Periodical Literature. 591 



The tendency towards the use of oil bin-ning logging locomotives has not 

 increased to the extent that was anticipated several years ago. That the 

 subject is important may be determined conclusively when we consider 

 the disastrous forest fires directly caused by sparks from locomotives. 

 These fires are almost appalling from the standpoint of forest conserva- 

 tion and commercial loss. 



From a standpoint of danger from sparks, the ordinary fuels used in 

 locomotives are: (i) wood, (2) coal, (3) oil. 



The danger from sparks when burning green cord wood or wet slabs, 

 such as are ordinarily used in logging locomotives, and also when burning- 

 coal, is very great, especially when working with heavy loads on grades, 

 or when the wind is blowing hard. The consequence is, that a great 

 number of large and small sparks are blown a considerable distance from 

 the track and help to cause the disastrous fires we hear of almost every 

 week. With a locomotive working hard, it is necessary for the wind to 

 blow only 12 to 15 miles per hour, in order to have sparks become dan- 

 gerous at a distance of 100 feet from the track. Of course, the danger is 

 remote, unless the sparks fall upon bushes, dry grass, etc. Spark arresters 

 in the front end and in the stack are efficient in various degrees, but the 

 ash-pan sparks are a continual source of danger. 



With oil, the danger from sparks is almost absolutely avoided. In 1909, 

 approximately 20,000,000 barrels of oil of different kinds were consumed 

 on the railroads of this country; in the same time, about 100,000,000 tons 

 of coal were consumed. As to the consumption of wood, naturally there 

 is no data available. 



1. Less Waste of Fuel. — The ordinary loss by storage and by theft in 

 transit does not occur with oil. When used in the boiler, considerable of 

 the coal escapes unconsumed through the stack in the form of cinders, 

 smoke and unburned gases, and through the grates in the form of un- 

 burned fuel. With oil, on the contrary, the combustion is much more 

 perfect, and consequently the above losses are very much less. 



2. Saving in Fuel Handling. — With oil, all that needs to be done is to 

 run the oil from the tank car into the storage tanks, causing very little 

 work. Coal, if not handled by hand, has to be handled by some form 

 of conveyor to the storage bins, which costs considerably more than when 

 handling oil. 



3. Saving in Elimination of Ashes. — In oil, there is practically no ash, 

 while with coal the cost of handling ashes at terminals is a considerable 

 item in terminal expense. 



4. Saving of Time. — The saving of time at terminals and the increased 

 mileage due to less stops for fuel, is also an item, especially on railroads. 



5. Labor Conditions. — ^Up to the present time the oil market has not 

 been affected appreciably by labor conditions, while the coal market is 

 affected so much thereby that it needs no comment. 



6. Saving in Locomotive Operation. — In burning oil, there is consider- 

 ably less waste of steam (which means water) at. the safety valve than 

 when burning coal. This is due to the fact that in an oil burning loco- 

 motive, the temperature of the fire box can be regulated almost to a 

 nicety — particularly useful when drifting. With coal, on the contrary, it 

 is very difficult to regulate the fire so that considerable water is not lost 

 through the safety valve, while an oil locomotive could work for days 

 at a time with steam very close to the safety valve pressure with no blow- 

 off, which can hardly be said to be true when burning coal. All safety 

 valves, however, should blow-off at least twice a day to make sure they 

 work, as it is not an ornament. 



7. Thermal Efficiency. — When burning oil, the thermal efficiency is higher 

 than when burning coal, and as a consequence we get more evaporative 

 value out of one pound of oil than we get from one pound of coal. 

 Roughly speaking, one pound of oil will equal from one and one-half to one 



