First is was Christmas, now it's the secret war on Steam Engines????

I've only got about 22 years in air quality issues involving locomotives, including writing some of the original emission reduction requirements, when we first figured out how much diesels were putting out. I've served on about a dozen committee' on this, reviewed hundreds of reports, papers, and emissions analysis. Diesel locomotives 20 years ago were about as dirty as you could get, especially fine carbon particulate and Nitrous Oxice. Who could forget the plumes of crap emitting from poorly timed Alco diesels? And, compared to that, there is some evidence steam might be much cleaner for certain pollutants.

I also remember when engines put out so much nitrous oxide, mixing with fog from the LA river forming nitric acid, from just idling locomotives at Taylor Roundhouse, at night, that we'd have to cover our cars to keep it from eating the paint. That was back when I worked as a hostler helper. I remember it would burn your cheeks on a foggy night (a nice peel for youthful good looks?), and we were breathing that crap.

I have been a "ringer" in a regulatory penalty case for locomotive emmissions. This property was not complying with a monitoring and maintenance consent order, and the agency I worked for, took them to the cleaners. I have reviewed and commented on proposed emissions regulations, some which made sense, some which did not. I have even been called in on air quality analysis for a major RR electrification study. I was on committee's that funded some of that major research on this. And, this has resulted in new locomotives and gensets that are 85-95% cleaner, and are more fuel efficient.

I have heard from dozens of environmental groups on the subject of locomotive emissions.
In all of those years, never once has anyone pointed to the few hundred remaining operating steam locomotives, scattered around the country, as being of any concern, as a significant source of air pollution. The amount that is put out compared to the the tonnage emitted by even new clean technology diesels is "white noise"-miniscule-and never have I heard anyone identify a need to control this "source".

The only outfit I've ever heard of with this as an issue is DRGW, which has been asked to take measures to minimize unnecessary emissions around the service facilities in town. If it's because of the coal, or localized impacts, then that might have some merit. But, I take 3751 every time it runs, and none of my AQ colleagues have ever had a problem or even a question about this "source" of pollution.

Maybe, there are some local agencies with overzealous wannabee's who are going after steam. But, I worked on most of this issue in LA and California where we have "real" pollution, real economic consequences, and some serious players, who don't want to waste money or time on non-solutions or non-issues. So it has never even come up.

At worst what is reported by the poster is a little misguided harrassment, that hardly represents a movement by environmentalist's to ban steam engines??? Especially when you won't actually identify any specifics? If this is a real problem, then tell us what organizations and/or agencies are doing this, to whom, when, and where? Then I'll take this purported "movement" more seriously......