Train pledges million-dollar clean-up
D&SNG antes up $1 million for clean-air fixes

A D&SNG engineer inspects engine No. 473 before is heads out for another run in this 2005 file photo. The train’s woner, Al Harper, has pledged $1 million over the next five years to mitigate the train’s emissions. The TrainkSmoke Task Force is currently prioritizing how the funds will be spend, with an immediate eye toward scrubber upgrades and wood pellets for overnight firing./Photo by Todd Newcomer

by Missy Votel

Efforts to reduce train smoke picked up steam this month. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has pledged $1 million over the next five years to clean up emissions.

The five-year commitment will include $50,000 each year in cash as well as $50,000 in in-kind labor. The D&SNGRR’s “Smoke Reduction Plan” also includes a cash commitment of $550,000 in 2010, subject to paying off a current loan for the train’s scrubbers, which were installed in 2001.

“I want to stay this year with smoke reduction,” said D&SNG owner, All Harper. “I have said we will reduce smoke by 10 percent every year, and I am committed to that,”

Train officials announced the plan during the Train Smoke Task Force’s monthly meeting on Jan. 11. The pledge was in response to a recently released report on the feasibility of various smoke mitigation measures. The 130-page report, which was completed by Wyoming-based Wasatch Railroad Contractors and released in October, detailed 26 options for addressing the train smoke problem. Of those, nine were highlighted as the most realistic or feasible. Currently, the Task Force, which is made up of various resident, train and government interests, is prioritizing which options to pursue.

“There were several things that we followed up on during our January meeting, and we’ll vote next month on what measures we want to implement,” said D&SNGRR Vice President and General Manager Paul Schranck.

According to Wasatch, the recommendations are focused on solving the underlying problems, such as inefficient combustion and poor drafting instead of addressing only the symptoms, as is being done with the current scrubber system. “What Wasatch is mainly looking at is ways to combust coal more efficiently,” said Schrank. “If the coal burns better, then there’s less smoke.”

The top areas for improvement, according to Wasatch, were:

• The ash pile, where spent cinders, coal and ash are dumped at the end of a run (twice a day)

• Engine smokeboxes (draft system), which draft and funnel exhaust gasses before being emitted into air

• Combustion systems

• Boilers, which have been shown to leak steam, thus resulting in lower efficiency

• Exhaust systems

• Training/responsibility of overnight crews, who keep engines stoked on “hot standby” throughout the night

• Communication between operating and mechanical departments

• The community’s ability to tolerate moderate change over time

Of these, Shranck said several hold promise. “The recommended modifications to the locomotives’ front ends are real interesting,” he said. “We’ll need to look at what’s realistic and the design work that’s been done to see how the locomotives would be reconditioned.”

Schranck said one surprise finding that the ash pit emits large amounts of dense and potent “green” smoke. “Personally, I never thought about it a lot, but it certainly is a contributing factor,” said Schranck.

According to Wasatch, the smoldering pile, which self-combusts over time, emits as much if not more smoke as an idling locomotive. One solution being looked at is splitting the ash pile between Durango and Silverton. Instead of dumping the ash twice a day in Durango, spent ash would be dumped upon the train’s arrival in Silverton, before it heads back to Durango.

“The locomotives have their fires cleaned at night and in the morning,” said Shcranck. “If they were cleaned in Silverton, then they wouldn’t have to be cleaned at night in Durango.”

In addition to the Wasatch recommendations, the Task Force is also still taking a close look at the burning of wood pellets in the engines overnight. “We’ve conducted a real serious test program on the recycled wood pellets, and they’ve got some real merit,” said Schranck.

Since last fall, the train has been experimenting with burning sawdust briquettes from Muscanell Millworks, in Cortez. The briquettes are made from hardwood flooring waste, mostly hickory, which burns up to eight times cleaner than coal. However, since wood has less combustible material than coal, it takes about 65 percent more wood to do the same work. There are also problems with storage of the pellets, which dissolve upon contact with water. However, Task Force members are optimistic about the prospect. “I’m ready to commit the first year’s money to switch over to pellets at night,” said Task Force member and south Durango resident, Jerry Swingle.

For the most part, Swingle said that he agrees in principle with Wasatch’s philosophy, but he was disappointed by some aspects of the report. His main points of contention were over the high costs of the fixes and the report’s failure to acknowledge the scrubber system, of which only four of six jacks are in use.

“The fixes run into the millions of dollars as they apply to all the engines. The reality is, the train is not likely going to be able to do all that,” he said. “And none of the top options said anything about making the scrubbers more efficient.”

Nevertheless, Swingle said the overall outlook for cleaning up smoke over downtown Durango is promising and efforts are moving forward. He said that by the Task Force’s next meeting, in mid-February, the group should have some concrete numbers and be able to set the wheels in motion for hooking up the remaining scrubbers. “We’re hoping we’ll have the money to put this stuff on order and get it done,” he said.

Region 9 Economic Development District, which oversees the Task Force, also will be looking at ways to leverage the money to take out low-interest loans or find matching grant money, said Region 9 Community Development Coordinator Julie Levy. “We’ll be looking at different ways of using the money, and the Task Force is prioritizing how to use it,” she said.

In the meantime, Swingle said Task Force members are “elated” by the $1 million commitment. “The $1 million commitment is good news if we can get it directed to what makes the most sense and what will make the most improvements in the foreseeable future,” he said.