@BillYo414 posted:Pretty interesting thread. I gather that overall costs might have been lower for diesels but I did not realize how close the Niagras came to competing with diesels. Cool stuff. I never thought about how coal ash had to be disposed of and water treated. Those are definitely costs I would have missed on my own. Makes sense though. I also think steamers are rough to start up. That's a lot of boiling. And it never boils if you watch it (or so I'm told).
One thing I wanted to say was about assembling a steamer in two weeks. I would feel confident it could be done because it's mechanical. My experience at work supports my opinion that purely mechanical things assemble quickly if you have the background knowledge to do it.
I really appreciated this thread. Good read.
There's a video on the Hudson's which discusses the treated water, but doesn't really touch to much into the details on that. But if you really think about the time and how much water treatment has come into being, it makes sense. All the minerals in well water are definitely no good for anything that boils water. Have hard water here and occasionally have to use vinegar in the tea kettle to dissolve all of the minerals that cake on inside in order to restore faster boiling. Just imagine how costly it would be to replace all the piping or scrap out the deposits.
