Hello all, I hope you are well. Do any of you who work on steam find dark glasses useful when firing? I've seen guys on other roads in the cab with shaded wraps, and I know of at least one fireman at the WW that uses them when he fires. I guess I'm asking because I have never really found the need for them when I fire. A nice, hot, masking fire is extremely bright, yes, but the rest of the locomotive is dark, including the cab interior where I'm reading gauges & such. I thought maybe of putting them on only for when I actually go to check my fire, but this seems too rare to warrant the effort. I'm not really for or against, I just wanted to see what you all think and/or hear of your own preferences. Thanks and God bless. Seth

Rather than a full set of sunglasses, I'd suggest simply a "flip-down" tinted cover for prescription or clear safety glasses. Thus, you have clear safety glasses, and the "tint" only when you want or need it to check your fire.

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I was taught as per firing at night to close one eye when looking at my fire and switch to the other eye for looking at the gauges and I have always had success doing such as long as I remember to stick to the practice.

I do know of one fireman that tried firing with welding goggles during the day only when checking/stoking the fire. He said it allowed him to better spot holes in the fire. I personally do not wear any eye protection when firing, though with the amount of cinders/fines I got in my eyes last weekend I am debating on changing that practice.

I wear blue tinted Conrail safety glasses when firing 91 if we climb the 3% hill. The fire literally hurts your eyes without them. Another guy wears a welders faceshield, perhaps to protect his beard as well as his eyes. If we are not going up the hill, no need to wear them.

I wore the old style shades with leather side guards (Oakley?) every day when firing on the Strasburg 20+ years ago. I valued them greatly. They both kept cinders out of my eyes and made viewing the fire easy. Since these were typically bright summer days, my general vision was comfortable. Even in cloudy times, the tight fit of the glasses kept out stray light and kept my eyes adjusted to the lower light.

I have not tried the modern wrap-around glasses. I wonder if they still have a gap that would allow cinders and stray light, defeating the desired features.

I've never fired with sunglasses. When you can't get a good view use "The Force".

I've found them to be help when I started using them. It was highly recommended I get some when I started firing anyway, but nearly everybody that fires at TVRM wears eye protection or some sort of sunglasses.

Here's what I do, (your mileage may vary)

Don't stare at the fire and try squinting. A quick glance should let you know where the dark and bright spots are. Also, Keep a mental note where you threw your last scoop of coal and set up a pattern to follow. Front right, front left, backright, back left, middle right, middle left, down the center. Get into a habit of doing it the same way every time. After a while, you shouldn't even have to look. Ok...if you do. then just short glances with eyes squinted.

True, after much experience, such as towards the end of my employment years ago, you just "know" what shape the fire is in and you do not need visual confirmation. But, when you are inexperienced you do need to look for extended times. Then the bright flames are painful and possibly even dangerous to look at for extended periods. Having the luxury to view the fire without stress will speed your learning of skills.

And I thought that the reason everyone at TVRM wore shades was that they just wanted to look like Paul Brock........:)

All this is very true, I've been taught to use a pattern, but sometimes you have a hole in you fire that you just can't hit, and it may be necessary to look. I've also been taught to look when you're putting coal in, just to double check everything firing right and what needs what.

Hey guys. Thanks for the replies so far. Several of you kind of touched on what I was trying to allude to in my original post - since I'm firing a pattern, I know where I left off and so the next time I'm on the deck, I really don't need to check the fire. Maybe only rarely, if I develop a hole. So the shades really don't seem to be gaining me much. I wear prescription glasses, but even if I didn't I think I'd wear safety glasses. As it is now, I still put sideshields on my reglar specs. It's just my opinion, but I'd suggest to any of you guys that don't use 'em - safety glasses are a good precaution. Thanks again and God bless. Seth

If there's a hole, you will know about it without the need of inspecting anything other than the pressure gage. Try using the scoop as a sort of aiming device to divert the draft coming through the door here and there so you can get a good view of the grate bit by bit by "blowing" the flame around.

Ditto the Force.

dave

I have difficulty seeing if there is any glare so I wear shaded safety glasses nearly all the time if there is any sun at all. Because I can not see in glare wearing shaded safety glasses to fire helps me not only see the fire but everything else when I am not looking into the box. That includes looking down the track with or without the sun.

Paul Brock's shades may well account for so many pairs of shades at TVRM. I had never thought of that.

John Bohon