Anybody notice something missing from this steam engine
It’s a “fireless” steam locomotive. The steam comes from an external source (usually a pipe from a stationary boiler at a plant or mill) and is stored in the “boiler” at high pressure until the throttle is opened. It runs until the pressure drops too low, then is re-pressurized when needed again. Don’t know too many of the details, but this is the basic idea. It explains the lack of stack, domes, and a lot of other paraphernalia associated with steam locomotives.
Tom
Fireless steam locos were used in warehouse switching where they had to go inside buildings a lot where the smoke and fumes were not wanted. They also were used in places where fire and cinders were dangerous like refineries and wepons plants.
Nothing particularly odd about it. Fireless “cookers” were fairly common around industrial sites where a steam source was handy. The last “hot” one I saw (not in a museum setting) was on the north side of Indianapolis Union Station in the summer of 1969.
Bill
One was used by National Cash Register in Dayton into the 70’s. I believe it now resides in Carillion Park in Dayton.
Amazing
Five years later and I’m still learning new things every day!
Thanks guys
-D
@ Digital Griffin: I could not agree more. I got to get me one of “thems cool lookin’ locos”
I want one too. Imnn scale, of course. There’s an engine at ITM, maybe the same one from the North Side of Indy
What kind of duty cycle did they typically have- time to re-steam versus length of time able to do work? I’m supposing that the work time is variable based on what its actually doing and how long its taking to do it-- steam would cool down eventually on its own doing nothing at all.
For those who don’t know much about Fireless Cookers, here is an extract from the Porter Catalog
Porter Fireless Steam Locomotives
It has many photos of 0-4-0s, 0-6-0s, and geared, fireless cookers! They came in many different sizes, from 7-ton units up to a 70-ton unit.
Hope this helps,
Gil
… and Bachmann/Liliput has a HO scale model of a 0-6-0 fireless loco available.
There is also a 0-4-0 in the market!
One of the hobby magazines once discussed these particular fireless “cookers”. If I remember correctly C&O used them in the Huntington, W. Vir. area where there were several industrial facilitites with high explosive potential.
C&O use these “fireless” locomotives around chemical plants in the chemical valley of W.Va.Another engine was used on a island that had a chemical plant.
The C&O had 3 numbers 35-37 and was road class C-8.
Wow, usually these were things that looked like they were “Frankensteined.” This one has streamlining and skyline casing to boot!
Here is another one:
Cool, Huh?
I am not sure of the hours of operation, but typically, they did not take steam from the stationary boiler, but hot pressurized water. The high pressure water would boil off steam which ran the steam engine. Thermodymically, the pressure would not drop much as long as the water in the heavily insulated water tank (that looks like a boiler) maintained its temperature.
Funny all this should come together at once.I see this mention of a fireless locomotive, then a freind gives me a copy of the Oct.75 MR which has a feature on these locos and the tie plants at Brainerd MN and at Somers MT. Then the vey next weekend we are passing thru Somers MT on the way to north central MT for a funeral and my aunt says “Oh the moved this little loco down to Somers as it used to work around here somewhere.” And lo and behold here was S-2 just like in the article. Heres pics of the loco and the tie cart. BILL
I wanna say uyou got about 40minutes to an hour out of them, closer to the former, but I can’t quote my sources. MInd you, thst’s long enough to shuffle loads from holding track B to Holding A,Holdng A to unloading, and Unloading to pick-up, wherein the main train gets them, or the Thermos recharges until the mainline gets there to tack them on.