@Goldenzeal
So many misconceptions.
> steam engines have better traction because linked
No. Yes, linkage helps, but it helps agnostically of power source. The other types are simply that much better at not losing traction that adding linkage is just not worth it enough anymore. (
Not saying it wasn't ever used on other drive types at all, though, mind. After all, linkage is a stupidly simple and cheap way to drive multiple wheels at once, provided they are allowed to be mechanically commoned into one single phase.)
No, it's because steam. Reciprocating engines are inherently "impulsive" along their cycle. Steam locomotives need linkage just to not be entirely shite at all. Without it, their risk of traction loss once every stroke would be so high, they'd be utterly hopeless in practical application. Electric motors can be controlled vastly better to address any traction loss AND have constant and continuous torque and power output through a revolution. That's why you don't (typically) see linkage on other drives than steam ones. Also, you'd need a set of pistons and cylinders and thrust rods and linkage and piping and regulating
per axle or wheel to get the flexibility in placement along the engine's carriage an electric drive affords. In fact, E drives are both so compact and so modular, you can make the entire train powered AND carry people and dispense with a dedicated loc' entirely. They're called multiple-unit trains. You know, metros and trams and shit.
> Fuel and steam can start with heavier loads better than electrical
No. Just no.
Pure ICE drives can't start hard from stand-still at all, let alone with heavier loads. If it can't crank, it can't cycle, and if it can't cycle, it can't crank. That's why clutches and torque converters need to exist, otherwise they'd stall or couldn't ever start with the full load attached. (Rolling a train up a hill to give the diesel a running start would surely be funny but hardly practical.) And while steam reciprocating engines
can start from stand-still, their energy transfer is like a loaded spring: If and when a steam loc' rips loose, it
rips loose and will not stop until the pressure in the feed line has dropped enough for static friction to re-engage the wheels. E drives, however, have the best, finest, fastest, and least lossy torque control all the way down to stand-still. They happily strain against a locked driveshaft until their windings burn out, the regulators explode, the slip tracks on the rail or wire pickups catch fire, or the local switching station's computer says "No". No. The main reason that fuel-powered engines are a thing, and pretty much the only one that matters, is lack of (sufficient, reliable, compatible, you name it) electrification along the routes people make conscious purchase decisions on loc's to operate them on.
> electric vs. fuel cars
That's not even remotely relevant or applicable. Why you would regard it worth mentioning, let alone actually using it in this argument, I cannot tell. Electric loc's get their power from the net. Electric cars have to store and carry their energy onboard, and electric storage has vastly lower energy density than commercially available fuels. That's why you don't see (stock) E cars win over (stock) fuel-powered ones. They just can't afford to be as wasteful with the energy carried and the space and load weight available or remaining for passengers and cargo without diminishing what little market competitiveness they have.
By the way,
> Fuel [locomotives] are better
You know, they are still electric. Their fuel engines drive generators that in turn drive the traction motors. Just putting it out there, wink-wink. (Granted, there are diesel-
hydraulic systems, too, not just diesel-electric ones, but the point still stands.)
> [steam] better with high speeds than electric
No. On absolutely no account. High losses due to:
[ul][li]Large surface area to lose heat energy through, always, and especially at high (wind) speeds[/li][li]Permanently attached linkage and pistons to lose energy through friction at[/li][li]Pumping losses even when free-wheeling/coasting[/li][li]Constant need to fire to keep pressure at level, at stand-still and speed alike[/li][li]Limited volume flow capacity due to practical limits of pipe diameters[/li][li]Thermal cycling when aspirating air during cruise[/li][li]etc., etc., etc.[/li][/ul]E drive:[ul][li]Reduce current to just compensate for losses[/li][/ul]So, no. Steam engines cannot be, and were not ever, inherently better than electric drives, at any speed. Any perceived improvement at cruise over phases of acceleration or deceleration would at best arise from maintaining speed being generally less inefficient than getting up to, or down from, it, but not only can steam loc's barely get any less inefficient (except perhaps by standing cold in a museum), they certainly cannot get as much less inefficient than electric engines can.
> but because of the extra weight of fuel
Let's see. Example loc': EMD SD40-2. Weight: 167 tons. Fuel capacity: 10-13 tons. Not even ten percent. Example train: 15000 tons, loc', cars, freight, and someone's mum included. Fuel fraction: not even 0.1 %.
Please. You're better than that.