...and some of you are railway fans
anachrotech just posted a link to the article below, about hybrid electric / steam railways in Switzerland post WW2. Yes, they were steam engines that heated the water electrically. Totally weird, but the explanation more or less makes sense.
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/swisselec/swisselc.htm
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/swisselec/swisselc.htm