Hi, was it the usual practice that a steam engine would be fueled up before entering the roundhouse or on the way out to service.
Thanks in advance,
Anthony
The only reason a steam engine entered a raoundhouse was for repairs. There are some exceptions but there were ready tracks and crews that cleaned, lubed, greased, filled sand domes, water and coal. It would not be wise to add a full load of fuel to the tender before shopping an engine for at least one reason that being the risk of fire. Now I am certain there are exceptions and some small roads probably did keep their engines in enginhouses but in all probability they were hooked to the stationary roundhouse boiler to maintin steam temp. and pressure when required and fueled on their way to going on the road.
It’s a safe bet that some UP Challengers were refueled AFTER their ride on the turntable. They had the rear two axles of that 4-10 tender jacked into the air so they could be turned on a TT that wasn’t really long enough to handle them. I hesitate to think what the load on the jack points would have been if those 25,000 gallon cisterns had been filled first.
OTOH, when the N&W went to their quick-turn mode, tracks approached the turntable from both ends of the division yard. Some locos passed under the coaling tower (simultaneously being serviced with water and sand) on the way to the turntable tender first, while others (from the opposite direction) were turned before going to the coaling station smokebox first. All locomotives being refueled thus faced in the same direction. Only locos needing mechanical attention were placed in the roundhouse - nose first. The others ended up on either eastbound or westbound ready tracks, pointed in the right direction for their next assignment.
My own steam locos are turned, then refueled - or will be, once the engine servicing facility is built. Of course, they leave in the same direction that they arrived from.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Right you are…Railroads would not simply park a engine in the roundhouse.
A thing most modelers forget these engines could be serviced and placed on the outbound ready track after a service inspection.These locomotives was machines meant to haul freight and hopefully turn a profit for the railroad.A idle locomotive is costing money not making it.
I think it depends upon the railroad and the location. During the late 19th century, the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut kept the majority of its engines in the roundhouse (or enginehouse in other locations on the line) during the winter. The winter temperatures, in the Hudson Valley, would cause all sorts of problems. You are correct in stating that engines need to run to earn their keep. Small branchline roads didn’t have enough traffic to run trains much after dark (the ND&C had no night trains); therefore a hogger was detailed to keep some modicum of steam pressure up in the boilers. There was no steam boiler available, in the Hopewell Junction roundhouse, to assist (or take over) this task.
A dear friend of mine retired from the D&H as a road engineer (steam). He started his career in the Oneonta, NY roundhouse as a hogger. One night one of his co-workers brought in some excellent whiskey and the entire night shift got “snockered”. When they regained their senses, they realized the fires in 5 or 6 engines was extremely low. I can imagine there was lots of huffing and puffing to right things before the day shift came in to move the locomotives.
I have recently come in possession of some operating rules on the ND&C which stated that all engines were to be run head first into the stalls. I guess it was easier to make right an engine that slipped its brakes, or had a leaking throttle, if that engine went through the back wall of the roundhouse as opposed to diving into the turntable pit!
The tracks are further apart at the rear of roundhouses, giving more room for servicing the locomotive at that end.
Mark
Unless they were going in for some repair that required the boiler to be drained or the coal bunder to be fixed, they probably went in full of water and fuel. If the water ran low in the roundhouse it would be heck getting water back in it. If there is no fuel or water you can’t get a head of steam to move it out of the roundhouse and to the service track.
Dave H.
It depends on the era and the type of turntable. A balanced turntable, whether an old gallows type or iron/steel bridge, often required a full tender to properly balance it. Since the engine was heavier than the tender, the balance point was forward of the cab, leaving a space in front of the engine and often having the tender coupler overhanging the end of the table, the rear wheels just clearing the ends of the rails. When properly placed on the table, it could be turned by two men, once the wheels left the pit rail, but with longer engines, even a fully loaded tender wasn’t heavy enough to offset the weight of the engine. In this case, the table bogey wheels had to remain in contact on the pit rail, to take the load with the center bearing, and brawn alone wouldn’t move the table.
It was customary in this case to provide some sort of power to turn the table. Many roads put air cylinders with lever systems to push the table around, bearing on the pit rails. These could work on friction alone or there might be notches cut into the pit rail heads–and the locos turned themselves by providing the air. A gladhand on a hose would coupled onto (usually; more later) the pilot hose to power the “motor.” Some turntables had air tanks under the walkways for storage. The table moved in one direction only, but occasionally two of these motors were mounted so the turntable was reversible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an air setup in photos, but a little research should tell you what it looks like. The table usually moved in a less than smooth manner, though there was some inertia stored up in all that mass–but don’t ask me how you could duplicate this motion.
At some terminals electric motors drove the turntables through bogey wheels, the power being picked up via an arch above the center of the turntable with wires stretching to a pol
They could be fueled before or after…Normally the roundhouse stalls were used for doing repairs noted by the engine crew. Engines did ‘live’ in the roundhouse in cold weather is some northern climates. A ‘hot’ engine will have it’s fires banked and put in the house with a full tank of boiler water. Usually there was an ‘engine tender’ who checked for low water and turned on the injectors/feedwater pump to keep the boilers full under his watch. Before going on duty, the engine would have it’s fire spread out and the blower turned on to increase the steam preassure so they could move the engine back out of the house. A lot of single stall engine houses in Minnesota has a lot if insulation in them. I remember seeing an old Milwaukee Road engine house being demolished and it had sawdust in the wall cavities, similar to an ice house. This kept the boilder from freezing up if the engine was left all week-end in the house and no engine watchman and was assigned to keep the engine hot.
Jim