The only flaw I see in what Carlos is doing is not getting his students all to fire "right handed". You pick up the scoop with the left hand and propel it into the firebox with the right hand. That way you keep your right hip/butt cheek up against the back wall of the cab to keep your balance. Dancing around on the deck while you turn around and line up your shot into the fire wastes a bunch of energy and invites a scoop of coal into the engineer's lap. I knew only one guy who could fire backwards and be successful at it, and he was a moose of a guy.
Amazingly, the concept of pattern firing is not taught in some places.
I know a guy who fires in DGO that was taught to "hit the bright spots" only. A month or so into his first season I talked to him and asked how he was doing. He said he was doing OK, some days were better than others. I asked how he laid in a fire and he said "I hit the bright spots, that's what they told me". I then outlined the practice of firing in a pattern. Mine was a little different than Ed's in that I hit the 4 corners then one out in the middle, the first time around, then the second time around, I hit the 2 sides, one up against the front and one on each side of the door against the back. When you hit the center and in the middle up front, smack the shovel against the bottom of the door to scatter the coal in a wider pattern. Depending on the engine, you'd have to double up the scoops in the back corners and under the door every once in a while. Very seldom did I hit "the bright spots" unless the engine had slipped and tore a hole in the fire bed.
I told him to try that the next time out and see how it worked. I called him a few days later to check up on him. He said it worked great, and the engineers all commented on how good he was doing.
Firing is a classic example of "working smart, not hard".
