The link below was posted to the steam_tech mailing list this week. It's an article in the "Portsmouth Herald" newspaper which says Mt. Washington will begin converting their coal-fired steamers to oil-firing next year.

If anyone knows any technical details on the conversions, or who's doing the work, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Good Steaming,
Hugh Odom
The Ultimate Steam Page
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp

Portsmouth Herald Article
whodom@awod.com

> The link below was posted to the steam_tech
> mailing list this week. It's an article in
> the "Portsmouth Herald" newspaper
> which says Mt. Washington will begin
> converting their coal-fired steamers to
> oil-firing next year.

> If anyone knows any technical details on the
> conversions, or who's doing the work, I'd
> appreciate hearing about it.

> Good Steaming,
> Hugh Odom
> The Ultimate Steam Page
> http://www.trainweb.org/tusp

I'd suggest getting in touch with Genl. Mgr. Charlie Kenison. You can find him at charlie@thecog.com


wrj494@aol.com

One of the best things about the Cog is the smell of all those teakettles lined up in the AM. Oil stinks. At least to the olfactories!

Rob

trains@robertjohndavis.com

Several years ago they converted one of there locomotives to oil and was fairly quickly converted back to coal.

I wonder what will be different this time?

Roger

> The link below was posted to the steam_tech
> mailing list this week. It's an article in
> the "Portsmouth Herald" newspaper
> which says Mt. Washington will begin
> converting their coal-fired steamers to
> oil-firing next year.

> If anyone knows any technical details on the
> conversions, or who's doing the work, I'd
> appreciate hearing about it.

> Good Steaming,
> Hugh Odom
> The Ultimate Steam Page
> http://www.trainweb.org/tusp


Belpaire@aol.com

> Several years ago they converted one of
> there locomotives to oil and was fairly
> quickly converted back to coal.

> I wonder what will be different this time?

> Roger

That depends on the system they install and the changes they make to the front ends and firepan drafting to accomodate the oil system. There has been a lot of good work done on centrally located burner systems for small fireboxes like these from SLM and from South Africa and Wales.

Like Hugh, I am very interested in the technical details.

Dave

When I talked to one of their engineers a few years ago he told me that the oil burner they tried did not produce enough incandescent heat in the fire it produced. Due to the relatively small heating surface of the boilers on the Mt Washington Cog, they depend on a fire that provides alot of incandescent heat that radiates into the firebox sheets and flues to heat the water rather than depending on thermal conduction of the combustion gasses to do the job of boiling water. Even when firing these engines with coal, it takes a very soft coal to provide the type of heat they need to produce enough steam to push the train up the mountain. It could be that someone finaly devised an oilburner to do the job.

Roger Mitchell
Master Mechanic
Fort Collins Municipal Railway


Fort Collins Municipal Railway home page
n0mcr@netzero.net