Bill and list
I have never been in engine service, and don't know all of the rules
pertaining thereto, but on some roads, perhaps all, the fireman on a
passenger train was required to be in the cab at all times when the train
was moving.....however he was also expected to check on the engines from time
to time, as well as to restart a balky engine which would be KGR (kicking
ground relay), shut down because of overheating etc. Another big problem in
the days of steam heated trains was the steam generator which had a way of
malfunctioning and would have to be "blown down" or restarted manually. How
about a fusee dropped in the top Wes Haas.
The rules were fine for classes and disciplining errant employees...but no
fireman was going to let his train get cold and freeze up because the steam
generator shut down in zero weather, nor was a fireman not going to go back
and try to restart an engine which had died. This sometimes was dangerous in
and of itself. There's an accident investigation in the ICC files where a
Rock Island fireman was badly injured in a crankcase explosion around
Allerton IA in the 1950's or thereabouts.
One engine repeatedly died and the fireman would go back and attempt to start
it..it would start and run awhile and shut down again. In the resulting
investigation it was developed that this engine had shut down many times
between Ft. Worth and Kansas City, but no one had put a tag on it nor was the
word passed along to the relieving crew. So the last guy was left to find
out the hard way what was wrong.
Crankcase explosions are caused by the accumulation of fuel in the crankcase
due to worn pistons and/or rings let the fuel blow by. When the vapors in
the crankcase build up and the engine turns over and fires.....guess what...a
big bang and probably an injury to anyone around.
OK you engine guys tell us more about why the fireman needed to be back in
the engine room. Of course this situation could occur with the cab type E or
F units. Where there actually was an engine room the fireman could go into.
With the GP type units the fireman would have to be standing on the running
board to work on the engine...this was strictly forbidden in most cases while
the engine was moving...Of course with the boiler equipped Geeps the boiler
(steam generator) was in the nose and the fireman could get in there to work
on it.
Well that's enough from someone who really doesn't know anything about it.
Pete
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