Steam & Excursion > This May Be The Supreme Portrait Of Hard Working Steam Power!

If Southern Pacific's 4-8-8-2 #4177 ever had been spic and span, those days are definitely gone.  Sitting in the morning sun at the helper yard in Oakridge, Oregon she portrays the look of hundreds of trip over "The Hill", as the Cascade Summit is referred to. 

Given the working conditions these Cab-Aheads faced with the many tunnels and snowsheds along the route, the shops ceased painting "Southern Pacific" on their tender flanks years ago since that lettering would be quickly covered with the soot and grime that we see here.  In the end, it was hard enough simply to keep her reporting marks readable.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/20 03:43 by LoggerHogger.

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Very nice,   It sure SHOUTS regulars service!

What's the use of the long pole, leaning against the loco, by no.1 driver?

​W.

Wes

That is the eleven foot pole in case someone won't touch with a ten foot pole because it's so dirty.

Don’t know for sure about the bar against the driver, but it does remind me of what my dad used to say -

“one difference between steam and diesel was, that with steam, you usually brought a six foot pry bar. With diesel, you only needed a three foot bar.”

Looks like a slightly bent tipped pry bar to me. I still have dad’s.

Walter

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/20 07:01 by drumwrencher.

Wes, at first I thought it might be the "hook" for the tender to reach water and oil columns, or a rod to move hot firebrick iin the fire box  but, after blowing up the picture several times it appears to be just a straight rod.  No idea what it is for.

This looks to be just a simple pipe.

Martin

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Then, what's this one?

-LD

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LarryDoyle Wrote:
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> Then, what's this one?
>
> -LD

Larry, where did you find this one?!!

LarryDoyle Wrote:
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> Then, what's this one?
>
> -LD

That appears to be the fireman's hook/bar to grab the water and oil spouts when servicing.

Martin

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LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> LarryDoyle Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Then, what's this one?
> >
> > -LD
>
> That appears to be the fireman's hook/bar to grab
> the water and oil spouts when servicing.
>
> Martin

In my opinion,that might be the handle of the slash bar, which the Fireman uses to break up a "bone" that tends to build-up in front of the burner (it's a big bump of carbon build-up). The hook for grabbing the water/oil spouts would be up on top of the tender, and generally not made out of such heavy bard stock, like the slash bar.

Makes sense Jack.

Martin

So, the one with the loop handle is actually inside tha cab, and sticking out the window?
Would the end inside the cab be resting, like, on the fireman's seat?
It might be blocking clear-access out the fireman's side cab door?

Also, it might be not too long...otherwise you'd be knocking out the front 'windshield' glass,
while wrestling with the carbon gob....through the firing-door.

How do you avoid forming the "carbon gob", to prevent its formation & building into large size?
Can you move it from being close to the burner...to a spot more directly in the path of the 
more intense flame?  Can it be burned away, while firing over the road?
Or, does the "gob" interrupt the smooth flame-path, causing more problems?

On a coal burner, with a true clinker*, its best-moved to a rear corner of the grate, 'turned-turtle',
and soon is consumed while thundering down the main.  'Problem' becomes an asset, as an aid
to a beneficial 'heel' across the strong draft area ---- up the rear door-sheet.
Thanks,

W.

*Coal burners.....
A true clinker is a solid mass of glass-like silica, that forms from the ash in the firebed.
Clinkers are either formed from coal fuel prone to clinkering, on its own.
Or, the more common cause of clinker formation, is overzealous use of the long 'firing rake' ....
which mixes the dead ash containing the silica back, up into the active combustion layer of the firebed.

The silica in the dead ashes is heated-up, in the active firebed, & forms molten glass,
which prevents local air flow, cools down ( in the center) slightly, while the molten edges
form more and more 'glass'.... from the deep ash bed.
Soon, the clinkered area becomes the size of a small mattress, --- heavy and hard to handle.

The Rule is: Keep the clinker-hook out of the firebed... if the bed is building-up, and too deep, stop the train,
shake the grates ( GENTLY) , sift the ash build-up into the ash pan,then clean the ash pan.



 

Kinda slow in Oakridge today, however seems to be steam down by the enginehouse
 

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LarryDoyle Wrote:
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> Then, what's this one?
>
> -LD

Wind up key. 

Oakridge engine shed, 

 

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wcamp1472 Wrote:
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> So, the one with the loop handle is actually
> inside tha cab, and sticking out the window?
> Would the end inside the cab be resting, like, on
> the fireman's seat?
> It might be blocking clear-access out the
> fireman's side cab door?

Looks like the business end is in firebox with the fireman in the cab trying to hook the bone out of the way.  There was probably a rack in the service area to keep the slash bar on for the next guy.

ATSF3751 Wrote:
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> LarryDoyle Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Then, what's this one?
> >
> > -LD
>
> Wind up key. 

Good one!

What's the large pipe coming down from the top of the boiler, ending in a bellmouth by the first driver?  (It's attached to a bracket right behind the leaning rod that's been asked about.)

~Joe P.
Hainesville, IL