Part IV 

 The Use of Oil as Locomotive Fuel* 



From a Fire-Protective Point of View 



In many lines of industry, oil fuel is rapidly displacing coal. The 

 change that has taken place in this respect in the Western United States 

 within the past five years is remarkable. In Canada, a notable move- 

 ment towards oil fuel has been going on within the past two years, 

 principally in British Coltmibia. 



In this connection, the following is quoted from a recent article 

 by Mr. H. Foster Bain if 



" The dominant factor in the Pacific coast fuel situation is no longer 

 coal but oil, and of this, in 1911, California produced 77,224,359 net 

 barrels. Not all was shipped, and by no means all was used for fuel, 

 but it is estimated that 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 bbl. each year are now 

 burned for fuel, replacing 11,000,000 to 12,000,000 tons of coal. Fuel 

 oil is delivered at tidewater from Alaska to Peru at prices that give it a 

 marked advantage over coal, without taking into account the incidental 

 advantages of cleanliness, lower cost of handling, and decreased labour 

 cost in the fire room. Fuel oil is delivered on the Pacific Coast at 85c. 

 to $1 per bbl., equivalent to a cost of $3 to $3.50 per ton for coal, con- 

 sidering fuel value alone. The surplus above ground, over 40,000,000 

 bbl., the extent of territory developed, and the ease with which produc- 

 tion is increased, give every assurance of continued supply at reasonable 

 price for years to come. As a restilt, oil has practically replaced coal 

 throughout California, western Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon, and is 

 rapidly gaining a foothold in Alaska, British Coltunbia, Washington, 

 Mexico, Central and South America. In California, coal is now little 

 used, except for domestic heating and for bunker purposes on certain 

 steamships, that have not yet foimd it economical to change to oil 

 burners. Practically all the regular coast-wise steamers, save some 

 belonging to the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, which company 

 has its own coal mines, now bum oil. The Alaska Steamship Company, 

 the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk, the Oceanic, the Matson, and 

 other lines have adopted oil. It is especially interesting to note that 

 the Oceanic steamers now being rebuilt at San Francisco, to run between 

 that port and New Zealand, will bum oil. The steamers of the Toyo 



* Liquid fuel is crude petroleum as received from the wella, or the product of 

 crude petroleum, distilled or reduced (Howard StUlman, in Railway Age Gazette, 

 March 15, 1912.) 



tFuel Problems on the Pacific, by H. Foster Bain, Transactions Can. Mining 

 Inst., 1912. 



