Re: D&S is getting ready for the future, shouldn't the C&TS

Dave, the incendiary cinder problem was solved long ago, or rather prevented, in other parts of the world where showering the countryside with cinders was not permitted. They key is to get rid of the master mechanic or other hardware such as cyclones in the smoke box, and leave the smoke box empty for accumulating cinders. This is the practice in Europe, the downside is that the smoke box fills with all the cinders that have not been forcefully ejected, and at the end of each run the smokebox has to be shoveled out. This requires a large easy-to-open smoke box door either with a central closure or a small number of dogs that have to be turned to let the door swing open. You are already familiar with that operation with 315, since the master mechanic does not work on this engine and the smoke box fills with cinders to a steady state level before the rest get ejected. But 315's smoke box door is not designed for this, with numerous dogs as a closure, and a fragile gasket to boot. As well, the steam headers are not designed for easy smoke box cleanout, so the whole thing becomes an awkward, messy chore required after every run (I am not complaining, this is why have a amall supply of N95 masks that have become an asset in Covid days). If, on the K27, K36 and K37 engines some minor changes are made to the smoke box door, they could be opened fully for cleanout. The K28s would be a bit more problematic. This simple step would eliminate 95 percent of the cinder problem. There would still be some cinder emission, but in my experience in Germany, these are very small and far less likely to be an ignition source.

An easy to open smoke box door with central closure and NO gasket on this engine



No one ever claimed that mucking out the smoke box was tons of fun, but definitely easier with a clear smoke box and a fully open door