Steam 101: How to COLD START a steam locomotive! 

Having fired and driven 3ft6inch steam on the Pichi Richi Railway in South Australia for around 40 years, I can sympathise swith the ash disposal process. However, I think you missed reinforcing an absolute essential task before lighting the fire (we use a match and kero rag on the shovel). That absolute essential is making sure there is adequate water in the boiler. Best done before messing with the grate. Problems like the one you encountered run the risk of overlooking of water if time is creeping on, and there is a timed schedule to meet or other distractions come along. Bryan

I should like to protest, you've neglected the extremely important parts of firing up a locomotive such as other people standing around drinking coffee and eating donuts while someone else works, given that I have never seen a locomotive fired up without such an entourage so it must be an absolutely necessary requirement

This looks like the type of museum that would take dozens of trips to truly get to see all of the stuff there.

After watching this I had some old coal shovels in the basement so I took a closer look at them and low and behold there was the number 4 stamped in them. You learn something everyday.

For steam trains in the 1800s it never occurred to me how much training the train engineers had to have before being able to correctly operate one of these super complicated mechanical wonders. I'm sure much of it was OJT but surely the manufacturers had to have some sort of organized in-house training for all new locomotives.

I never realized just how massive the chunks of coal were that went into a steam loco, I've just assumed it was smaller chunks like you see on coal trains headed for power plants. Love this video, its so cool to see how ti was done back in the day.

I’ll always find it utterly wild that the minds of men fashioned a machine of iron and wood that can harness nothing more than water, wood, oil, and coal to create such tremendous power - and they did all of it with brains, skill, and sweat. The steam locomotive is such an archetype of humanity - nature meets human ingenuity to legendary consequence.

Cannot imagine why railroads switched to diesel electric. Look how convenient and quick this process is!

those first minutes of the video make it abundantly clear just how tough the old time steam men were. no matter if you look at rail, road or ship board steam

RU-vid insisted so long that I had to click this video. Glad I did. Learned some stuff here. You and people like you have my respect, taking care of these old machines, treating them with love and putting in elbow grease when it is needed. Thank you. Best wishes, Erik.

I know nothing of trains and it’s not a hobby of mine, but this video randomly popped up on my feed and it’s so awesome! It’s captivating to watch AND I felt well served as a viewer with no prior knowledge! Keep it up!!

My grandfather was an engineer on the D&RGW in Alamosa, Co. narrow gauge, He traveled from Alamosa over Cumbres Pass into Chama, New Mexico, and over LaVeta Pass to Walensenburg hauling coal. He worked for D&RGW for nearly 50 years.

Thank you for all of the hard work you put into these videos. I hope you keep it up for years to come!!!

It is just amazing how beautiful and crude the technology was in the day. This should be shown ( if not already) in the waiting room for passengers. your passion and experience is addicting for any rail fan. I have always wanted to see the process. The dedication it takes to do this on a daily schedule is amazing. the paying guests have NO idea what it takes. Really Thank You.

Awesome video Hyce!

This video is a total GEM dude. For real i don't know the first thing about steam locomotives, but this video was so informative and cool to watch. I'm not sure how you came about getting that job but it looks like its very rewarding. Thanks for making it and ill definitely be looking forward to more! Thanks for preserving history!

Always thought coal fire burns so beautifully. Had a coal stove that I burned anthracite "nut" coal in and after starting off with a wood fire with quick dancing flames, when it was on pure coal, it burned with a light blue slow motion flame. It's unique compared to other things, not to mention the unique smell of coal

These videos are amazing. Most of the other people doing videos on these topics, never actually voice over / explain what they are doing. It's really hard for me to sit through a one hour video without commentary. This is just way more pleasant to watch. Thank you so much!

It's so fantastic that you're documenting all of this, both for folks like me who are fascinated by it and want to see how it's done, and also for future generations that may not get the chance to experience it at all. Please keep it up!

Love the camera work. I've never seen a clearer display of how this is done. Keep up the excellent work

I love the old steam engines - it’s amazing the technology and machining skills we had well over 100 years ago to build such giants.

