Re: Strategic Reserve.

[Yves.Dessaux@isv.cnrs-gif.fr (Yves Dessaux)]

In article <37c92cfe.0@news1>, Oubliette@currantbun.com says...
>
>I am currently looking into the case of the Strategic Reserve here
>in the UK....
>Why steam locomotives......wait for it....many suggest that these
>locomotives would not be rendered useless by a nuclear blast. There
>are accounts of diesel locomotives going missing but these are many
>times fewer than their steam counterparts.

I do not know about the reality of these asertions, but they sound 
strange to me! Whatever the type of engine, it will be destroyed by
a nuclear blast if it is close to the explosion location.

Similarly, if the engines are not affected, but if the track is,
whether it is an electric, diesel or steam engine does not make
too much of a difference. Line reconstruction in France, after
WWII, showed that the larger part of reconstruction is in the
renovation or rebuilding of the tunnels and bridges. After that,
adding a wire on the top of a line, and a few transforming stations
is not much of a problem... Besides if electricity supply is anyway 
very low, you will not be able to extract coal from the mines...

All the best,

YD