Re: Earl Cab Ride

John Cole Wrote:
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> Earl, I am always amazed how you guys never seem
> to miss that little opening when you are hand
> bombing the engine. With the engine moving back
> and forth that is a pretty small target. I would
> probably have more coal on the floor than inside
> the firebox.

It takes practice....

When I came to the "Burg" I had not swung a scoop since I had a student firing trip to Silverton in 2004. They put me on the engine here thinking this "this guy knows his stuff, he'll get right on it". When I fired on the NG, I would lean my right hip against the back wall of the cab to keep my balance. My right foot is on the apron (deck plate), left foot on the cab floor right next to the door pedal. When I swung around with the scoop, stomped in the pedal, the door was right where it needed to be.

Well, this standard gauge stuff is wider. I did my thing, leaned against the back wall, grabbed a scoop of coal, hit the pedal, swung around....

......and neatly planted a scoop of coal into backhead a foot to the left of the door.

Who Moved the freaking firedoor!!!

I had to re-adjust my bomb sights. In this case simply bending over further put the "coal in the hole". It still took a week or two to get back into the "swing of things" and put the coal where it counted every time - which is the secret of not killing yourself when hand bombing a coal burner. Every time you miss the spot your aiming for, you just doubled the amount of work you have to do.

Then there are the mechanics of swinging a scoop on a deckless mill like 475.............. You 315 guys can relate to that. The pic of me on 475 shows the fireman in the usual position - standing in the gangway. The fireman's seat is the most unused piece of furniture on the property. The injector controls are next to the backhead. Everything is done from the gangway. If you climb up into the left side of the cab, prop up the fold down seat, the only you thing you can do is sit there and enjoy the scenery. You can't put water in, check the fire, nothing. So, you stand in the gangway, or turn around to face the rear and sit on the rear of the cab floor. At any rate, after a hot, humid summer day on 475, one feels like you've really accomplished something - like....surviving.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2016 10:23AM by Earl.