Cool! As I’ve mentioned before, my experience is on a much smaller scale, a 15” gauge Crown, but the principles are the same. No grate shakers, just reach into the fire box, getting soot up to your shoulders, and remove each of the five 4”x8” grates by hand, clean off the rails they sit on, then put them back. Next, open the smoke box and use a 12 ga. shotgun brush to swab each of the 22 flue tubes. Button it up, check the water level, connect shop air to the blower line, then lay your fire. Light it up, tending carefully until it’s burning well on acorn-sized coal. No air compressor or dynamo to fool with, so grab the grease gun and oil can and lube around while the steam builds. 140 psi? Time to ease over to the coaling tower and take on a day’s supply (200 lbs) of coal. By now, it’s been two hours since you unlocked the engine house. So dust yourself off the best you can and head for the depot to load up the first round of passengers for our 10:00 am departure. For the next 8 hours, enjoy the happy symphony of steam whistles and children’s laughter.

The cat analogy is now causing me to imagine during your battle with the rake, that you were chastising 491 like you would a cat 🤣

Good point, Bryan. A Yard Fireman always checks the water level before lighting the firebox. My old supervisor's older brother was a Yard Fireman back in 1937. Sometimes he had to fire three engines at once. He had a big hose to fill the boiler and the water in the tender. Getting up steam in a cold engine would take six to eight hours. The Engineer and Fireman had to be able to take the engine to the Shop or out on the line when they got there.

My dad was an engineer for Union Pacific. He worked from them for 42 years, rising through the ranks from a switchman, to a brakeman, to conductor, and finally engineer. It took him 25 years to get to engineer, but once he got there he loved it. There was something about being at the controls of a train that made the long commute and even longer hours worth it for him, and one time I even got drive the train myself as an 11 year old kid. It was an awesome experience. Then again, cold starting a diesel-electric engine is MUCH easier than a strictly steam one powered only by a literal bonfire in a boiler.

Excellent video! I worked at Roots of Motive Power as a trainee Brakeman, one day hands on class. We assisted shuffling cars with a diesel an a Heisler. I did “okay” with the shuffling, but the point of this is I had a chance to front end brakeman in the Heisler. The summer temp was 100+ and inside that Heisler felt like another 100+!!! Long story short, I babied out and crawled my sorry butt into the diesel…I know, I suck!! Hyce deserves an applause for his hard work shoveling, videoing and surviving that hot temperatures!

How little did I appreciate that it was a passing of an age when as a boy I watched them working on steam locomotives. The locomotives seemed living beings.

I’ve been a locomotive engineer going on 12 years and I’ve had to start several different versions of engines but never had to toss wood in a firebox! My biggest frustration is not having the fuel system prime completely or find out the batteries are dead. I can’t imagine spending days building a fire to get the engine ready. I watch these videos in awe because of the amount of work went into getting these metal monsters running. Hats off to you and your brothers to keeping the old days alive.

As somebody who’s done many re-tubing of boilers, and worked on many industrial sized boilers, and had a helping hand on re-tubing of one of the last steam locomotives in BC, this was nostalgic to watch. Don’t miss it, but nostalgic. Thanks for the video

I didn’t know it would be so hard to fire up a steam engine, thanks for making this video not just because it is great to learn but because this seems like a pain in the behind for you to complete.

I am 42 and feel old. You guys are young but have the wisdom of an older person. Very impressive.

Love the way the ashes get called "old fire" or "dead fire". Seriously though, thanks for taking us through this process.

Reminds me alot of firing up my coal forge- but a whole lot bigger! I have a life long dream of being a fireman on a steam engine...this was so cool to watch. I've never seen a video on exactly how that happens- this was really great! Can't wait to binge watch more of your vids😁

I love just hearing all the iron and steel clack in the start. Just that sound of heavy pieces of iron have always been cool to me. Love it.

