I wish we had coal like that when I worked on the footplate of LMS in the 60s, that looks like they got it from B&Q. Thats why we had a coal pick. you could end up with a massive lump stuck in the tender door, it always happened at the worst possible moment like the bottom of a hill or when you had a heavy goods and you just start to build the fire.
Robert, you are absolutely right. In fact it is generally considered a sin to allow the safety valves to "blow off" as this is basically a waste of steam, or in other words a waste of expensive coal. Easier said than done though, because there is a time lag between the coal going onto the firebed and it then reaching a a point in it's combustion cycle when it starts to increase steam pressure. Anticipation of the locomotive workload is the key to accurate firing technique.
I'm swiss and have been volunteering on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway for a few years now. Should pass out as a driver next year! So definitely worth it!
Great video! There certainly is a great deal of tweaking involved. It reminds me of the non-stop interplay between crew and machine required to move a Boeing 727 through the sky. Thanks for the effort.
It was a note for advising the area of line that was having repairs, and in effect the signalman was handing up a tempory speed restriction for that section of line.
Mechanical stokers were a rare beast on any British locomotive, probably because the size of fire grate was not large compared to many North American locomotives. Anyway, it's enjoyable exercise! As for gloves: only needed for those that have just had a manicure.
ah that is cool! :) So I take it, that its still possible to sign up as a vaulenteer. :D And heres an early hurrah for ur drivers pass when u get it! =)
@1995marines The coal supplied to steam railways is a specialist steam coal, so comes in a different graded size than the usual cheaper imported stuff that goes to power generating plants.
The kit consists of: a bullet camera lens, (about 60mm long, 15mm dia) which is connected to a conventional camcorder residing in a small back-pack. The lens can be clipped onto the peak of a cap. Yes, those are the injectors I keep fiddling with; the brass wheel is the steam valve and the lever is the water valve.
Haven't been up since May, been busy with all sorts of other stuff. But hoping to get back into it in November; not sure if I can remember how to hold a shovel!
i can rember when i did that in 2003 i was watching the fireman putting coal on and he let me have a go at firing. it on it was on the schools class repton that was when i was nine years old.
Could you save coal and pollution by regulating the boiler pressure by how much coal is shoveled in? I saw a locomotive blow off a lot of steam, so was the boiler being overfired for the workload?
I know its 2 years since u made the comment, but u wrote u cud sign up at ur nearest steam railway.. Now what if u arent a british citizen? Would they still let you participate in running such an incredible machine, as any steamtrain is? :)
Have they never heard of stokers or for that matter gloves? Have yet to see any crews using anything other than just a rag. I prefer a good pair of gauntlet gloves myself
My God, what an awful job the fireman's got, this was only a 10min clip, it must of been back breaking on a London to Edinburgh trip, and then back again
strake750 Well, I would have said "challenging" rather than awful. It's actually very enjoyable trying to pit your skills against a living breathing machine. With an experienced fireman this would have looked a lot easier!
Excellent vid Kiwi, hav'nt seen you up there in a while, how's the firing coming along? I hope to have my exam's next time im there. Tom (tall dark hair young cleaner, we did a NB turn together once)
Yes of course and I'm mostly kidding just kidding it's a amazing actually just seems kinda over complicated I guess not for the era when it was built but today seems redundant
how do you fit it on? is it strapped on, and what sort of camera is it also, those brass wheels you keep turning on the fireman's side, are they the injectors?
