[Attachment(s) from Phil
included below]
Pumping fresh air into the cab?
Or……maybe filling the sandbox on the tender. Oil
burning locomotives carried a supply of sand
up front on the tender. The fireman had a small
scoop sized to fit a hole in the firedoor and - when
the locomotive was working hard and pulling a strong
draft- he’d toss some sand into the firebox.
The sand scoured the oil soot off of the flue tubes and
produced a puff of black smoke out the stack.
You’ll see this in videos of oil burners – as the
engineer works the locomotive harder the fireman gets
a couple of scoops of sand into the mix – and there will
be a puff or two of black smoke.
Coal burners didn’t have a soot problem when working.
Cinders and assorted real estate kept the flues
clear. However, a coal-burner could get pretty
dirty inside when parked for a while. Then the first move
would produce black rain out the stack that was as
permanent as India ink.
PAW
Group -
This is a little "test" to see how many old timers from Lines West will
remember what the hostler is doing a top the tender in this undated image of
oil-burning CB&Q Class S-4-A 4003 being serviced at Lincoln, NE. I'm both
inserting and attaching this interesting image:
What
the hostler is doing was once so common place on Lines West oil-burning
locomotives that it was seldom if ever photographed. In fact, this is the
first image I've ever seen that shows such a service function. The image was
taken well prior to November 1960 when 4003 was sold for scrap. Best Regards -
Louis
