Stradbally steam locomotive ‘first’ to run passenger train on biofuel
AN Irish first has seen the Strabally Woodland Railway run the country’s first passenger train to be hauled by a steam locomotive using a 100% renewable biomass-based coal substitute.
On September 24, Barclay 0-4-0WT No. 2264 of 1949
No. 2 Roisin ran with a stove-ready commercial product called Harvest Flame that is made via the process of torrefaction from biomass – olive stones in this case, a residue from the food industry.
The former Bord na Mona locomotive once hauled wagons of turf from bogs to be burned in a power station. Now it hauled its train over the two-thirds of a milelong 3ft gauge line in the grounds of Stradbally Hall, in Co Laois, to pioneer a step towards carbon neutral steam heritage, as the fuel was shown to be suitable for both small locomotives and traction engines.
Climate-friendly
The Continuity Biocoal project is a collaboration between the Irish Steam Preservation Society CLG, Arigna Fuels of Roscommon, The Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) and its partner in Wales, the Severn Wye Energy Agency, in the Three C Project (Creating a Circular Carbon Economy), a three-year Interreg North West Europe-funded initiative looking at the further development and introduction of economicallyviable value chains based on charcoal raw materials from waste biomass.
Harvest Flame differs in composition from biofuels previously trialled on lines like the Bure Valley, Talyllyn and Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.
The initiative highlights the close working relationship between Ireland and Wales, famous for its many narrow gauge steam railways, made possible by participation in a series of European transnational projects that have focused on finding climate-friendly uses for low value residual biomass over the last decade.
Clean fuel
Nicola Glynn, secretary of line operator the Irish Steam Preservation Society, said:“We were excited to try this new form of fuel. Our railway and traction engine rally is in a beautiful part of Ireland, and doing our bit to help decarbonise the economy is important to us. Plus, our crews enjoyed not ending the day covered with coal dust, as this is a remarkably clean fuel.”
Peter Layden, director of Arigna Fuels, said: “Arigna Fuels is delighted to support the heritage steam industry, replacing the original fossil coal with Harvest Flame, our new biomass-sourced 100% renewable and sustainable fuel. Not only will this fuel help to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the heritage sector, but it will also allow people to continue to enjoy first-hand the magnificent and historic engineering, a legacy of a different era.”
York’s National Railway Museum is closely following the lead taken by Ireland in this field, and its associate curator Bob Gwynne was at Stradbally to witness the trial.
It is not known whether the passenger trip was a world first for biofuel. Bob said that the fuel emits 20% less heat than normal coal, and he did not think it could be used on a main line locomotive but would be more suited to a park or miniature railway. “It is a promising first step,” he said.
The Stradbally Woodland Railway is the oldest established heritage railway in Ireland, constructed in stages between 1969 and 1982 entirely by voluntary labour, many of the volunteers being full-time permanent way workers from the Irish main line network.