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ScottC4746
09-21-2008, 05:41 AM
I went yesterday, but have a question. Does the Cast Member Canteen vent to the Diorama area? When the train went through the tunnel it smelt like french fries.

Darkbeer
09-21-2008, 06:55 AM
The trains use Bio-Diesel to make the steam, so it might have been that.....

ScottC4746
09-22-2008, 07:12 AM
The trains use Bio-Diesel to make the steam, so it might have been that.....
I had heard they had converted...at least is smelt better than diesel going through there.

smd4
09-22-2008, 01:05 PM
I had heard they had converted...at least is smelt better than diesel going through there.Not to me. Some of us prefer our trains not to smell of food.

However, I grudgingly accept the new fuel if it keeps the trains under steam--which is why they were converted in the first place.

ScottC4746
09-22-2008, 03:34 PM
Not to me. Some of us prefer our trains not to smell of food.

However, I grudgingly accept the new fuel if it keeps the trains under steam--which is why they were converted in the first place.
I am mixed on it. While the sound and smell is not the same, from an eco stand point I sort of like this, but the smoke scene just is not there anymore.

AVP
09-22-2008, 03:40 PM
Not to me. Some of us prefer our trains not to smell of food.The conductors don't like it when you tell them their train smells like tempura. ;) I don't know where they source their bio diesel, but a blend they had one day in June made me crave Chinese food something fierce. It smelled *exactly* like fried rice.

AVP

CV12Pirate
09-22-2008, 06:23 PM
They probably make their own, with oil from their own kitchen's. It is easy and cheap. I can't imagine them spending money on something they can do themselves, with material they already have.

ScottC4746
09-23-2008, 04:19 AM
They probably make their own, with oil from their own kitchen's. It is easy and cheap. I can't imagine them spending money on something they can do themselves, with material they already have.
Give them time...if they can pump popcorn and watermellon smell on Hemlic's Chew Chew Train, they will probably pump diesel smell to cover up the fried food smell.

smd4
09-23-2008, 04:45 AM
I am mixed on it. While the sound and smell is not the same, from an eco stand point I sort of like this, but the smoke scene just is not there anymore.The fuel does absolutely nothing to affect the sound of the engines.

smd4
09-23-2008, 04:48 AM
They probably make their own, with oil from their own kitchen's. It is easy and cheap. I can't imagine them spending money on something they can do themselves, with material they already have.They purchase their fuel from a vendor.

Each engine burns approximately 12 to 14 gallons of fuel per hour. At 12 gph over a 15 hour day, that's 180 gallons of fuel. If three trains are running (typical), that's 540 gallons of fuel.

I know there's a lot of fried things at DL, but they certainly don't produce enough used vegetable oil to produce 540 gallons of fuel every single day.

CV12Pirate
09-23-2008, 04:56 AM
So they don't even make it themselves, they buy it pre-mixed, ready to go?

smd4
09-23-2008, 05:57 AM
No, they don't make it themselves. There just isn't enough cooking oil used every day at the Resort to make enough for fuel. Don't forget, the Mark Twain also runs on the stuff.

Craig Ludwick, roundhouse lead, saw the writing on the wall when the HKDL engines were made to run using internal-combustion engines hidden in the locomotive tenders. They aren't real steam locomotives, owing to the amount of pollution they would have generated.

The E.P. Ripley was the first engine converted to run on the fuel, as a test to see if the amount of BTUs generated would be enough to produce enough steam to power the trains. That test, using 98-2 biodiesel (98% bio, 2% regular petroleum diesel), was a success, and over the months, the other engines were converted.

VickiC
09-23-2008, 06:53 AM
Do any other steam engines in the world use bio-diesel or is this a DL exclusive? I know it is not traditional but I actually think it is very cool.

smd4
09-23-2008, 07:24 AM
Good question, Vicki! To my knowledge, the DRR trains are the only steam engines in the world burning biodiesel. Diesel fuel in general doesn't have quite enough energy in it to fire larger steam engines, many of which run today on used motor oil. As far as I know, even WDW doesn't use Biodiesel on their trains...yet!