I have enjoyed the discussion of various coal marketers and the colors
they used. I hadn't known about color marking. I can remember coal
fired furnaces in Iowa and Missouri in my childhood, and my
grandfather's house had coal burning fireplaces. In the early 1950's my
grandparents moved to a house with a new, modern coal furnace with an
automatic stoker. For the first time this allowed my grandfather (a
CB&Q engineer out of East Ottumwa) to sleep all night and not have to
get up and stoke the furnace if they wanted the house warm. He did,
however, have to clean the grates and refill the stoker every morning
and evening. Ash was dumped every few days.
Today, I burn coal in a 1 1/2" to the foot scale 4-6-4 which will one
day be reborn as a CB&Q S4. I live in Southern California and the
closest coal yard is in Brazil, Indiana. It costs more to ship the coal
to the west coast than it does to buy at the yard. The coal comes in 50
pound bags (almost a bushel) for about $8.00 and originates at the
Pocahontas mine in West Virginia. By the time it goes in my firebox it
runs $17.00 for the 50 pound bag. Oil is cheaper and cleaner, but no
self respecting steam locomotive should have to put up with it except as
a lubricant.
Mike Gardner
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