Re: DRGW & C&TS 484

I'm a fan of the Master Mechanic smokebox. The fire is drafted more consistently and there is more adjustment available than with the Anderson. The Dollywood engines used Master Mechanics, but they were modified slightly with plates to add additional screening in the smokebox to internally trap cinders into a box that had been added below the smokebox. Once this filled up, the draft reduced and the engine threw out a lot more cinders than when the boxes were empty. I imagine the action had something to do with the path the exhaust was taking; when the void was filled, it forced the gas and cinders to travel with more velocity at the screen and was allowed up the stack. Because of the extra plating, we had similar rust issues to the K-36's. The metal is not any fun to weld, because the metal has become corroded with the carbon in the ash and the material is thin enough, even a light MIG weld blows right out. It takes some time to make it look nice.