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A kind gentleman, Ted Talbot, a published authority in the U.K. about such matters was gracious enough to provide an answer to the question of "what's a re-entering fire door?" Here's his reply-- "Now your query about 'a re-entering fire door' - I am not surprised you are puzzled by such a term. In fact, this fitting was much simpler than it sounds. The handle operating the firehole door was to the left of the door and was fitted with a ratchet. When the handle was vertical, the door was closed. When the fireman pulled the handle towards him, the door, which was hinged at the top, swung into the firebox - and so formed a flap. Air entering the firebox beneath it was therefore directed downwards. The ratchet on the handle enabled the fireman to set the flap/door in any position he chose, so as to get just the amount of top air that he wanted. Of course, the drawback with this design was that it the engine was worked very hard, the temperature in the firebox rose sufficiently to heat up the door and distort it." Many thanks to all who supplied answers. I believe it was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that the Americans and British are a people separated by a common language. That sure is true in railroading. For, while we use different terms, most of the replies to my query arrived at the same place. Again, thanks for the help.
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