Re: What to do for a "Run away" loco

As Jeff said, put on both injectors and dump the fire, when the boiler is full and the injectors break, blow the boiler down a ways, and start the injectors again. Adding water is the fastest way to reduce pressure. At some point opening the monkey tail valve on the steam dome will drain off the steam.

We once had a blow down valve stick about 2/3 open. We started both injectors, and dumped the fire. We actually started to gain water in the glass. The engineer's injector gave up at 25 lbs of pressure. The fireman's injector ran all the way until there was nothing on the steam gauge. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

What to do in situations like this should be mandatory knowledge of everyone on the crew.