firing up a 4-8-4 (614)

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

im thinking of one of my 2 favorite 4-8-4s , the 614. how long does it take, if the engine is cold, until its ready to pull a train, assuming it is serviced and tender is loaded. thanks

2

It takes several hours.

You need to:

Place water hose into tender
Place fan on top of stack to draw a draft thru the boiler
Put a little bit of kindling or light the firebox
if it is coal get it lit. If it is oil, perhaps need to heat the oil before it will move from tender to firebox.

Once establish a fire, heat the water in the boiler.
Once about 50 pounds of pressure then you can activate air pumps and accessories

Remove the box fan from the stack
wait for pressure to come up the rest of the way.

By now tender water should be full and just enough steam to move engine out of roundhouse.

I think there is a article on how to boot a steam engine somewhere on the net, I cannot find it at the moment.

3

http://www.spikesys.com/Trains/loco_bot.html

Here is the link to booting a steam engine. I think its the right one, at least I hope it is.

4

thanks for the info