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Grand Canyon Railway runs locomotive on vegetable oil

Photo Courtesy of Grand Canyon Railway
Photo Courtesy of Grand Canyon Railway

By Katelyn Seabury

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-861239.mp3

Williams, AZ – The Grand Canyon railway retired the steam engines last year because of costs and environmental concerns. Tomorrow, one of the historic trains will run again powered not by diesel but vegetable oil, recycled from restaurants at the canyon and in Williams.

Aron Sheehan owns A Greener Day in Cornville.

"We are dropping off a couple thousand gallons of used cooking oil. Our company started a couple years ago recycling grease in Northern Arizona. We are just really happy to see it being used as fuel. All of it is being recycled in the state or Arizona, none of it leaves Arizona."

Sheehan puts the oil through a process which removes solids and water.

"What we do is heat it up. We filter it through a centrifuge; it just brings the oil back to its true form, which is just tryglycerin so it has three parts fatty acid connected to one party glycerin. Glycerin is not the fuel part but the fatty acids are and they're the ones that burn. And they burn as efficient as diesel fuel."

Bruce Brossman is the director of sales and marketing for Grand Canyon Railway. He hopes to use more recycled grease to keep the historic steam engines running in the future.

"We are going to maintain them and keep them in tip top condition, cause they are an important part of our history and we value that tremendously."

The train will depart from the depot in Williams tomorrow morning at 9:30.