Wow,What a work of art.I almost would bet coal would be cheaper now than oil.Bring on new steam!
A typical US steam locomotive would go through upwards of 1.5 tons of coal per hour. (And the fireman worked a 12 hour shift, having to know where along the route to stoke up for needed steam, and when to back off on the steam.)
One of the tidbits they threw out was that a modern engine can, really crunching the cost accounting, haul a ton of freight 200 miles on a gallon of diesel.
One other cost of steam is the need to staff firemen overnight to keep boilers primed to go first thing the next day.