STEAM ENGINE

[coborn35]

This is a question for all the old steam engineers/fireman/anyone who worked with them NOT from a historical perspective.

Did you like the steam engine?

I was wondering because I was recently talking to a good friend of mine who used to be a steam engineer. Our museum is getting a steam locomotive, and im excited and I was talking to him and he says" You railfans are al excited about this steam engine coming but back in my day, we all couldnt wait unitl the S.O.B.'s were gone!"

[SchemerBob]

Love 'em! I especially like the Shays, I've seen one of them from the West Side Lumber Company being operated at the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Mainline steam, well, probably the Challenger (who wouldn't like it?) and the Birkshire....I've seen pictures of them and video and hope to see one in person some day.

[tmcc man]

i love them.
Favorite mainline is the PRR T1 Duplex. The Heisler is my other favorite, and the 280 Consolidation is also my favorite.

[Anonymous]

Max [:)]

I think you will get opinions from both sides of the fence.

I did some volunteering at the Arkansas Railroad Museum. We had a super good bunch there who worked very hard to restore the Cotton Belt 819 to running condition. More than just a few of them had actually ran that engine during its heyday, or worked for the railroad there. They were all excited to see it finally hit the high iron and sprint as it used to do.

Several of them who helped restore the engine have now passed on, but others are taking their place. Many people hope this fine beauty of a 4 8 4 will return to the rails once again, myself included. [:)]

[tree68]

OK, I've never run a steam engine, but I've done most of the same reading as everyone else, so I offer this:

For all their romance, steam engines were (and still are) dirty, cantankerous beasts. Care and feeding took a team of people, all the time. There's a reason why crews kept their hats, etc, starched and pressed - so the cinders wouldn't stick and burn. Keeping a non-stoker engine hot is/was hard work - the fireman earned his pay, and then some on some routes.

Compare the cab of the average steam locomotive (never mind those gallant steeds - I'm talking a Mike or an 0-6-0) with that of an RS-3 or a GP-7. There is no comparison. We won't even discuss today's "quiet" cabs.

Compare the operation of a steamer and a diesel - again, there is no comparison, it's night and day.

Bear in mind that I enjoy seeing a steamer as much as anyone. But it's really not hard to see why engine crewmen were happy to see them go.

[Train Guy 3]

I love steam locomotives. To me they show a huge technological achivement expecally those produced in the Roanoke Shops.

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

Steam locomotives require a high degree of maintenance to keep them running in comparison to diesels. The cab of a steam locomotive can be very hot and dirty, especially if you are firing with coal. But when you understand the "hows" and the "whys" of steam locomotive operation, you would draw the conclusion that this is the closest that man has ever come to creating a living, breathing thing. This is why I love steam power.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by coborn35

" You railfans are al excited about this steam engine coming but back in my day, we all couldnt wait until the S.O.B.'s were gone!"

Not a surprising comment given that steam lokies were dirty grimy hot as hell or freezing cold depending on the weather, a nightmare of moving parts that HAD to oiled by hand and HAD to add water to the tank every few hundred miles, the new dismals must have seemed sent from heaven, enclosed air conditioned cooled and heated cab, no coal dust, smooth ride with no hammering jolting ridelike a steamer, I understand completely this comment, our love affair comes from a different appreachiation of the engines. We didnt have to work them day in, day out, in lousy weather, with wet or bad coal, bad water and poor steam and they often took hours to get fired up from a cold start. Dismals were ready as soon as they warmed up, often measured in minutes not hours. They Old Hoggers musta thought they'd died and gone to railroad heaven when the new fangled dismals came along.[:)]