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Could coal make a comeback without steam?Wasn't there quite a bit of interest in gas turbine locomotives during the transition from steam to diesel?  If I understand it correctly, they burn coal in a firebox, and send the resulting expanding gas of combustion directly into a turbine.  I always heard that the main problem encountered was fly ash eroding the turbine blades.  That seems like such a specific problem that I would think there would be some way to solve it.  I don't know how it all shakes out in terms of power engineering, but the concept of burning coal and turning it directly into mechanical energy without making steam, seems intriguing in its simplicity.Has anybody ever explored the possibility of directing a stream of pressurized combustion gas into a reciprocating engine rather than into a turbine?  This would be like an internal combustion engine, except the combustion would be external.
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