Wow, its interesting to see how coal fired locomotives work in different countries. At one of the volunteer railroads (more of a yard in this case, we also do mainline running all over the country) in the country I live in, to clean out the fire box we open 2 grates in the firebox. Right in the middle at the front and back. Then rake everything into that, which leads into a chute into the ash pit or where ever we are dropping the ash to. As for the ash pan, you go outside to the side, but instead of compressed air, we yet again use a rake to push everything into the 2 chutes. That firebox grates drop into the same chutes for the ash pan. When we are not going to be using the locomotive for more then a week or do, we do get inside the firebox with a small shovel, brush, couple of crowbars and a hammer. To pull up all the grates, brush out the ash pan completely brush ash out of the chutes. Then we climb up and behind the fire brick arch and vacuum all the fine ash dust out of there. We use an air compressor attachment which we stick in the funnel to create a draft, which was meant to be used just for firing up but is a good double use to blow out some of the air born ash dust and as a way to make the firebox cleaning process a couple of degrees cooler. When you have to spend 5 or more hours in there, which is nice as summer here is around 20-30 Celsius

Seems fitting that those that worked on train engines like this were called "engineers." While it fits with running an engine, you also had to be well-versed in engineering to run the thing. People think, "Oh, well, it's a steam engine. It's simple." Deceptively simple. Maybe in theory/principal it's simple, but in operation and use? Anything but. It's a complex machine. One that demands respect, knowledge and dedication in order to work properly. These machines were basically the airliners of their day, after all.

I'm amazed, I genuinely had no idea wood was still used to heat up coal burners. Very intriguing.

I really admire all the hard work that goes into the initial stages. I have issues with my wrists so I could probably never do it. I'd love to drive and engine one day, but something kinda feels missing doing it without this part.

What an insane amount of effort :) A technology of it's time for sure! I'm so glad these beautiful machines still exist. To think what you are doing for fun was someone's daily job ;)

My father started out as a fireman on the Southern and Illinois Central. As a small boy, I got to ride in the cab on some of his runs and watch as she shoveled coal. I never realized the job a Fireman did, or the many ways he had to have knowledge of coal placement and valves. Your video educated me. He later moved up to an Engineer position. All those railroad guys I got to know..it was truly in their blood. Even on their days off they hung around the depot. Before I went into the Army, I made my last ride with Dad and his crew. By now the railroads were diesel. It was my last time to have a ride with him, when I returned from overseas my Dad was no more and the men I had know were either passed away or retired. Thank you for this video

“There’s a lot of hair in this hat.”

That was REALLY interesting. A labor of love preserving an otherwise lost art.

Old trains and electric guitars, what a nice combination of interests! One I happen to share :)

I grew up with a coal furnace. This is bringing back memories of my childhood... Being sent down to the cellar to put a scoop on the fire. It's an art!

Love it! This content it absolutely under represented, thanks for sharing!

While it can be annoying with an oil burner that to start from cold you need an air compressor It’s also kind of nice since we don’t have to worry about grates that get warped from the fire and no ash that has to be cleaned out of the fire box before starting

Wow! You did an excellent job with this video. Your passion for it came through loud and clear. I love trains especially steam locomotives. I love the sounds they make, most of all the whistle. It goes right through me. After watching this I have a much greater appreciation for the engineers of these fantastically complicated machines. They really work hard to make these engines run with the power they have. I really enjoyed the video and look forward to watching more of them. Thanks for the detailed information. I now have a much better understanding of how the steam locomotive works.

I'm more of a diesel train lover, but I had an understanding that it was a lot of manual work running these steam trains, but it really is a labour of love! Well done to you and the others who helped. Really fascinating video!

This is my first exposure to a steam engine and I went from mildly interested to thoroughly impressed, wow thank you for the video

Wow, there's so much to preparing these engines to run. So interesting to learn how they work. Keep up the great camera shots, shovel cam is a winner😀

This technology is so raw and direct. Love how you explain every part as you show it in action.

Im not protesting anything. Im just glad he put this video together. I am blown away at how much wood it takes to fire up one engine. Imagine the 1940s when everyday there thousands of these to fire evey day! Im surprised that there are any trees around. 🌳

Great video! I worked as a young man on a steam locomotive, first as fireman, then as engineer. Ours was diesel-fired instead of wood or coal, so cleanup was way easier and cold starts involved cracking open the fuel and tossing in a safety flare, with the help of compressed air to atomize. Tough job still, but still my favorite after all these years. Thanks for posting this!

Excellent video, love your laid back approach and comprehensive explanation. I'm in the UK, I had to laugh when you started throwing in 'kindling', we would be building a house out of wood of that size and quality. Wood costs a fortune here!

