[ Post a Response | Bessemer and Lake Erie Messageboard ]
Posted by penn senseless on January 31, 2012, 4:37 pm, in reply to "Re: Revisiting "discredited" technology"
69.72.121.181
But more in the vein of the sorts of things I actually work with: the manpower and infrastructure costs of diesel can't be beat when you're looking at the accountant's ledger versus steam. That's, really, all that matters. No amount of technological innovation in steam power could overcome that.
Thats putting it in 1950s thinking. with todays innovation and automation it would probably take the same amount of maintainers as diesels. A steam turbine would eliminate all the issues involved with traction motors for instance.
Maybe not compostite materials today, but what about todays super hardened metals like titanium, stainless, etc. todays electric power turbines dont seem to have the issues they had with wear back then
I highly doubt anyone has ever even thought of revisiting these old ideas but with newer materials and methods. The diesel electric industrial complex is certainly a close minded group.
Message Thread
« Back to index