I've just seen this report on the BBC News website. It seems that the major issue is that British locomotives are designed to run on the kind of coal found in the UK. Could we see modifications to fireboxes and boilers to compensate for the need to use imported coal?
Steam railways 'will run out of coal', industry warns
Heritage attractions are in "jeopardy" amid a shortage of English coal, industry warns.
www.bbc.co.uk
The Heritage Railway Association (HRA) says English coal supplies will run out in early 2021, with Welsh supplies lasting until 2022.
Chairman of the West Somerset Railway Jonathan Jones-Pratt said: "The whole industry is in jeopardy over this.
"We've got so much coal here but the problem is that we can't extract it."
Steam locomotives rely on bituminous lump coal to burn, which is relatively smokeless and comparatively clean.
The opencast mine at Dewley Hill, near Newcastle, would have produced this coal but it was rejected for environmental reasons.
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