Steam & Excursion > Hot temps and steam operation question

I think I have asked this before, but in the age of steam, when the air is 115 in the deserts, how did a crew of a steam locomotive stay cool? Even at 60 mph, 115 degree heat can't feel that cool. Iced down water in tin coolers? The temps in the cab must approach 130.

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CPRR Wrote:
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> I think I have asked this before, but in the age
> of steam, when the air is 115 in the deserts, how
> did a crew of a steam locomotive stay cool? Even
> at 60 mph, 115 degree heat can't feel that cool.
> Iced down water in tin coolers? The temps in the
> cab must approach 130.

Drink lots and lots of fluids! I have seen temps in the cab of 3985 at 145 degrees F, when the outside temp was 108 degrees F, as called out by the talking hotbox detectors.

Railroading in the steam era was tough. They didn't have the luxuries that many of us take for granted today.

When the railroads were laying there tracks across hot, barren deserts, they often had to use hand tools. If the workers had to take a break, they would bury the tool handles under the sand/dirt to keep the heat off. Otherwise, they would be unable to touch there tools because it would burn there hands! Plus, they couldn't drive down to the local McDonalds for lunch either. Times were very different back then! People had to tough it out.

It ought to give you a whole new respect for those who overcame such obstacles so we could enjoy what we have today.

We had a couple of brutal trips with 1522. The worst part is when you are sitting. The cab temp is usually 20-30 degrees hotter than the outside temp. When you are moving, you have a hot breeze but its better than nothing. On those death marches, we kept a cooler full of cold Gatorade which seemed to do well in replenishing. It could beat you down.

Thanks guys. I also look at extreme desert heat plus the shear size to ask, what was a wife thinking as her husband is driving the Calistoga wagon across, telling her "Honey, I promise, they say there is a large ocean just over the next hill..."

Posted from iPhone

CPRR Wrote:
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> Thanks guys. I also look at extreme desert heat
> plus the shear size to ask, what was a wife
> thinking as her husband is driving the Calistoga
> wagon across, telling her "Honey, I promise, they
> say there is a large ocean just over the next
> hill..."

Worse than that,,,,,,just think of those poor Mormons, when they finally topped the last mountain range, looked down into that SPECTACULAR valley with that huge lake, and,,,,,,,,,,,,,!

An old timer on the T&P told me that in the heat of the summer if they went in a passing track for a meet they just had to get out of the engine due to the heat.

'their' track, tools and/or hands.

Short answer: stay cool? They didn't.

It's also worth remembering, back in the steam days, there were VERY FEW obese Engineers, Fireman, Head Brakemen, Conductors, etc.!

When I was usually on the head end on the Iron Mountain, I'd go through a 64 ounce Gatorade on the first trip of the day. Between trips, I'd refill the bottle with water and empty that by the end of the second trip. I'd sweat so much, bathroom breaks were not an issue.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

In Argentina, where I grew up, locomotive crews carried water in special bags made of canvas. Not much of the water leaks through the canvas, but it's enough to keep the outside of the bag wet, which provides some pretty effective cooling through evaporation, especially if the water bag is hung outside a cab window in the air stream but out of the sun. I also remember seeing locomotives with several water bags hung on the pilot.

Roger Lewis (airbrakegeezer)