Steam & Excursion > Sure, She Is An Oil Burner But She Still Needs A Pile Of This!

There is no question but that Holmes Eureka 2-truck Shay #3 is an oil burner. If the oil bunker in her tender was not enough evidence of that, the oil tank to the left removes all doubt. If that is the case, why the pile of wood stacked on her fireman's side?

That wood pile is needed by #2's fireman to get her started in the morning after her pressure has dropped to nothing since the last time she was run. Unless there is another steamed up locomotive, donkey or other boiler, #2 will need to have a wood fire in her firebox to raise her boiler pressure to the point that will allow her atomizer to operate and spray the oil out of her burner in a torch form in her firebox.

Loggers who operated steam locomotives in remote areas like Holmes-Eureka near Carlotta, California, had to know all the tricks to keep their steam locomotives operating far from the conveniences of the machine shop.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/18 04:11 by LoggerHogger.

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We used to fire up 1522 with piles of new 2x4 cutoffs from a truss company at the Museum. It played hell with the draft pan and made a huge roman candle when you started working her hard.
Finally put a tee in the oil line ahead of the firing valve and used diesel fuel to light her off and get her up to about 20psi when the oil heater and atomizer would work. Lots cleaner that way and easier on her innards.

That was the usual for oil burning
locomotives, on any RR? They used
wood to start them from cold?

timz Wrote:
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> That was the usual for oil burning
> locomotives, on any RR? They used
> wood to start them from cold?

Or simply hooked the locomotive up to house steam, on larger railroads.

Today, we use air compressors to provide air to the atomizers to get cold steam locomotives fired up. If you have a diesel handy you can get air off her brakes to power the atomizer as well. That is what I am doing in this photo from our 4th Of July run last year.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/18 06:51 by LoggerHogger.

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I never thought about this until one morning in Felton when I saw them use natural gas. The locomotives were plumbed to hook up to natural gas to get things going.

Stan Praisewater

sagehen Wrote:
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> I never thought about this until one morning in
> Felton when I saw them use natural gas. The
> locomotives were plumbed to hook up to natural gas
> to get things going.
>
> Stan Praisewater

I believe this was an old West Side Lumber practice. In WSL's case they probably used propane out in the woods.