Steam: Plenty of Engines\ No Qualified Engineers

[wallyworld]

Most folks familiar with railroad preservation consider the UK a bastion of steam operations when compared to the U.S. What if there were plenty of operable engines and no qualified engineers? This is apparently becoming a problem over there. See link below. Could this be the achilles heel of steam excursions here? Is this becoming a lost set of skills over time especially when there is only one Class I road with a in house program?


http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?command=newPage&nodeId=142718&contentPK=10090256

[athelney]

One thing to remember is that there is a number of qualified locomotive engineers and firemen who work on preserved lines in the Uk . Some lines are even laid to mainline standard,the problem is they are not able to drive on the main line. The railway companies seem less than willing to change this ? Your thoughts !! ( ex Brit )

[Anonymous]

Driving and Firing a steam loco is no doubt a very specialized skill nowadays.

I remember when the Royal Hudson was running on BC Rail they had to pick a few guys (based on seniority mostly) to go and train to get their steam tickets so they could operate the loco.

I suppose as long as there are locomotives there will be someone out there that knows how to run 'em.

It sure souds like it would be a lot of fun to do.

[AltonFan]

According to my sources, a more serious problem in the US is the lack of qualified tradesman to do maintenance work on boilers. Very few welders are qualified to do welding on pressure vessels. There is a US Navy Yard out east that has facilities for this kind of work, and used to do it for restoration groups, but can't now due to government regulations prohibiting the governement facilities from competing with private businesses.

Also, properly setting the valve gear is more an art than a science, and very few people today are familiar with it. A friend of mine who is qualified both as a boiler inspector and an engineer tells me he can set up valve gear to a point, but not perfectly.

Another problem is that there seems to be a tendency by fans to want to restore BIG engines - 4-8-4s, 2-10-4s, 4-8-8-4s. But the problem is that these engines were extremely big in their own heyday, and were typically restricted to districts that could accomodate their bulk. It would probably be better to restore more moderately-sized engines that could operate over secondary lines without trouble.

And then, of course, there's that whole liability issue.

[Anonymous]

As long there is steam somebody will figure out how to make it go. My statement is rather simplistic but people work on steamers like some work on old cars.

Caruberator rebuilding is becoming a lost art. Tall Ships (Clippers and Windjammers) are protected by training organizations as well as certian skills that are not practiced today.

Muesums practice this vital knowledge by protecting, preserving and teaching about how things were done back then.

It is one thing to make it go a far different story in making it go well.

[csxengineer98]

i use to fire on a steam rail road befor i got my shot at working for a class 1.... this engin was just a little thing..and a hand bomber at that... no auto stocker at all..all hand shoveld coal..... it was a tough job..and on the days we where short handed for crews.... i would also double as the head end flagman and flag railroad crossings along with my fireman duties....... the days where long...the work was back braking... the summers where hotter then hell...and even hotter inside the cab....... man i would go back in a heart beat.......lol
csx engineer

[wabash1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by macguy

Driving and Firing a steam loco is no doubt a very specialized skill nowadays.

I remember when the Royal Hudson was running on BC Rail they had to pick a few guys (based on seniority mostly) to go and train to get their steam tickets so they could operate the loco.

I suppose as long as there are locomotives there will be someone out there that knows how to run 'em.

It sure souds like it would be a lot of fun to do.

Driving a locomotive is a specialized skill . I will agree with that . It dont matter if it is either diesel or steam. where can i learn to do this??

[Saxman]

So many truths in the above posts regarding steam locomotives in today's world. I worked on a steam tourist railroad in the 1980's. I saw first hand how the skills required to maintain and operate steam is quickly fading. The point about setting the valves is right on. At the tourist railroad I worked at, we rebuilt the xD&RGW K-27, 464. Watching how the valves were set was most interesting. This is just one of the many skills in various trades that have slowly died out in the past 50 years. An example of this is found in the "Classic Trains" article that told of "Pokey's Hammer". As the article stated, this hammer would have been a typical first year project in a trade school. However, the finished project would have served the tradesman the rest of his career. I just don't think that CAD-CAM can replace that type of hands on training.

[Anonymous]

Many of the steam folks I've met got their training through either the Valley Railroad in Connecticut or the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. I know that other steam operations train their own but the Valley RR has the only training program for outsiders that I know of.

LC