> What is involved in the conversion to coal
> from wood?

One issue is the difference in spark arrestor design. In a wood burning locomotive, the spark arrestor screen was placed near the top of a large balloon smokestack or in the center of the large diamond stack. These fine screens were necessary as wood fired locomotives throw more sparks and embers that coal fired locomotives do. On a coal fired locomotive, all of the spark arrestor screens are placed in the smokebox and keep most sparks or embers from entering it.

The other big issue is firebox design. For woodburners, a long narrow firebox was necessary while a shorter, wider firebox was better for coal burners. This had to do with the required amount of heating space needed for the locomotive to operate most efficiently and the physical limitations of firing a locomotive using the two major fuel types.

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
envlink@voyageronline.net

Lee Tidewater Cypress 2-6-2 #4 currently under restoration in Hardin, KY was originally built as a wood burner, then converted to coal. The conversion required new grates (the openings in the grates are different due to the size of the fuel), a new grate shaking arrangement, and a pneumatic, foot pedal operated butterfly style firebox door. Further, the exhaust nozzle was modified: a rather garrish tubular extension was brazed to the top of the stock Baldwin nozzle, which put the tip of the nozzle way up inside the petticoat!

> The other big issue is firebox design. For
> woodburners, a long narrow firebox was
> necessary while a shorter, wider firebox was
> better for coal burners.

Brian Wise
Mid-South Rail Heritage Foundation, Inc.
Hardin, KY


sugarpine71@yahoo.com

> The only ones that I can think of are Dan
> Markoff's narrow gauge 4-4-0 Eureka in
> Nevada, and the Narrow gauge woodburning
> heisler at the Sumpter Valley RR.

Add to the list:
Virginia & Truckee 4-4-0 #21 at NSRM, Carson City, NV, and Virginia & Trucker #12 at CSRM, Sacramento, CA. Albeit the #12 will probably never run again, it is deemed to be displayed in operational condition, and is reputed to be the oldest wood burning locomotive in the US that has never burned any other fuel.

Brian Wise
Benton, KY

sugarpine71@yahoo.com

The CPRR #60 "Jupiter" replica at the Golden Spike National Historic Site was built (as was "sister" UPRR #119) originally to burn oil. It was thought at the time that oil fuel would be the cleanest and most convenient, easiest to store, and easiest to train people to operate. In the late 80's/early 90's, it was decided to convert both engines to burn their respective historical fuels (wood for Jupiter, coal for #119) to provide the most accurate historical recreation for park visitors. By pure luck, a coal grate pattern from a neighboring railroad was found to fit perfectly in the bottom of the deep fireboxes, grates and support bars and shaker bars and mechanisms were fabricated and we were railroading 1869 style! The crowds love the new accurate smells of coal smoke and wood smoke, but wood burners burn amazing amounts of wood such that even the National Park Service has a hard time keeping up with Jupiter's appetite. As an experiment, Jupiter's diet was supplemented with coal, with disasterous results! The beautiful fabricated triangular bonnet stack with the complicated wood screens and baffles soon clogged with coal cinders, and steam condensation turned the mess into a sulfuric acid soup that rotted away the base of the sheet metal of the stack. One day, it just slumped over to the side and we knew we were in big trouble! A new stack was fabricated and Jupiter now burns only cords and cords of wood!
Neither engine was a very good oil burner, the original burners were designed for stationary boilers, and were fountain types located in the bottom center of the damper pans. And besides, oil smoke just plain stinks! (my apologies)

Sumpter Valley numbers 19 and 20 burned three kinds of fuel as well. Wood on the Sumpter Valley, coal on the White Pass until the early '50's, then being converted to oil.

kendepot@att.net

> Sumpter Valley numbers 19 and 20 burned
> three kinds of fuel as well. Wood on the
> Sumpter Valley, coal on the White Pass until
> the early '50's, then being converted to
> oil.
Hey Casey! Got to talking to one of our knowledgeable SVRy "old timers" and he said that the SVRy's last master mechanic told him that the 19 and 20 were ordered for either wood or coal burning. This explains early pictures within monthes of their arrival on the SVRy with different stacks. He said they came with 2 different stacks from Alco. The straight stack being used in the winter when dry wood was scarce and they burned coal and the diamond spark arestor type when they were burning wood. As you know they both have the sloping mud ring design which would have also had the grates sloping to the front which I've been told is a favored for coal burning.
I've been told that our Wm. Eccles Lbr. Co. Heisler #3 burned coal when it worked out of Cascade Id. My understanding is that it's grates were stationary as built for wood burning. I've been told the present shaker grates were installed in Id. for coal burning. I think it'd be fun to see how the old girl would do on coal sometime.


jamesbane@hotmail.com