Mldeets, thank you for your detailed description of their use. I had always been told they were a way to verify what the site glass was showing but now I see how they could actually be useful on their own.

Roger

While I will always miss the horses at Ardenwood Railraod; I am most pleased to hear that the Society for the Preservation of Carter Brothers Railroad Resources will have full time access to a steam loccomotive!

Ted Miles Life Member SPCBRR

I worked a number of years at Std. Oil's Richmond, Ca #1 Power Plant. It had seven 800 lb. blrs. When I broke in as a fireman around 1971, I was shown a set of three chains on the right front corner of the six Riley boilers. They were to open/close the tri-cocks and we were never to use them, lest they stick open and cause an unplanned shutdown.

We used to experience feedwater upsets fairly often. Well, somebody got pretty excited and yanked on one to try to ascertain the level. Sure enough, he couldn't get it to reseat and the boiler then had to be shut down. I was told that the roar was unholy loud. He picked up the nickname No No for that stunt.