Heard the term quite a bit on here and other forums but never inquired about it. Does it mean that the fire is pushed aside in the firebox and is tended (for instance overnight) to prevent extinguishing rather than starting out with a fresh batch of coal the next morning? Also, how much coal is left to keep it warm/hot? How warm/hot?
What about steam pressure too...how little is just enough?

Did I get it right? Banking means to keep coal in the box and tend to it...right?
Im aloof...sorry!!

Methods vary but in general when you park a locomotive with the intention to "keep her hot" you "bank the fire" or "bank'er off". Essentially you pile a large mound of "green coal" on the "heel" of the fire in the rear part of the firebox. The heel is a bit thicker then the rest of the fire. You also fill the boiler pretty high with water to avoid the possibility of low water during the overnight period. The green coal burns very slowly overnight and keeps the boiler hot and in steam. You show up in the morning and push around the remains of the bank, add some coal, and crack the blower and you are back in business in short order.

Different railroads had their own procedures and little tricks. Some had a stack cap with a small hole to slow the airflow and retard the combustion. There were also different procedures on blowing down the boiler at this time. Some railroaders thought it best to blow down and then refill at the end of the day while others would "bottle it up" and do the blowdown in the morning to lover the level. Every steam hogger has their own opinion as to the best practices for banking/blowing down/ etc.

In the steam era the main goal was often to get on the road as quickly as possible but today one would hope the main goal is to reduce the thermal stress on the boiler by reducing the number of heating up/cooling down cycles. Thermal stress on a boiler causes far more wear and tear than the stress of the steam pressure.

I am surprised that Brother Mitchell has not entered his appearance in this yet. There are two separate and distinct definitions of banking.

The common North American usage is indeed "banking the fire" as brother Gears has described. I should note that the house which we lived in when I was a small child did not have central heating and relied on a huge oil stove in the kitchen (which also provided hot water), a smaller coal stove in the cellar, and four fireplaces in strategic locations. Father's custom in the winter was to bank all of the fires and insure that the dampers and flues were clear before he retired for the night and who ever was up first would raise them again. This was significantly easier than laying the fire from scratch in order to get your first hot water of the morning. Father was a Scotsman Living in New Zealand and he used the term "banking"

The second definition of banking in the railway sense is also from my early childhood. In those countries which speak the Queen's English, a banking engine is what we would call a helper. I believe the term comes from getting the train "over the bank".

GME

For the record, I spent several hours trying in vain to log into RyPN, then had to recuse myself to go beer-drinking "professionally"........

But, yes, the first thing I thought when I saw the subject matter was "just what excursion line in lawsuit-crazed United States is pushing packed trains from the rear with a banker?"

That being said Mr. Gears, what exactly is "green coal"? Also, wouldn't capping the stack with a small hole create a backdraft like condition? Assume for a moment that the engine was housed overnight with no draft to feed the fire; you're pretty much choking it or suffocating it almost to extinguished. When the fireman would open the butterfly doors, would there be time when the sleeping fire would get excited and rush towards the oxygen source? I'm an ex-firefighter so my logic leans towards this...sorry.

On a different topic, I agree with Mr. Mitchell here. What the h*ll was up with the login earlier? I picked a helluva time to quit smoking with THAT amount of frustration going on! I HAD a cigarette! Glad to see it back up and running again!!

I don't know the origin of the term, but green coal refers to fresh coal just put in the firebox that is not up to fire temperature and has not had any of its gases driven off yet. Capping the stack with a small hole does create a backdraft like condition, and in the morning, and if the conditions are just right when you break up the bank, you can draw flames out the firebox door, often accompanied by the smell of arm hair and eyebrows being singed. But if you uncap the stack before anything else is done, and get the draft going up the stack first, and only slowly open the firedoor, you can generally avoid such unpleasantries.
The stack is capped specifically to restrict the amount of oxygen to the fire so that it slowly burns through the night, but also to slow down the loss of heat up the stack and preserve what little heat you are creating.

As Brother Selinsky said, "green coal" is fresh coal, in today's vernacular putting green in front of anything has a different meaning.

As for capping the stack. The stack is designed to allow the flow of exhaust for the engine when working full throttle. When "banked off" the amount of air required is very small. A cap with a smaller hole allows enough air to keep the fire from going out completely and helps keep heat from escaping.

There are countless dangerous conditions that could happen if a locomotive (or any machine) is operated with poor training. A backdraft condition is avoided with good training. If you are operating a steam locomotive without a good understanding of how everything works and respect for the machine you will get bitten somewhere along the way.

That would be Strasburg in 2008. It was early in the season and only the 89 and 31/7312 were operational--and the trains were longer and needed help getting over the grade leaving Cherry Hill/Groff's Grove. Just shows truth can be stranger than fiction.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 27&nseq=14

Actually 2008 was not the first time for Strasburg, they used a banker many moons ago on a busy weekend. The two main trains were pulled by 90 & 89 and 1223 sat in the siding as the banker. I have it on video somewhere.

Coal is funny in that it can continue to combust at rather low velocities. Think about all those stories of underground coal mine fires in Pennsylvania that continue to burn today after many decades. When you return to a banked fire in the morning, it may not be fully apparent that it is in fact burning. The fire is a dark ashen mass with a dull warmth and possibly a slight candle flame somewhere. The whole thing is one giant melted boulder.

This boulder makes the startup process fairly natural. We usually shook the grates and dumped everything that was loose. Then we broke up the boulder and laid fresh coal. Under the "a watched pot never boils" rule, the trick was then to close the fire door and leave it alone. Fairly quickly there would be a flaming fire.

This summer with 765 at HVRM they covered the stack, no hole that
I noticed in the plate. Smoke still got out,plus out firebox door until
fire settled down I assume as I didnt spend the night.