Yeah, there is a difference in sound with a spot fire and one where you've got it wide open, but when the engine is running and at station stops, you shouldn't notice too much of a sound difference at all. In fact, standing at a station is when you're trying to build pressure (assuming you've lost it), meaning you might increase the fire a bit, but you'd also have it increased when starting out.
I still think you guys are hearing the blower, which is a very pronounced "bass" sound coming from the stack.
Back in the day, firemen were taught to have no more than a 5-pound fluctuation. I haven't been able to do that on the engine I fire. The best I've been able to do over an 8-mile run is a 10-pound difference, between 180 (where I try to keep it) and 170, and I considered that to be excellent, given our operating conditions, grade and load. Sure, I've let it get larger than a 10 pound difference, and I kick myself for it, because that's just bad firing at that point. 20 or 30 pound differences--let alone a 50 pound difference--especially on a railroad as level as the WDWRR or RR, is definitely not good.
Boiler pressure/firing practices
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Steve DeGaetano
- 8000 post Engineer
- Posts: 9178
- Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2004 12:06 pm
- Location: Wake Forest, NC
Re: Boiler pressure/firing practices
Steve
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The latest edition of Welcome Aboard the Disneyland Railroad! is now available to pre-order, with a special price for Burnslanders! You can read more about the book and pre-order a copy from http://www.burnsland.com/store/dlrrbook.shtml
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Justin.Smith
- Brakeman
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:16 am
Re: Boiler pressure/firing practices
A 20 psi difference is still pretty big. Boilers like consistency. The fuel will need to be turned up when the engine is running so the fire isn't chuffed out, but if it is not turned up enough, the pressure will drop.
Everything I read and oil burner fireman I know talk about keeping a 5-10 psi difference on the gauge and wanting to run with a slight haze.
Everything I read and oil burner fireman I know talk about keeping a 5-10 psi difference on the gauge and wanting to run with a slight haze.
Re: Boiler pressure/firing practices
I suspect it is the blower noise, too. Back when we did the Roy dedication in 2002, I had to ask the crew to turn down the blower when Roy E. Disney was talking. Ever with the PA, it was drowning him out! They were a little concerned about having enough pressure to get out of town, but there was enough time to build it back up after Roy's speech.