02-21-2010, 09:01 PM
I forgot to comment on this the other day when I got a chance to watch it (it almost made me late for work! 
).
So, BRILLIANT
It really did a good job of demonstrating what a tough job firing a locomotive was. Does anyone know if it was common to have more than one stoker on the footplate? It seemed there were about three guys taking turns.
Related to the above statement is my surprise that they were hand shoveling at all. Were automatic stokers uncommon on British steam? This was a 1949 design, so the devices had been in use in the U.S. for 40 years.
My favorite parts were the tunnel passage (whenever I read about the Allegheny coal hauling railroads, I always wonder how anyone came out of those long tunnels alive) and the high speed wheel spin and the engineers quick reaction to it.
Altogether the best demonstration of what it was like to be in a mainline cab that I've ever seen. I was lucky enough to be the son of one of the guys that founded a scenic railroad and got plenty of cab time (just observing - I was young), but at 15 mph and 4 coaches, there just isn't a lot of steam demand, and as such the firing rate was much slower. Dad occasionally used the stoker, which made the job (obviously) much easier, though it took an entirely different skill set to accurately shoot coal onto the fire as opposed to shoveling it.
Dad (starting to ramble here) also has commented that the locomotive was MUCH easier to fire when the feedwater heater was being used (as opposed to the injectors only). Did British steam use these appliances? I got the impression from the show that the locomotive was only injected.
Sorry for the ramble!
Fire the bright spots!
Matt
).So, BRILLIANT
It really did a good job of demonstrating what a tough job firing a locomotive was. Does anyone know if it was common to have more than one stoker on the footplate? It seemed there were about three guys taking turns.
Related to the above statement is my surprise that they were hand shoveling at all. Were automatic stokers uncommon on British steam? This was a 1949 design, so the devices had been in use in the U.S. for 40 years.
My favorite parts were the tunnel passage (whenever I read about the Allegheny coal hauling railroads, I always wonder how anyone came out of those long tunnels alive) and the high speed wheel spin and the engineers quick reaction to it.
Altogether the best demonstration of what it was like to be in a mainline cab that I've ever seen. I was lucky enough to be the son of one of the guys that founded a scenic railroad and got plenty of cab time (just observing - I was young), but at 15 mph and 4 coaches, there just isn't a lot of steam demand, and as such the firing rate was much slower. Dad occasionally used the stoker, which made the job (obviously) much easier, though it took an entirely different skill set to accurately shoot coal onto the fire as opposed to shoveling it.
Dad (starting to ramble here) also has commented that the locomotive was MUCH easier to fire when the feedwater heater was being used (as opposed to the injectors only). Did British steam use these appliances? I got the impression from the show that the locomotive was only injected.
Sorry for the ramble!
Fire the bright spots!
Matt
Matt Goodman
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio