From the Left Side of the Cab
by Jeremy Levish, NERR Engineer #9

I have this friend named John that I think you guys all know.  Anyway, one day he calls me up and says "Hi! I'm your friendly news page editor, and I'm on the scrounge again, and I would like you to think about writing a monthly column for Roundhouse Ramblings - and once you have thought about it, I'd really like to you to agree to do it!"   Well, I thought about it for a minute and asked him "What would you like me to write about?"  It didn't take him longer than a New York minute to reply: "...Technical information about locos and rolling stock and railroads, historical stories about the same things, photos, personal stories and experiences, and/or collections of links to useful or interesting websites." 

There was a prolonged pause on my end of the phone...I was intrigued by John's proposition but wasn't sure that I could measure up to the high standards of Roundhouse Ramblings, let alone write a monthly column.  I think that John could tell that I was contemplating his suggestion, so he finishes it off by adding "You write well, your knowledge and research skills are enormous, and you are always keen to share what you know. So you would be a perfect columnist!"  OK...I can tell when I'm being "buttered up" for something, so I decided to "test the waters" a little and told him "John, are you sure?  The only problem that I can see is one of material and being able to sustain a monthly column although I'm sure that I have enough material, mine or otherwise, to sustain at least 6 months worth. If nothing else, I can do a few articles that you could use..." Damn!  Why was I feeling like I was getting myself into something...into something good, but still into something none the less...

Well, I think John knew he had hooked me.  He added, "6 months as a start will be excellent! I'm happy to try that and see what happens after that.  So, thanks for agreeing to do it, and I look forward to seeing the draft. Remember that we are not after Pulitzer Prize stuff, just your usual laid-back, knowledgeable stories. It has to sound like you, not like a book."  What could I say except, "Not a problem...It always sounds like me even if I quote it from a book.  Maybe I can add a few places to your itinerary on your next trip to the US. (?)  I'll also try to dig up some maps that'll help with the geography. Actually though, in my view of the world, the people and the events are the story...The railroad is just the glue that binds them all together and makes the story interesting."

So, here I am.  I'm planning on writing about various subjects but with a common thread, the "glue" if you will, being railroads, railroading, and railroaders (aka, "Rails").   Most of what I'll present here will either be technical data, hopefully explained and somewhat de-mystified, regarding railroads or railroad equipment and some personal stories and antidotes.  I may, from time to time, drift into a semi-editorial mode...You'll know it when you read it...Regarding such things as Operation Lifesaver, railroad/railfan safety, and railroad preservation efforts - All subjects that I feel strongly about.

I'd also like to invite some of our other RW engineers to comment on various items and/or share their stories upon the rail. Without these guys, I wouldn't have had the chance to do some of the things that I get to do as a museum volunteer. It's the people that make the railroad, and they're the real heroes of this story.

Taz

Fire in the belly of the beast

Last Sunday, October 31st, I was called out for a 2:30pm reporting time to fire up one of our steam locomotives that was going to be used the following day as part of a promotion by one of our local television stations for the new Tom Hank's film, The Polar Express. Now, being called out on a Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm to fire up is fairly unusual, and the fact that it wasn't during our operating season (beginning of April through the end of September), well, that's just not something that we normally do. Our normal call times as Fireman during our operating season are 7:00am on Saturday and 8:00am on Sunday in order to have the locomotive ready to go for our first departure at 11:00am. But the idea of firing up a steam locomotive the day before it is actually needed goes back to the days when steam was king of the rails...

One of the questions that I'm often asked at the Museum is "How to you start this thing?" I usually reply with some simplified form of an answer or a joke and pull a cigarette lighter out of my pants pocket and tell folks that it is a "Steam locomotive key". Actually, truth be known, it's a lot more complex than that, and a simple cigarette lighter isn't part of the process but it usually gets a chuckle out of folks and leads to a much more relaxed conversation where I can explain some of the more complicated processes that we perform (...And, as you guys know from my postings in the forums, I like to talk ...)

