Locomotive technology

See also Coal, Consumption of Coal, Production of Locomotive Technology Transportation, Evolution of Energy Use and. 

Equally impressive was the introduction of new locomotive technology. For approximately the same fuel economy, a top-of-the-line locomotive in 1997 could generate twice the horsepower, pull more than twice the load, and reach a top speed 5 mph faster (75 mph) than a top-of-the-line locomotive in 1972. The better locomotives and lighter double-stack cars of the 1990s could replace as many as 280 trucks from the roadways for every 6,000 ft. train. 

Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, CO Locomotive Technology... 

Wood was the easiest fuel to use in early steam locomotives, but it was soon realized that the logistics of wood fuel were limiting. Steam engines were developed that could burn coal, peat, or (later) oil where those fuels were more abundant. For intercity railroads (especially in the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Africa), coal remained the fuel of choice for one hundred years. Despite impressive technology development, steam locomotives never could achieve thermal efficiencies greater than about 6 to 8 percent. 

In time, other aspects of operational control of the locomotive were made possible by electric and diesel-electric power. One important technology advance... 

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