CSR Adds New Board Members

We are pleased to announce that CSR has added two additional new members to its Board of Directors: Matthew R. Bergmann and Gary F. Knudsen. These two Kansans each bring a depth of experience in their respective fields that will serve to benefit CSR. Brief bios are shared below, and additional information on all of the CSR Board Members and Advisors can be found here.

Mr. Bergmann is an attorney at Topeka-based law firm Frieden, Unren & Forbes, LLP, where he specializes in the areas of administrative, business, public affairs and legislation, real estate, workers compensation and general practice matters. 

Mr. Bergmann’s preparatory education took place at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas where he graduated, magna cum laude, in 2001. He received his juris doctorate from the Washburn University School of Law in 2005.  During his preparatory and legal education Mr. Bergmann studied internationally, participating in coursework at Orebro University in Orebro, Sweden, as well as King’s College and the London School of Economics in London, England. 

Mr. Bergmann was selected to the 2014 Super Lawyers Rising Star List for Kansas. In 2012, he was honored as one of top “20 Under 40” young professionals in Topeka. In 2008, Mr. Bergmann was named the Topeka Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer. Mr. Bergmann is an Eagle Scout receiving that honor from the Boy Scouts of America in 1997. In addition to his volunteer position on the CSR Board of Directors, Mr. Bergmann currently sits on the Board of Directors for TARC, and has also served on the Board of the Directors for the Topeka Bar Association. Mr. Bergmann is a member of the Topeka Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, American Bar Association, NSBA Council of School Attorneys, the Topeka Active 20/30 Club and Topeka Lawyers Club. 

Mr. Knudsen is no stranger to the arena of railroad preservation, offering thirty year's experience in the steam preservation industry. He began volunteering in the preservation industry at the Black River & Western Railroad, where he assisted with the restoration to operation of former Great Western Railway 2-8-0 steam locomotive No. 60. In 1990, he began volunteering with the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation in Owosso, Michigan, where he served as both a board member and an active volunteer in the operations of Pere Marquette locomotive No. 1225. With the organization for nearly 30 years, Mr. Knudsen handled all manner of  planning, organizing, and operations tasks associated with the safe operation of the 1941-built 2-8-4 steam locomotive. 

Mr. Knudsen began his professional career in the commercial aviation sector, working for more than 20 years in the field of aviation insurance underwriting. He is a certified airline transport pilot with more than 40 years of incident-free flying experience.

Following his airline career and seeking a change of pace, Mr. Knudsen hired on with the BNSF Railway in 2004 first as a conductor, then working his way up to the position of locomotive engineer. Working at the BNSF until his retirement in 2013, he garnered experience in freight operations in the California, Kansas, Nebraska and Springfield Divisions of the BNSF Railway, as well as the Oakland, Martinez, Niles, and Fresno Subdivisions of the Union Pacific Railroad. With safety first in mind, he worked for nine years with no FRA reportable injuries, incidents or accidents. 

Since retirement to Lawrence, Kansas, Mr. Knudsen has become involved with local preservation efforts, including having served on the board of the Lawrence, Kansas, Depot Redux project. That grass roots effort involved funding and logistics associated with the preservation of the former Santa Fe Railway passenger depot in Lawrence. 

How to Operate a Steam Locomotive, with Santa Fe 3464!

Ever wonder how the Santa Fe trained its crews to operate steam locomotives? CSR worked with the Kansas Historical Society to have this Santa Fe Railway training video re-scanned at 1080p resolution from the original 16MM film. We then edited the piece together, complete with narration and some "period" music. It also provides some video evidence of the high speed running these locomotives provided - 90+ MPH!

More information to the "sister" locomotive to that which "starred" in this video can be found on the CSR webpage dedicated to 3463. 

Lawsuit Regarding Santa Fe Steam Locomotive Settled, CSR Rightful Owner of ATSF 3463

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On July 6, 1948, Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 3463 rests between runs at Dearborn Station. Photographer unknown, from the collection of Warren Scholl, colorized by Jared Enos in 2015.

T O P E K A, K A N S A S | January 23, 2018 –  The ownership dispute over former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway steam locomotive number 3463 (ATSF 3463) has been settled by an agreement of four parties, with ownership finally vested in favor of the Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR). An agreement between CSR, the City of Topeka, the Attorney General of Kansas, and the Great Overland Station ratified last week clarifies that the 1937-built steam engine is the property of CSR. The Minnesota-based not-for-profit also announced this week that it will be shifting its goals with the locomotive from research to preservation.

“We are thankful to the hard work and dedication of the City of Topeka, the Kansas Attorney General, the Great Overland Station and, certainly, the outstanding team at Frieden, Unrein, and Forbes, LLP, that handled this unique and challenging case,” said CSR President Davidson Ward. “We look forward to continuing our work in Topeka, especially as we announced today our shift in plans for the one-of-a-kind locomotive from solid biofuel testbed to preserved artifact.”

When CSR initially announced its biofuel and steam technology project in mid-2012, it had sought to use ATSF 3463 as a centerpiece of the research and as a showpiece of the technology. This plan was put abruptly on hold in 2013 due to an ownership dispute over the steam engine, and CSR leadership pursued other avenues to keep the research progressing despite the delay.

“Instead of hoping and waiting for the lawsuit to be resolved in our favor, we decided to continue our pursuit of solid biofuel, steam locomotive, and advanced steam technologies,” said CSR Senior Mechanical Engineer Wolf Fengler. “Now that those initiatives are well underway, vetting the theories we had hoped to prove with the Santa Fe locomotive, we have opted to table our plans to modify the engine as a testbed. Instead, CSR will work with collaborators in Topeka to ensure the locomotive is moved, preserved, and, if practical, restored to operation.”