So ... Just how do you start a cold steam locomotive? The answer to that question is that it depends on the type of fuel that you're burning, but there are a few things that you have to take care of before you can even begin to think about lighting off. The first thing that you want to do, before you light off, is to make sure that you're got enough water in the boiler...About an inch of water in the water sight glass which translates into about 3 inches over the top of the crown sheet (between the bottom of the water sight glass and the top of the crown sheet is usually about 2 inches...Sometimes, more). If there's not enough water, you'll have to find a means to add water to the boiler...In the case of our locomotive, the preferred method is to add water by injecting it up the blowdown pipe, past the blowdown valve (which must be opened) and into the boiler. Once the water is at a safe level, an outside form of compressed air (or steam) should be provided so that you can get the boiler to draft properly (i.e. take the smoke and heat that is being generated and force it through the boiler flues and out of the smokestack) and in the case of an oil burner, you'll need something to get the firing manifold to function so that you can control the atomization of the fuel. There are other methods that can be used to "draft" the boiler (read the story How to boot a steam locomotive from the San Diego Railroad Museum). On our operation, we use compressed air.

In the case of a wood fired locomotive, you'd start it the same way that you'd start a fire in your fireplace or a campfire...Start with lots of small, dry, and easily combustible pieces of wood arranged in a manner where air can easily flow through it (i.e. don't plug up the grates), open the damper(s) and add fire. If there is a connection to an outside air or steam source, you'll also want to turn on the blower a bit to establish a positive air flow through the boiler flues before adding fire. Now, in the case of a steam locomotive, the "add fire" is usually a flaming rag soaked with a little kerosene, diesel fuel, or oil. On a coal burning locomotive, the process is similar to a wood burner in that you usually start the fire in the same manner, but you add a little coal underneath and on top of the wood before you light it. Coal also has to have a much higher temperature in order to "burn" (actually, coal doesn't "burn"...It is the gases that are "liberated" from coal by adding a heat source of some type that burn) so the wood/coal "mixture" is usually soaked with a light coating of diesel fuel. Again, the blower is used to create a positive draft. Oil, on the other hand is quite a bit more complicated ...

Remember the compressed air source that I mentioned above? Beside running the blower, the compressed air source is also used to run the firing manifold, specifically the atomizer. What does the "atomizer" do? Why, it simply atomizes the fuel.   (Dumb answer, but true...)  OK, smart ass ...How?  The burner assembly in an oil burning locomotive usually consists of two ports...An oil port and a steam port, which are placed just inside of the firebox on the front wall...And two connections...One for steam and one for oil. Believe it or not, the fire in a oil fired locomotive is actually "shot" back from the front of the firebox to the rear of the firebox with the rear of the firebox being where the locomotive cab is located. The steam port, whose steam supply is regulated by the atomizer valve, is located directly underneath the oil port and as a metered amount of oil is delivered to the burner, it'll fall (by gravity) down onto the steam that is being exhausted thereby causing it to change from a steady stream to a mixture of fine particles that can be readily converted into a gas by the heat of the firebox. It is these fine particles of oil and gases that can be easily ignited and form the "fire".

