I know how they dropped the fire in an Coal & Wood Burner. But how was it done in a Oil Burner? How was the Firebox actually cleaned. It wasn’t like it could have been just hosed out, or was it. Was the Firebox actually cleaned? I am sure they do it for the FEF-3 & Challenger that UP still runs for excursions. I mean do they run them and just let them sit for months, or are they cleaned after an excursion?
Mike
I’m not sure about the firebox, but I presume it would need cleaning at most infrequently. On the other hand, residue build-up in the flues required that sand be frequently sucked into the firebox by the fire’s draft to be drawn through the flues to scrub them out.
Mark
I don’t think an oil burning loco had the residue problems as much as a coal burning one, but smoke is smoke, so they would get some kind of cleanup treatment from time to time. Pretty much at the end of a run for a steam engine it goes thru the process to clean out ashes from the firebox, get lubed up, but flue cleaning even for a steamer wasn’t that big of an issue at the end of just one run. I recall cleaning flues on a steam traction engine but thats a light duty operation and might clog up sooner, a high rated steamer wouldn’t. Consider you have superheaters installed on many of the high power engines, you’re not going to be pulling superheaters out to clean the flues every run, I’ve pulled superheaters out and in on 765, and its not a simple job, so clogging up isn’t that big of an issue, however I would think other cleaning methods would be done when the engine is cooled like sand blasting or forcing air thru to declog a flue.
the white bucket with the scoop sticking out is full of sand for “sanding the flue”.
cab of UP 844
Contrary to other posts most of the oil used in steam engines was #6 also called bunker C. This was basically tar at room temperature and needed to be heated to at least 165 degrees to thin it down so it would flow. It used to be a bottom product from the refineries until they learned how to process it into lighter oils like gasoline. It was used because it was very cheap. Obviously a steam source was readily available on steam engines to run through a coil in the tender to heat the stuff up. When you roll a drop or two between your fingers you can feel the carbon particles in the fluid. As stated sanding the flues was a common practice causing copious quantities of carbon smoke that delighted railfans and few other people. Since the flues ran through the boiler that was at or near 212 degrees or higher I suspect that sanding was needed when a noticible drop in the draft occurred.
I love this stuff [8D]
I had read something from a friend awhile back about this very same subject, and had found a publication from November 1922I on maintenance of the firebox…this was the link (hope I get it right):
It reads like there’s not much difference from a coal burner’s cleaning schedule or in the methods used. Comparitive costs between the two were about the same, which I thought was interesting.