“CSR will work with collaborators in Topeka to ensure the locomotive is moved, preserved, and, if practical, restored to operation.”

CSR is launching a program today to ensure that ATSF 3463 is properly preserved. The goal is to raise funding to move the locomotive from the Kansas Expocentre grounds to a location in Topeka where it can be preserved, develop a covered home base for the locomotive in Topeka, and determine whether there is a viable case for returning the locomotive to steam as a preserved artifact. Depending on the outcome of the "go / no go" decision regarding operational restoration, CSR will either pursue overhauling the locomotive to operation, or perform a cosmetic restoration to return it to its appearance when donated to the City in 1956.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure the locomotive has a future where it is properly preserved, be that as an operational locomotive or as a static display,” explained CSR Board Member and Santa Fe Railway Historian Warren Scholl. “Now that the ownership of the artifact has been clarified, we look forward to working with all partners, local and national, to ensure the safe future of ATSF 3463.”

Everett Railroad Fundraising Gaining Steam!

CSR has made significant headway towards its goal of raising $20,000 in support of biofuel testing at the Everett Railroad. We closed out 2017 with raising just under $15,000 towards that goal, and work is still underway preparing for those tests later this year.

We recently released this video on Facebook supporting our fundraising efforts. We want YOU to ride along with us on these upcoming tests. Donors to CSR are invited to ride along! Details are found on our Everett Railroad page, or you may give online here.

Biofuel Tests at Milwaukee Zoo Train a Success, CSR and NRRI Look Ahead to Standard Gauge Trials

Milwaukee County Zoo train on a trial - the first locomotive is burning 100% torrefied biomass, and the trailing locomotive is burning a 50/50 blend of torrefied biomass and coal.

Two steam locomotives at the Milwaukee County Zoo were fueled with a renewable wood-based solid fuel last week to reduce fossil coal emissions, and the tests were a success.

The Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR) and the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) completed a final series of three biofuel trials following more than a year and a half of development of the fuel at NRRI’s Renewable Energy Lab in Coleraine, Minn. Thanks to the generosity of the Milwaukee County Zoo, its small 15-inch gauge railroad has served as a demonstration platform for CSR and NRRI to see how a wood-based torrefied biomass fuel product burns in locomotive-style boilers. Tests in June and October 2016 revealed that the biofuel could make sufficient steam, but improper pelletizing methods resulted in spark emissions from the locomotive.

“Following the first trials, our researchers set about devising a better method to densify the material, including acquiring an industrial scale densification machine that we installed at our lab in Coleraine,” explained NRRI Associate Director, and CSR Board Member, Don Fosnacht, Ph.D. “Combined with a food-grade binding agent, we were able to make dense, pill-shaped pellets for use with these Zoo test trials that burned exactly like coal.”

No. 1924 hauls the test train up the steepest grade on the Zoo railroad burning 100% torrefied biomass.

NRRI is currently researching the opportunities in “torrefied biomass,” a wood-based biofuel that is made in a kiln not unlike a coffee roaster. After being “roasted,” the wood is transformed into a fuel that burns and reacts much like coal,  with virtually no heavy metal pollutants and reduced carbon emissions. NRRI provided three blends of torrefied biomass to the Zoo for testing: 1) a blend of 99 percent torrefied biomass and 1 percent binder agent; 2) a blend of 49.5 percent torrefied biomass, 49.5 percent Powder River Basin coal, and 1 percent binder; and 3) a 100 percent torrefied biomass pellet with no binder. Each of the fuels was tested in the Zoo train locomotives, and two were found to be ideal stand-in fuels for fossil coal.

Pre-blended torrefied biomass / Powder River Basin fuel pellets ready to load in the tender of No. 1924.

“The torrefied biomass with binder, and the 50/50 blend of coal and biofuel, worked quite well in both locomotives,” said CSR President Davidson Ward. “Both fuels burned nearly identical to coal, including building a decent coal bed on the grates and maintaining pressure under a wide variety of operational circumstances, while being nearly smoke and odor free.”

Initial temperature data also indicate that the biofuel heating value is equal to coal. The maximum firebox temperatures recorded during the biofuel trials were in excess of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit (1149 Degrees Celcius).

“I am quite impressed with what I saw from this round of biofuel testing, and I look forward to burning it in our steam locomotive,” said Zach Hall, Steam Operations manager at the Everett Railroad, who was on site to participate in the tests. “From my observations, both the biomass with binder and 50/50 blend of fuel will do just fine to make steam and minimize smoke, both of which are good things in my book.”

CSR and NRRI are ramping up for the next round of tests: manufacturing 10 tons of fuel for use by Everett Railroad steam locomotive No. 11 early next year. In support of these tests, CSR is undergoing a matching grant fundraising process, whereby donations to the non-profit made between now and December 15 will be matched dollar-for-dollar (up to $10,000).  

Zoo Tests: a sneak peek

The Coalition for Sustainable Rail, in conjunction with staff from the Natural Resources Research Institute, completed a third round of torrefied biomass fuel tests with the steam locomotives at the Milwaukee County Zoo this past Monday.  CSR will be providing more details about the findings of that research next week but, in short, it was a success!

Until then, check out the following video of Zoo train 4-6-2 No. 1924 hauling our test train. The locomotive is burning torrefied biomass fuel.

The deep "humming" noise is the locomotive "drumming." Similar to pulse jet engines, the fuel is generating so much combustable matter that the firebox is consuming more air than it can bring in at one time. As air comes through the firebed, it flash ignites, causing a small "boom." Multiply this by hundreds of bursts of air coming through the firebed at once, you get drumming. This is alleviated through better ash pan design, installing overfire tubes (like most late-model steam engines), or cracking the door a bit. Notice that the noise stops when the engineer opens the door to shovel each scoop of fuel into the firebox.