So, I've got the water up to the level that it has to be and have my outside source of compressed air hooked up...Now what? Well, the process starts by "drying out" any trapped moisture (condensate, etc.) in the steam lines and getting the oil up to the burner where the atomizer can do it's job. First, I check that all of the various valves on the turret are closed...This would include the "fountain head", the air pump, the steam supply to the firing manifold, the steam supply to the injectors (there are two of these), and the dynamo (a steam driven electrical generator for "powering" the lights, both inside the cab and the headlights, on the locomotive). If the fountain head and the steam supply to the firing manifold are left open, I would be "charging" the boiler with compressed air. This will lead to one of two things...If the "house valve" is open on top of the steam dome, the air will just be exhausted to the atmosphere and wasted, but if the "house valve" is closed, I'll be "charging" the boiler with compressed air which will lead to a false reading on the boiler pressure gauge. Next, I open a fitting underneath the cab that'll allow the compressed air to "flow" to where I need it and open a valve that is in-line with the locomotive's blower (located in the smoke box) and the locomotive's blower valve that is attached (plumbed) to the firing manifold. OK...Now I've got air going to both the firing manifold and out to the blower. From there, I'll open the firebox door and the lower damper and I'll open the atomizer valve and allow ample time to "dry out" the supply line (i.e., force any water that may have accumulated out). Once that's done and I'm satisfied that the line is "dry" (which one can tell by the sound of the air escaping from the atomizer slot), I'll open both oil valves (one underneath the locomotive and the "emergency trip" valve located on the top of the tank) and slowly ease the firing valve over until I can hear oil coming out of the oil port on the burner. Once I hear the oil flowing, the firing valve is completely closed...If I don't close it, oil will pool on the bottom of the firebox and when I attempt to light off, this oil may burn without ever actually lighting the oil that is being atomized or worse yet, it may run out of the firebox and on to the ground causing a fire underneath the locomotive.

A note about oil: If you've read the "How to boot a steam locomotive" article that is mentioned above, you'll notice that they refer to "Bunker C" as the fuel oil that they're using. Back in the days when oil fired steam locomotives and ships were common, Bunker C was a fairly common fuel. However, that isn't the case these days, and even if you were to find it in large quantities, it would cost you a fair amount of money to fill up the tender. That being the case, most oil-burning steam operations have switched over to fuel sources that are more common and depending upon the locomotive, the "type" of oil used changes. The biggest problem with these newer fuel oil sources is having a consistent BTU value for the fuel and something close to what the locomotive was originally designed to burn. In our case, that would mean utilizing a re-claimed, re-refined, crankcase oil. Yep...It is basically the same oil that is in your automobile's engine, but it has been filtered and re-refined to add to its overall BTU valve. As such, our oil will "flow" even when it is cold and does not require additional heating (although, once we get the locomotive up to near operating pressure, we do heat it so that it'll atomize more readily).

OK...So, now I've got water, air, and oil and its time to "light off". I'll take a couple of used rags and saturate them with a heavy, sticky oil (called "Vacta") and use a blow torch to light the rags. We have a "special tool" that we use to push the burning rags into the fire box since we need to push them underneath a baffle plate that is located behind the firebox door. Once the rags are burning fiercely, I shut off the atomizer and push one of the burning rags into the firebox as near to the burner as I can possibly get it and usually a little to the left or right of the burner...Same thing goes for the other rag but to the opposite side of the burner. With the rags now burning in the firebox, I check to see that I can physically see flame near the burner...If I can't see a flame or I've missed somehow (like tossing the rag up on top of a ledge that is located above the burner) I repeat the "lighting" process with a least one more rag. OK...I can see the flames so my rags are placed where I need them to be. I shut the firebox door and pin it in place. Next, I open the damper on the firebox door and adjust the atomizer to where I think it should be in order to spread the fuel evenly once I add oil...About a third to a half of a revolution. Then I'll slowly open the firing valve to about a 1/4 inch past the stop and if I've done everything correctly, I'll hear a slight "whoosh" as the atomized oil ignites and see a flicker coming out of the inspection hole on the firebox door.

Now it's time to grease, oil, and wipe down the locomotive to include polishing the bell, whistle and number plate on the front of the smoke box. Once I start generating steam, the "house valve", if it is open, will begin to vent steam to the atmosphere letting me know that we're makin' steam so I'll climb up and close it. Now it is just a matter of time until the locomotive's pressure gauge registers some amount of pressure in the boiler, and I can think about cutting off the "house air" and running everything on steam, but that'll be the subject of a future article.

From the left side of the cab,

Taz

Just another day at the office...

The views expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of the NERR Administration. They are the views of the author of the particular news item.