First ever bio-coal trial on full size UK steam locomotive

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First ever bio-coal trial on full size UK steam locomotive

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First ever bio-coal trial on full size steam locomotive takes place at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
The first ever bio-coal trial to be undertaken on a standard gauge steam locomotive has been completed on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. Using BR Standard 2MT 78022, the trial has been hailed as a ‘milestone’ for steam. On Monday 14th February, the 2-6-0 was fired using a batch of Homefire Ecoal. Hauling five carriages, as it would have done with traditional coal, the Standard 2MT hauled its trains up the steeply graded, five mile long, heritage line in West Yorkshire... The aim of the bio coal is to find an alternative solution to traditional coal, which the Heritage Railway Association says is becoming ‘increasingly difficult to source’... Up to 20% of the new coal is biomass... The urgency behind the trials has become clear in recent weeks after the last source of steam coal said it would no longer be supplying coal to the heritage sector. The Heritage Railway Association says there is now ‘significant’ concerns that heritage railways could experience a coal shortage within months...
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