Heritage railway versus the environment.

…the nation burns huge volumes of charcoal on barbecues to create far more CO2 than [heritage railway does] as a whole industry… (Dick Wood, South Devon Railway)

There is an important distinction and something that should be watched for whenever someone justifies fossil fuel use. As I wrote last summer, when you burn charcoal you don’t increase the amount of atmospheric carbon, as it originates from plants. When we burn coal, however, we free carbon that’s been trapped underground for millions of years.