I don’t know who would REALLY NEED to watch this but it’s cool

I rode a light weight, wood burning, narrow gauge, locomotive that had been completely restored and ran on the track between Durango and Silverton for a short time. It was not pulling very much load, but the rate of ascent and the misty wet weather kept the driver wheels breaking away from the rails and spinning up. Fortunately the engine was beautifully appointed and maintained, the engine was equipped with sand tubes, which were opened enough to provide traction for up the uphill pull... But wood contains a fraction of the energy of high quality coal, and the starting delays and traction problems meant we had to stop in the forest near a wood pile and load the tender with fuel... All of the able bodied passengers got off the train and formed a bucket chain between the woodpile and the tender. But we got up to Silverton.

I just love stuff like this! Thanks for taking us along for the startup!

My dad was a fireman on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge in the ‘30s. They lived in Vancouver and he went to Boise. I never understood what he did, so thanks. I also understand why he moved on to spud farming.

I love this video. Just two dudes doing something they’re passionate about and knowledgeable on, no BS. 10/10.

Algorithm got me here and boy what fun that was to watch. Shovel cam rocks. Never seen such an in depth explanation of this process. Very impressive. Great video.

I love how you explain the process in a simple manner that the majority of society can understand!

I did Coal fires in Schools in NYC ( fireman ) for 5 years back in the 80s, it was just about the same as what you dealt with, but 1 difference is I had to shovel all the coal out... into red cans and then haul them into the street, we used a much smaller coal size, called Nut Coal... often used in Blacksmithing too - I would burn thru over 2000 pounds on a cold day... ( 4 buckets ) often shoveling as much as 12 buckets a day to skip a few at a time, and at 550 pounds a bucket, it was hard work... but when you are young, it was not hard

Real people were involved with this. Amazing to see. I helped grandma get clinkers from a coal furnace. This is wonderful. Thx for sharing!

Young man america needs you. What do I mean? I mean we desperately need history teachers like you..

Before fire up I learned to check 7 things: Firebox leakage, Smokebox leakage, handbrake on, regulator shut, reverser neutral, draincoqs open, enough water

I used to live in Monte Vista as a kid and absolutely loved riding the train! I went back a few years ago and it was just as magical!

Fantastic video. 3 days seamlessly edited together - great job. Steam locomotives have always fascinated me and I wish I could wrench on one someday. Love it!

This was really cool to watch. I had no clue it was so involved. I guess I always assumed it was make fire, wait for steam, and then release the break. LOL

I am thoroughly impressed with your vast knowledge of this train......well done

28:35 - one of the coolest shots we've ever seen!

Lol, it's like flammable bowling. 🔥

your enthusiasm is awsome. thanks for sharing your skills. thank you for your love of what built our county.

Great video thank you. I knew steam locomotives were a lot of hard work, but so much goes into firing them up, it's amazing. So much respect for you and your dedication and effort. Also loved the runby at the end 👍

This was way cool to see how this process works! Awesome camera work !

70 year old mechanical engineer here. I have only recently become fascinated by steam locomotives because diesel electric was being pushed by nearby railroads in my childhood. Wow, big boy was and is a work of engineering marvel. I'm just glad none ever blew up, their engineers used good factor of safety numbers.

Thanks for taking the time to put this awesome firing video together. Everyone wants to be an engineer, but fail to realize they have nothing to engineer without the fireman!

This was a random find and I've watched every minute of it! That was really awesome and interesting!

I don’t think most people fully understand how much work it is for these machines to operate property. It must have been some really tough guys who did this job in the old days. Such beautiful machines that must be preserved.

What a fun, inform, well documented, well explained process. Thanks for spending the time and effort to make the video. It was very enjoyable

beautiful machine and great camera work and dialog, thank you!

I never realised the time and effort required to start one of those engines. Great video.

Great video! Like so many of these, these are so complicated, but when you think back and looking at them from the angle of history, you don’t get the sense that people were had to be trained in how to do all of these jobs! Kudos for you and your company to keeping these mammoth steam machines going-especially in cooler areas like Colorado. I live in California and have been to the train museum in Sacramento and that in and of itself was a very special treat! I love everything about trains, and try to get around on the engine, for me, will never happen-between using a wheelchair and or a walker it just ain’t gonna happen! Lol

Bruh, I just checked back on this vid and holy smokes, 1.1mil views!! I been a sub since just before the RO days, happy to be part of a awesome group !

