Re: Steam Locomotive cinders - Containment vs Blow Out

Casey,

It’s much easier to shovel out the front end of 315 without a fire in the engine. As Olaf indicated we need to do it after every trip. Your photo shows how deep the cinder build up typically is against the smokebox door.

There have been times when we had a load of coal that generated a lot of cinders and ash. One trip we needed to clean the smokebox out after the 14 mile climb from Chama to Cumbres. Sometimes you end up cleaning it out while the engine has a fire in her. That particular trip we also filled the ash pan in 14 miles so we needed to dump ashes on top of the pass.

Scott