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[quote user="MerrilyWeRollAlong"] Steam isn't making a come back and never will because the only saving would be on fuel.  Everything else would cost more.  The whole probably with the arguement is that supports have really only looked at the price of coal vs. oil and not really much beyond that.  Much of the arguement for steam neglects to account for increase in labor costs, the cost of water (yes water cost money and should be counted as fuel), the increase in unsafe working conditions (namely communication and visability) and increase in maintanence.  Buying new locomotives and building new facilites are the upfront costs which doesn't need to be covered. The annual operaterating costs is what needs to be examine.  Basically, any savings in fuel (coal/water) would have to be greater than the expected increase in operating expenses before steam could be considered a viable alternative.  Let's look at some detail:Labor - Two men crews would have to be expanded to 3 man crews since the union probably won't allow the conductor to also be the fireman.  That means hiring more people.  Let's assuming that only one locomotive is needed per train.  For the sake of math, BNSF would have to hire 5,000 fireman at $50,000/yr (includes salary and benefits).  That comes to an additional $250,000,000.00 per year just in labor.  So whatever saving in fuel would have to over come that cost.  As doubleheading a train or helpers, although it is possible to computer control a steam engine, that probably would not be allowed by law or make sense (someone has to watch the fire).  So you would have to hire more engineers and fireman (no conductors).  So a crew of 2 with a diesel can jump to a crew of 5 plus which is more money.  For the sake of math it would could BNSF another $500,000,000 per year to run the extra engines on their trains.Lost Time - The great thing about diesels is that they can go a long distance with out the need to refuel.  Steam engines on the otherhand need to be refueled a lot more often.  When EMD was promoting the FT-series locomotives, here was a major selling point for the diesel's triumph of steam: "One of the most outstanding features of the entire performance was the ability of this diesel locomotive to make the entire trip (from Argentine Kansas to Los Angeles) with only 4 stops for fuel and water; whereas a total of seven steam locomotives would generally be required to handle the same train on the same run with 12 stop require for fuel and water AND 16 additional stops for water only."Not only would train times slow down because of the need to refuel/water so many times, the additional stops would also require more labor since there would be more "idle" time where the labor isn't running the train.  Let's call the time for refueling/watering as unproductive time.  The more fuel stops also means more "hot shot" trains like UPS trains would take longer to get from point A to point B.  I serious doubt UPS would pay BNSF premium prices for slower service with steam.  So more money lost here.More Infrastructure - With so many fuel/water stops required for steam, it means more facilites to handle such functions.  For the sake of math, let's say BNSF has to add 1,000 facilties (water or water/coal) and each facility require an average of $10,000 per year for maintanence/upkeep/labor to fix or maintain.  Just to run the additional facilities would cost BNSF an additional $10,000,000. Water - Water isn't free, particular in built up areas and arid climates.  So don't forget add that to the cost of fuel.Loss Savings in maintanence - Diesel locomotives cost less to maintain because a lot of their parts are not only interchangeable with other locomotives, but also within itself.  For instance, every wheel on a six axle locomotive is the same size with the same motor.  You can shuffle with wheels around and it'll run fine.  Not so with a steam engine.  Just about every wheel is unique.  The wheels on the lead trucks, drivers, trailers and tender are all different.  So when it comes time to order wheels, railroad companies save money being able to buy in bulk one type of wheel as oppose to smaller orders of different size wheels.  The inner workings of a diesel are also easier to access than steam.Loss Visability - Unless all new steam engines are cab-fowards, the engineer will lose the ability to see what is going on his left side (assuming all controls are on the rightside of the cab).  This lack of vision brings up safety concerns when it comes to reading signals and seeing other dangers.Other Safety Issues - One of the pluses about diesels is that they are much more quiet than steam.  Today's quiet comfort cabs allow engineers to communicate much more easily with the conductor or the dispatch because noise isn't such a factor.  Isolating the cab of a steam engine may be possible put roar of the stack and the fire may be very hard to overcome.  The windows of the cab would always be open (no more airconditioning) because of the heat generated by the boiler... thus adding to the noise (air rushing by).  Communication is very important and the added sounds would make it difficult and more unsafe if it is hard to understand what is being said to you.Waste Issues - While transporting coal or oil to a refueling facility are probably equal, the ashes from the ash pans need to be transported some place.  That's an added cost.  [/quote]If steam were to make a comeback, it does not necessarily mean that the entire steam culture and state of the art that existed when it left would comeback with it.  Steam could comeback in a form that the participants in that culture would not even recognize.  For instance, I suspect that if steam comes back, it won't come back with firemen.  The engineer will do the firing.  I also suspect that new steam would M.U., and that the one engineer would also fire those remote units.  Safety, comfort, visibility, sound control, and emissions would all be equal to or better than today's diesels.  Fuel, water, and ash handling methods would need to be developed.  They need not slow down the schedule, however.
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