Having recently (within last year) added Derail Valley Overhauled to my HTC Vive I'm glad I found your channel, Hyce! I wanted to just drive the 6 axle diesels. Then I tried the steam locos and have been hooked on them! The information you provide is highly interesting and fascinating to me, you know, how all things steam work and all the nuances of said steam. Big thanks to the museum too!

Can't say how much I enjoyed this video. You do such a great job of explaining it all, and a great job on filming it. Learning all about the coal shovel made me realize that a shovel that I recovered from a Brownstone house built around 1820 is in fact a coal shovel for the furnace. The end of the shovel is so used, that the metal is curled back onto itself. That's from crashing into the coal for decades. It says HOT-TEST PHONE 4500 NEW HAVEN on the shovel. I also have another old shovel, Baldwin Knoxall #2....Shovel science lol

This made my day! Your enthusiasm made the descriptions complete.

Thanks for this detailed video. I never realized how much work it was for my grandfather, C.Arthur Kent and his father who both worked logging trains in Michigan in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Your warning of the necessity to slowly bring the fire up to pressure struck a nerve. In the late 1800’s you said they didn’t usually take that precaution. I wondered if it was a factor in an accident that almost killed my grandfather as related in this article in the Pellston Journal April 29, 1909. “A CLOSE CALL. Crown Sheet on Tindle & Jackson Locomotive Blew Out and Engineer Kent Narrowly Escapes Death. By the blowing out of the crown sheet on Tindle & Jackson's engine No. 1 last Friday, Engineer Arthur Kent was terribly burned about the head, arms and feet, before being able to jump from the cab, and the fireman, Herbert Hewitt, was blown from the cab window so suddenly, that he escaped the steam and water and was only slightly injured. The accident occurred about eight o'clock- at night, shortly after the crew had left the round house and only about a mile and a half from town. The explosion came without warning and it is almost a miracle that the engineer and fireman escaped, with their lives. As soon as the accident occurred Engineer Kent, in his terrible condition, started on a run for home before the rest of the crew could stop him and in fact the brakeman, Ben Langenhorf, who started to follow him, was unable to overtake him and Kent reached home completely exhausted. While his condition is very serious he has shown improvement since the accident and everything seems favorable for his recovery. Mr. Kent is one of the best known young men in the village and hosts of friends are sympathizing with him and his family in their misfortune.” The crown sheet blew grandpa back and covered his torso limiting major injury to his exposed head, arms and legs.

That goal annalogy is hilarious to me. I remember one time I was firing a wood burning Russell Steamer and the firebox door on that tractor is SO SMALL and the wood was pretty big and I "hit the goal" a lot and missed the bright spots more than I'd like to admit...

Like always a great and very helpfull informational video! Keep it up man, even just the footage is magical to look at can't wait for the next one!

People that were happy to see this video finally hit 1 million views

Greetings, Mike from NZ here, a long time but pretty newbie steam loco fan, found my way to this via the terrific Animagraffs Big Boy vid on how a steam loco works. It was great to get a more of an in-depth on how you fire up but can only imagine how much work Big Boy would have been - I am going to search this out. Anyway thanks for your great work, I am on my way to view the 1st in this series of your videos.

marvels of engineering built by the hands of strong men. it's amazing how these things work and are still going

Thank you for sharing this! Always cool to learn new things about steam locomotives!

I miss the old steam engines but I never realized how much had to be done to get one in operating condition. THANK YOU for anlighting a old man.

I grew up down the street from the colorado railroad museum! I used to go every summer! We went recently too and its awesome to see the place getting some recognition!

I didn't know 491 was already 8 years into her boiler ticket. Time flies. I really need to get over there then!

44:40 The discussion on having to manage the fire properly, and how much thought and skill goes into shoveling, makes me wonder about the auger fed fireboxes in some locomotives. How did they avoid just having a big clump of coal in the center? Or did they just run inefficiently?

She's such a beauty! Thanks for sharing, I didn't know anyone still ran steam locomotives. Wow!

Having never started or driven a steam locomotive I have decided to just enjoy your video without feeling the need to offer endless commentary as to how many things I would do differently.

The shovel technique stuff was very informative! And you're dead right, media depictions of steam engines being shovelled just makes you think that you just chuck coal in where ever and it's dead simple, but from what you've shown it's really not!