jcpatten Wrote:
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> Does a boiler that size require artificial air
> movement to start a fire? I realize without it
> the cab could fill up with smoke but the fireman
> isn't spending most of his time in the cab during
> fire up.

No, but having it makes the job a lot more pleasant. EBT used to fire theirs up w/o any induced draft. They would fill the firebox to the top of the door with used ties, light them off, and evacuate the roundhouse for three hours or so while more smoke came out the closed fire door than out the stack. Filling the firebox right up was necessary because you couldn't open the door until there was enough steam to run the blower, so they had to have enough fuel in the box at the start of get some steam. No draft meant that the fire never burned hot enough to stress the boiler, but God what a mess in the cab.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2018 07:24AM by Kelly Anderson.