You're an idiot if you think a "rag" is going to give you any protection from serious heat for long periods and even more of an idiot to think you have to have or will ever get a "feel" for MECHANICAL "CONTROLS" THAT ARE ONLY PROVIDING MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE TO OPERATE VALVES. Especially when as PRESSURES CHANGE THE EFFORT NEEDED TO OPERATE THE VALVES CHANGES. Which of course is why most "controls" are excessively "strong" so any change in pressure and required effort at the valve results in a far smaller change in "feel" at the controls. Those "old timers" are using rags because good, high-quality SYNTHETIC GLOVES for continuous exposure to high temps are difficult or impossible to find or afford over there. LEATHER GLOVES are a very poor choice for exposure to continuous heat. The leather literally dries out and gets stiff and "high heat" gloves like welding gloves have even shorter lives in those conditions than high-quality, fitted and tanned leather gloves do. Welding gloves are made cheap and big for easy "installation" and "removal" and to make them disposable and prevent guys from feeling stuck with them when they start getting stiff and dangerous. The amount of time these "professionals" spend fucking with the controls and making changes that will only require an additional 2 or 3 MORE changes as a result proves they don't have the slightest fucking idea what they're doing or are just making it look "good" for the camera. But I'm pretty sure its the formula. You sure as hell can't need to shove coal like a motherfucker for two minutes and then take a brake for give if you're actually "feeding the fire" correctly. Apparently these fools also don't get that as speed increases, so does the "volumetric efficiency" of the engine and LESS STEAM VOLUME (displayed as pressure when "confined" in the boiler) is required to maintain speed. Just like a regular car or truck needs more power to ACCELERATE to 60 mph than it takes to STAY THERE , so does a locomotive. The overall fuel consumption might be about the same on a lbs. per horsepower-hour basis, but less torque is being produced and over a shorter period of time so the "mileage" increases.
What kind of girly-man needs gloves for firing? Gloves for cleaning out slag and clinker is one thing but if you need gloves for firing you're doing it wrong.
That sure is some odd-looking "coal" going into that firebox. It looks more like rocks coated with coal dust. I've never heard coal, which isn't all that dense when its pure, "ring" against a shovel like that. Rocks do, though. And do you not have crushers over there? I can't think of a worse fuel selection than what's in this video. And the idea that that crappy, heavy, inconsistenly sized and shaped "coal" is going to instantly burst into that hot "fireball" in the firebox is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure there's an oil or diesel fuel tank and some hidded plumbing somewhere in those allegedly "restored" and allegedly "British" locomotives. Coal in chunks just doesn't burn like that. It burns a lot like CHARCOAL IN AN OUTDOOR COOKING GRILLE. If there's boiling, roiling standing flame in the firebox from COAL, there's way too much coal in there and not nearly enough air. YELLOW FLAME IS NEVER HOT FLAME.
Looks like some form of Hard coal too me, perfectly good for burning in the firebox, smokey stuff and very volatile. The lumps are all a similar size tbh just save the larger ones for the back of the fire and the smaller stuff for the front of the fire.
+DEERMEYER1 There speaks someone with no firsthand experience of coal, firing, steam locomotives, or British railways! That looked like pretty decent coal to me. Remember that in general the coal we have in the UK is a much higher quality than that which is available in the US. Over here you're always taught that if the coal doesn't 'ring' against the shovel, it's either rubbish coal or you're doing it wrong. Of course the coal won't instantly burst into flame, what were you expecting? It's a steam loco, you've got to plan about ten minutes in advance of what you're doing. You can't just bung a round on and expect it to react instantly! And to answer your question, no, we don't have 'crushers'. Generally the coal gets broken up on shed, or (particularly nowadays) the railway will just buy coal already around the right size. A bit of variation doesn't matter - you just put the larger lumps at the back, and the smaller ones at the front (though it will vary a lot from loco to loco). I'm not sure what you're suggesting by putting "British" in scare quotes. That loco is immediately recognisable from the cab-layout as a BR Standard of some sort, in this case a class 4 no. 75029. All the BR Standards (as in fact were all British steam locos!) were designed and built entirely in the UK, which is the case even to this day. In short, I'm going to assume you're some sort of troll aiming to get a reaction, in which case - well done! But if not, and you genuinely don't have a clue about steam locomotives, then I hope this short explanation has been of use and interest to you. Good day. =)
