with the other costs, AND crews were monitored, as to how efficiently they ran the locomotives - Their fuel, water, and the wear and tear on all the locomtives was monitored. A bit vague, and there are many crews and train companies and coutries, but I recall the crews that got the most freight miles per ton of fuel used, got bonus's - so the best crews had the best drivers and the best firemen....