Nostalgia & History > Blowing out steam lines

During my high school days I would often hang out west of tower 8 on the Kansas City Terminal.  I would see eastbound Mop # 14 for St Louis but the train I was really waiting for was Santa Fe #19, The Chief, scheduled into KCUS at 4:35pm.  Within about half a mile of passing tower 8 there would be a loud jet of steam discharged out the rear.  I later learned that this was done on trains that were to have switching performed at the station.  How was this done on the train and by whom?

Latebeans Wrote:
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> During my high school days I would often hang out
> west of tower 8 on the Kansas City Terminal.  I
> would see eastbound Mop # 14 for St Louis but the
> train I was really waiting for was Santa Fe #19,
> The Chief, scheduled into KCUS at 4:35pm.  Within
> about half a mile of passing tower 8 there would
> be a loud jet of steam discharged out the rear. 
> I later learned that this was done on trains that
> were to have switching performed at the station. 
> How was this done on the train and by whom?
Rear Brakeman would open the value at the end of the train
 

The object was to dump the pressure in the steam line so connections could be broken without the danger of getting scalded by the steam.
 

A two-step procedure. First, steam had to be shut off at the source which means the fireman on the inbound train
would manually turn a shut-off valve at the steam generator on the locomotive. Next, the rear trainman would
open a valve at the rear of the train to exhaust all steam from the line. Generally this procedure would be done
far enough in advance of the depot that the lines would be cool enough so that the depot carmen could immediately begin
disconnecting the steam lines upon arrival. Air lines are designed to break apart without damage whereas steam lines must
be manually disconnected.

Thanks, I thought the fireman would have to do something with the steam generator first so that makes sense.  It generally took about seven minutes from my old vantage point to Union Station.  I remember it making a lot of noise when the steam was released on a long train.  Another of the long gone rituals of pre-Amtrak passenger railroading.  Admittedly, one that those that handled the steam lines didn't miss much.