The Ridgway Cinder Catcher

The trademark cinder catchers developed in 1918 for narrow gauge C&S locomotives in the high country by the head of the mechanical dept, HW Ridgway, and which bore his name, were quite effective in answering the demands of the US Forest Service. Up to that time, various attempts to control this problem had not been sufficient. The old style diamonds, Nesmith and UP style MConnell stacks needed to be replaced as engines evolved by internal screens and baffeling systems which required extensions on the smokeboxes of older locomotives. The C&S experimented with an almost laughable cone shaped device which could be folded back. The Forest Service was not laughing and was set to impose draconian penalties and fines, which resulted in the famous "Ridgway" cinder catchers, which did the trick well enough to avoid a crisis. It was years later that writer Lucius Bebee described one in a photo caption as "Beartrap" and unfortunately, the name stuck. Presumably, he used the term as a tribute to it's improbable design. But it did work.

Freight trains on the C&Sng, powered by multiple small locomotives traveled at a slow pace. On the West End between Como and Leadville, every locomotive traveling in both directions paused at Dickey to open up the front ends, remove the flat baffle inside, and bore the flues. Photos taken at water stops along the line often show piles of cinders on the ground where the cinder tubes had been emptied.

For some years, the D&S tried an adapted design on engines on the Silverton Branch, but as stated elsewhere, they were even less well received from both aesthetic and historic perspectives, although they were apparently more effective than the old cap style catchers. The advantage of the diamond design was that cinders dropped into the space between the "fake" shell and the stack itself. Several enginemen were concerned that the cinders, which were lifted only in the offseason, would rust out from water and acid in the cinders.

But to answer your question from my perspective, I'd vote for the Ridgway. But the D&S water system would probably be the real answer, as History is a living thing.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2018 01:05PM by Mike Trent.