Hi all,

We are in need of 2 each, No 5 burners, in good serviceable or new condition. Previously, we purchased one from Shop Services Inc. Mount Pleasant Iowa. Are they still in business (different name perhaps?) or does someone else have their inventory etc?

Thank you,

Trevor

If you strike out, they aren't difficult to fabricate from stock steel bits and pieces in any working width you desire. I would encourage you to give some thought to the firepan, drafting, and other types of burners also, as well as running a loop of the steam line to the atomizer through the firebox as a sort of superheater - the difference between atomizing with wet steam and dry steam is pretty impressive.

dave

You might want to start looking for that drawing/blueprint to the #5 burner you need.

Like Dave said, its not a complicated part to build, but you need the information in order to build it or have it built.

Midwest RR at Mt. Pleasant Iowa, when Stan Mathews was alive, was the the old Shop Services shop and company, so talk to them and see what they offer today;

http://www.mcrr.org/


Do you need the cast with cores version like this one: http://www.vnerr.com/news/column%20taz/taz200411.htm

Or will a machined and bolted together version do?

Thank you for the replies and advice, both here and by PM.

We would like to purchase two "off the shelf" if possible.

However, If anyone has a dimensioned drawing or knows of a link to one, please let me know.

Thank you,

Trevor

Might be helpful if you would provide some information such as the total heating surface, grate area and cylinder dimension for your locomotive.

Edit: I'm asking because Shop Services #5 burner isn't a size, it's a style. It's a copy of the Baldwin variant of the Van Boden which they would tune to the size you need. Baldwin's standards and practice book lists the dimensions based on the heating surface and fuel quality, so with better locomotive information I can find your important dimensions, and sketch out some thing that will work for you assuming Shop Services also copied Baldwin's dimensions. You may need to interpret some dimensions based on measuring where it fits and how it attaches.........

dave

Dave,

Loco a Beyer-Garratt.

I have all the info back at the house. We are pitched up on the Beach in Mexico for Easter. I'll send you a PM when we get home next week.

Thanks,

Trevor

Garratts rock! Looking forward to it. Lots of firebox room.......

dave

Trevor,

While you can certainly home brew an oil burner if you like, my suggestion is to contact a regular boiler supply place, such as Holman or similar. Lots of stationary boilers burn oil of any number of varieties, they will have something that will work for you.

Best of Luck & WORK SAFE

I hate to be a wet blanket here, but take a good look at what DIDN'T work on RDG T-1 2100 out on the West Coast. I believe they tried to adapt a commercial unit to the locomotive, and it just didn't do the job.

Trevor has a good idea what he needs...and it's a locomotive burner. Almost all of them are variations on a common theme which are very forgiving and able to deal with a lot of variability in fuel consistency and a wide range of firing rates. If he finds the BLW style doesn't suit, something else from the locomotive world will probably stand a better chance of success than something borrowed from the stationary or marine fields, which are less prone to the widely variable operating conditions.

dave

There is no question that the oil burner design used by Baldwin is excellent for locomotive service. I've fired engines equiped with them on every fuel from diesel to Chapapote (naturally occuring asphalt such as found in the La Brea Tar Pits or Latin America).

But, the very best fuel of them all is refined heavy oil intended specificly for marine use. In fact, most of the stuff needed to keep a locomotive boiler in service is manufactured because stationary or marine boilers use it, or else oil refinaries need it. Stuff like valve oil, graphite packing, water treatment, gauges, ASME pop valves, Penberthy injectors, steam fittings, soft plugs, firebrick... These things all work just fine in locomotive service, even though there aren't enough steam locomotives in service to support their manufacturers.

I've also fired the teakettles at Six Flags, they have given good service on off road diesel with non locomotive type burners for decades. In my infinite ignorance, it is my ill informed opinion that all a burner needs to do is either produce a nice clean idle fire, or else a nice clean big one, when adjusted correctly. Baldwin's design isn't the only one that will do that satisfactorily, going to an industrial supplier often means better availability and better price.

I think I'd go with Dave's advice...

Sammy, I think Trevor is basing his choice on what exists in his firepan and firebox right now, rather than wanting to have to do some redesign to accomodate an industrial product that might not be able to perform as well in service. I'm just lucky to have not discarded my old Shop Services literature from 30 years ago, so I have it to reference.

dave

The beauty of building your own burners is that you can make them to what you need rather than what your offered. In any case most stationary plant burners don't use steam atomising and draughting through blast pipes now.