When starting I usualy leave 15 to 20 lbs on the independent. Once fred says we are moving off it goes and more throttle. It works real well when you want to look like you know what your doing!( loved that line form one of my training engineers)
As noted everyone has their way, right or wrong.I like finding old stories like that.thats for sharing.
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
I forget exactly how this worked, but a few years ago the NP Hist. Soc. magazine had a story of one engineer who was expert at running trains and getting the most out of his engine while not beating it. I remember he apparently liked to run while pretty much lying down with his cap pulled down over his eyes, much to the concern of his firemen who were worried he had dozed off.
Anyway, the article said he had a way of starting a passenger train where he would apply the engine brakes while sitting in the station, and apply some steam to the cylinders, to that when the signal came to start the train he just had to release the brakes and the engine started to move ahead. It got up to speed a little faster than other guys would do, giving him a little better chance of reaching the next station on time.
Selector hit it on the head pretty much.If you were worried about slipping out of a station you would come in laying down sand so you stopped on sanded rail. I was taught to use sand coming down hills so the wheels could get a "bite" when using dynamics.
Each engineer is a different animal.One gy may be able to haul on that throttle just right and get them moving with no sand, While another guy get the wheels running in circles but without moving an inch.So I guess in your story you just use the technique's talked about and go from there.
One of my favorite articles was in CT about the ride on the Midlander by an Erie fireman.He gave some good indsights on how to make up time and how to start a locomotive.
Not necessarily. The Milwaukee Road F-7 and the ATSF 3460's both had 84" drivers and neither class had booster engines, though space was left by Baldwin under the cab for a booster on the 3460's if the road wanted to install them. The question of boosters comes from something I read written by Kip Farrington stating that engineers on most of the locomotives he rode did not utilize booster engines if the locomotive had one. Factor of adhesion on certain locomotives had much to do with slipperiness, but I can't find the figure on any of the 84" Hudsons.
Hudsons on the New York Central had boosters because the higher your drive wheels are, the more likely they are to slip and have trouble when starting out. NYC Hudsons had 79" drivers, your Hudson with 84" drivers would be pretty likely to need the booster when starting a train unless it was just a couple of cars.
Non-engineer responds as follows:
Sand would be of little use for the first inch of travel, maybe less, unless you could get some grains wedged successfully under the tires before cracking the throttle. If the sand delivery gets sand against the tires at the outset, it should be of considerable help. But sand would indeed be used if the engineer had no other recourse, including backing off on the throttle, or bunching slack.
The first thing, from what I understand, is to ensure the cylinder c.ocks are open if the engine hasn't been steaming for some time. You don't want condensate breaking the cylinders.
You would toot the whistle at some point prior to movement to alert all nearby that the engine is about to move.
Place the reserver far forward for maximum cut-off.
Open the throttle just enough to let steam past the valve and to put pressure on the piston faces.
Release brakes.
Adjust throttle as needed to get the train underway. You don't want slippage.
All the time, the fireman would be ringing the bell to signal your intent to move and monitoring gauges, stack smoke, and running the injector if the boiler needed to be topped up.
I will follow the next several answers to adjust my understanding and to learn even more.
How would an engineer put a steam locomotive into motion? I know that's a generic question that depends greatly on the train and locomotive so I'll narrow it down with an example: booster-equipped 84-inch drivered Hudson, 50K TE, type starting say 900 tons under good conditions (dry rails). I won't list a particular locomotive because this is a totally hypothetical question involving a fictional locomotive (I'm writing a short story). I am particularly interested in how throttle and reverse gear would be worked, and if most engineers would even bother using the booster engine or sanding the rails. Many thanks for info!
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