OIL AS LOCOMOTIVE FUEL 99 



31, 19 10 : "No serious difficulty has been found in the practical use 

 of oil as a fuel. The question is simply one of cost, and this is decidedly 

 less than the estimate upon which the Commission based its order. 

 * * * * With the experience of the year 19 10, the use of oil-burhing 

 locomotives in the Adirondacks may be said to have passed the ex- 

 perimental stage, and no satisfactory reason has yet been presented to 

 the Commission against the continued use of oil for day service during 

 the period of fire risk." 



Symposium 



There has been considerable discussion and difference of opinion 

 with regard to the relative merits of oil and coal as locomotive fuel, 

 and as to the extent to which the fire danger is eliminated by the use 

 of oil for this purpose. In order to get as much information as possible 

 in this connection, extracts or abstracts have been made from available 

 articles bearing on the subject, and, in addition to this, many statements 

 have been secured as a result of correspondence. The more important 

 extracts are included in the following pages and the remainder may be 

 found in the appendix. 



The information obtained in this way comes from a variety of 

 sources, including railway ofi&cials, representatives of oil companies, 

 district and chief foresters and lumber companies owning and operating 

 their own railway lines. In this manner diverse points of view have 

 been obtained and much valuable information secured with regard to 

 the attitude of the various parties concerned. To facilitate a compre- 

 hension of the various points of view the communications in question 

 are presented in this volimie in a geographical order ; that is to say, 

 they have been arranged in a grouping which follows a sequence em- 

 bracing the Atlantic States of the Union, the Southern States, the Paci- 

 fic Slope and British Columbia. 



Practically all of these communications bear witness to the fact 

 that forest fires, due to oil burning locomotives, are of the very rarest 

 occurrence ; and that the danger of conflagrations from this type of 

 engine may be under certain circumstances, completely eliminated. 

 It will, however, be seen, that, from an economic view point, the use 

 of oil is a different matter ; and it is of interest to note, that, in so far 

 as the Eastern railways are concerned, the price of oil is a very great 

 drawback to its utilization in this way. 



With regard to the danger from sparks, in connection with oil 

 burning locomotives, it appears from this correspondence that this can 



