Steam & Excursion > Precision firing UP 8444

No mosquitos there any more.

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Oh Man !  Lol !! 

I don't care what the current UP steam manager says, running a loco like this is cool, attention grabbing and enjoyable to see.  So what if it's not "efficient!"

CO1309 Wrote:
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> I don't care what the current UP steam manager
> says, running a loco like this is cool, attention
> grabbing and enjoyable to see.  So what if it's
> not "efficient!"

Well, those of that are "familiar" with oil fired steam locomotives, regardless of size, realize that such action is more detrimental to the firebox, not to mention the surrounding environment (you wouldn't believe all the snot that falls out of such a cloud), than efficiency issues.

back when they would sand the firebox

and do runbys

is this near omaha or your neck of the woods 1522?

That's simply low temperature, oxygen starved, ignorant understanding of
how combustion works.

The firebox internal color is dark orange, cold, dark flame. 
What was the fireman's intent?    If it's about attempting to boil water,
that's NOT gonna' do it,.

W.

you don't think it was a runby?

that was standard smoke for UP runbys in seventies early eighties, you saw more than I Wes?

You're looking at the difference between the plan and it's implementation.

And, on an oil burner things can go to he** in a hurry. Those things have no forgiveness.

-LD

CO1309 Wrote:
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> I don't care what the current UP steam manager
> says, running a loco like this is cool, attention
> grabbing and enjoyable to see.  So what if it's
> not "efficient!"

It's not the type of attention you want to grab nowadays...

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I don't think ANYBODY's idea of a good runby is so much smoke you can barely see the train.

They liked to give people a show back then, they wanted people to know on the other side of the valley the freak show was going on,  (a special) aka the original operation lifesaver !! 1522's pic looks urbanish leaving omaha, they wanted recognition, didn't sanding the flues and dumping fuel do this intentionally where ever they wanted good PR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/23 15:20 by dan.

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dan Wrote:
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> They liked to give people a show back then


Things have changed a bit since then. 

maybe late 1980s I was standing at 84th Street along the UP in Omaha, Nebraska. Looking east waiting for 8444, I could see a cloud of black smoke on the horizon( a number of miles away) as it moved left to  right and then turned towards me. Similar to this cloud in the photo, it continued past me and west.
Perhaps there was some problem, perhaps someone told the fireman to let Omaha know that 8444 was leaving town. 
Excessive for sure.
One afternoon at Columbus, the eastbound 8444 left town in a cloud of smoke and I heard an old guy say:
He can run it cleaner than that, That's for sure!. 

Rick Z

 

Holy Moly!  That is wrong in so many ways!
SR

All of that may be related to the oil they were purchasing from Sinclair (on-line customer out west near Ralwyns, sp), which was really, REALLY bad. Finally the change was made to reprocessed waste oil, plus the complete boiler overhaul (with a new firebox) after the 1999 boiler tube break. When she returned to service in 2005, she was a dream to fire, and difficult to make large amounts of smoke without quickly lifting the pops.

Well Don... among all of the experts leaping up on their soapboxes to pound their chests, I for one enjoyed the humor in your "no more mosquitoes" assertion...

;^)

in todays environment, this would trigger getting your steam loco banned from operating within the city limits.  a terrible picture to publish regardless of year.    Arlen

Or, might have been turbo lag on the protection diesel in the consist.

sf1010 Wrote:
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> Or, might have been turbo lag on the protection
> diesel in the consist.

There was no diesel in the consist.

Sometimes sarcasm or a comment made in jest can be really, really hard to discern. Good grief.

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