Mechanically controlled diesel engines, along with gas turbines, are
> unique in that they will run with no electrical system once started,
Well, yes, and no. Even mechanical diesel engines are controlled by an interlocking electric fuel solenoid. My 1981 had one. No electrics, no putt-putt.
Usually this can be either manually secured (Cummins) or you can rig it to shutdown on power applied instead of removed, or replace it with a manual lever. Older MBZ had a manual four position knob, which can be backadapted to later Bosch pump engines. VW has an internal solenoid but it can be removed without major pump disassembly, or if you are replacing pump, use one with an external lever. Good injection pump shops can do some really neat stuff.
Usually this can be either manually secured (Cummins) or you can rig it to shutdown on power applied instead of removed, or replace it with a manual lever. Older MBZ had a manual four position knob, which can be backadapted to later Bosch pump engines. VW has an internal solenoid but it can be removed without major pump disassembly, or if you are replacing pump, use one with an external lever. Good injection pump shops can do some really neat stuff.
Stanleys? Steam locomotives?*
Indeed at the end of the Steam Era they were experimenting with electronically controlling valves and collier feedscrew drives. But steam cars are not really feasible, besides the cost and complication (see Doble) they are inherently inefficient of fuel. This, and their high maintenance, is why diesel-electric completely replaced them in about a ten year period. Diesels are the most thermally efficient engines there are. Gas turbines can compete only in complex fixed cycle service, and heavy diesels can burn fuels (Bunker C) which turbines have a lot of problems with. Railroads experimented with closed cycle steam turbines, and aeroderivative gas turbines, and found both to be a lot more work than diesel-electric.
Powerplants are steam turbine and fired by coal or natural gas usually. Some are gas turbine, but they're generally natural gas-no one's burning bunker fuels in them. There are still a few heavy diesels in utility power generation in the US and quite a lot in Europe.
A utility generation plant is a very different proposition than a rail locomotive-a loco is small stuff.
Some numbers:
The Mirant power plant on the waterfront at the north end of Alexandria VA, currently offline for maintenance, is a 540 megawatt affair. The entire generating capacity of Iraq is 4500 megawatts. (Source: a recent _Washington Post_ article on the efforts to rebuild the power grid there.)
It is widely agreed that among the finest steam locomotives built in the US, one would have to include the New York Central Niagaras, large high-speed 4-8-4s built by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York. They were numbered in the 6000s as a reflection of their boiler horsepower. One hp = 746 watts or 0.75 kilowatts, so do the math. A 100 hp car engine is 75 kilowatts. A 200 hp car engine is 150 kilowatts. 6000 hp is 4500 kilowattts or 4.5 megawatts. (Gee, I hope I did that right. I don't have my calculator in front of me.)
Every last one of the Niagaras was scrapped. Big loss. Big, big loss.
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