This is a great channel. There's not a lot of info on wood-burning locomotives out there for those of us who grew up in the west where these were used. Thank you
I hope you will add another video about burning wood. This was a great start and very interesting. But the end seemed to be in the middle of a discussion and rather abrupt. Great subject. Plan the end a bit more. Great explanation. Looking forward to Part #2 Good Vigilance Needed to Fire a Boiler While Shaking and Rattling on the Railroad and the Engineer is Mad at the Fireman.
I use fir to fire my 2 1/2 scale live steamer. The fire was not hot enough to keep full boiler pressure until I made a special grate with over the fire air jets and fewer air inlet holes along the bottom. Now steams fine but does require frequent stoking.
That sounds like a ‘Gas Producer Firebox’ as fitted to very few locomotives such as the solitary SAR Class 26. The oxygen starved firebed produces a lot of gas which burns above the firebed. This keeps down the temperature in the fire itself. In coal burning, this prevents clinkering.
Near the bottom of the stack is a porthole that can be opened to clean out the ashes. It's typically done by hand, just by reaching in and pulling out all of the ashes. Here are some drawings of spark arresting chimneys: www.mendotraintony.com/smokestacks-of-steam-locomotives-article-in-live-steam-magazine-of-december-1984/
@@nevadastaterailroadmuseumc5585 Thanks for your reply. I’ve followed the link and looked at the drawings which I’m going to really get to grips with. I really like the ingenuity and imagination that shows through steam loco design. These spark catcher designs show what long dead designers were thinking about how gasses and particles could be separated. My fav has got to be H Giffard’s live steam injector which I still find very counterintuitive. BTW I read recently that they are 96% efficient!
You do realize that the globe is quickly running out of oil, and soon the only fossil fuel that will be in abundance in America will be coal and wood. Maine is already fast-tracking new generating stations that will burn wood to generate electricity. That's a great idea for trains = burn wood in large stationary boilers, and then use that electricity to power electric locomotives. So in theory, that electric locomotive really is a wood-burning locomotive.
Can you take a look at the Mackwell Locomotive Co channel on YT? He uses waste wood to raise steam quickly in a water tube boiler. It’s worth watching all his vids from the beginning as they show he’s a highly trained mechanical engineer.
@@the_retag I believe so, in my model, when she starts moving at a pretty decent clip and the cylinders fire the flames by the exhaust steam up the funnel, you hear a mild whoosh from the flame tubes a puff of white smoke and ash and she then purrs like a kitten for as long as you can stoke it and keep it watered. I believe that whoosh is the creosote singing the song of its people and vacating my boiler with haste.
This is a great channel. There's not a lot of info on wood-burning locomotives out there for those of us who grew up in the west where these were used. Thank you
I hope you will add another video about burning wood. This was a great start and very interesting. But the end seemed to be in the middle of a discussion and rather abrupt. Great subject. Plan the end a bit more. Great explanation. Looking forward to Part #2 Good Vigilance Needed to Fire a Boiler While Shaking and Rattling on the Railroad and the Engineer is Mad at the Fireman.
Very Educating And interesting.
Nice job, Chris! I remember that you were always a detail guy, from our days at Antique Mechanics! :-)
I use fir to fire my 2 1/2 scale live steamer. The fire was not hot enough to keep full boiler pressure until I made a special grate with over the fire air jets and fewer air inlet holes along the bottom. Now steams fine but does require frequent stoking.
That sounds like a ‘Gas Producer Firebox’ as fitted to very few locomotives such as the solitary SAR Class 26. The oxygen starved firebed produces a lot of gas which burns above the firebed. This keeps down the temperature in the fire itself. In coal burning, this prevents clinkering.
Chris, you just screwed up my modeling of the wood loads on my models. 😆
Nice explanation of how to fire a boiler using wood.
Nah, yours are "burning what's available".
Now about the oil burning thing like the GS-4 aka 4449 that burns oil
ever tried using charcoal instead of wood?
Are there any sources for drawings of the inner parts of spark arresting chimneys. And how do you empty accumulated ash inside the stack?
Near the bottom of the stack is a porthole that can be opened to clean out the ashes. It's typically done by hand, just by reaching in and pulling out all of the ashes. Here are some drawings of spark arresting chimneys: www.mendotraintony.com/smokestacks-of-steam-locomotives-article-in-live-steam-magazine-of-december-1984/
@@nevadastaterailroadmuseumc5585 Thanks for your reply. I’ve followed the link and looked at the drawings which I’m going to really get to grips with. I really like the ingenuity and imagination that shows through steam loco design. These spark catcher designs show what long dead designers were thinking about how gasses and particles could be separated. My fav has got to be H Giffard’s live steam injector which I still find very counterintuitive. BTW I read recently that they are 96% efficient!
I imagine wood is not as efficient as coal but apparently still functional
You do realize that the globe is quickly running out of oil, and soon the only fossil fuel that will be in abundance in America will be coal and wood. Maine is already fast-tracking new generating stations that will burn wood to generate electricity. That's a great idea for trains = burn wood in large stationary boilers, and then use that electricity to power electric locomotives. So in theory, that electric locomotive really is a wood-burning locomotive.
Can you take a look at the Mackwell Locomotive Co channel on YT? He uses waste wood to raise steam quickly in a water tube boiler. It’s worth watching all his vids from the beginning as they show he’s a highly trained mechanical engineer.
Doses the pine leave alot of creosote on inside of firebox!? Seams like it would
On my live steam engine creasote builds up but it reaches a point where the temp in the firebox gets high enough to combust the creosote as well.
@@PrinceAlhorian and that temp is probably quickly reached in a big loco
@@the_retag I believe so, in my model, when she starts moving at a pretty decent clip and the cylinders fire the flames by the exhaust steam up the funnel, you hear a mild whoosh from the flame tubes a puff of white smoke and ash and she then purrs like a kitten for as long as you can stoke it and keep it watered. I believe that whoosh is the creosote singing the song of its people and vacating my boiler with haste.