May be better to create a LPG version as well. The US is flush with gas at the moment.

I LOVE THIS !!!
This is innovation, technology and history all rolled into one winning idea. Bring back the glory of steam engines... There are so many affcionados of Steam engines and now we have an excuse to bring some back, with a clear conscience. Never mind the detailed mathematics. This is a great comeback excuse for the steam engine. May we have a few more around the world. Not too many. Cant wait to travel on one of these.

I have a few observations. Firstly by definition all coal is bio-coal. Secondly it won't be carbon neutral. Carbon neutral means taking out of the atmosphere as much carbon as you put in. It does not mean putting in as much as the original biomass took out.

L1ma you're right about LPG which exists in huge quantities for a fraction of the cost of "biocoal". It could even make this neat, creative idea a success. Who wouldn't want to see these great locomotives live again?
But since LPG is neither trendy nor cool - and worse, our parents used it - this inspired project will end up in the Eco-dustbin with the rest of the "carbon neutral" punchlines.

Carbon neutral ?? Does that include all the energy it takes to produce the biocoal in the first place? What a joke

Wood burning steam engines would also be "carbon neutral."
It doesn't mean they wouldn't create pollution.

aerodynamic as a sheet of 4x8 sheet of plywood

caught my eye - in those days all the working parts were outside, with a plain box on the inside. These days all the working parts are inside, plain box outside!
@Bill Bennett - ever tried dropping it sideways? goes like a bullet until it turns against the airflow!

I would love to see this idea come to being. Steam locomotives are living machines.

LPG would mean a tank car instead of a coal car. Maybe not as easy to refuel, since it requires swaping out a car vs. dumping some coal from a hopper (hooking up a hose would take forever). But I bet a tanker would carry more energy than a coal bin. And a small auxillary tank could hold enough fuel so that the engine could shuttle around and swap cars. Slap a smooth skin on that bad boy and it just might be a winner.