Re: Hats off to Markoff

Wade,
We have found that for purposes of running through the Rocky Mountains, that split pine is the best...if it is dry, but still has pitch. We call that kind of wood "atomic" or "uphill wood" . It makes steam like mad, and will even lift the pops if not vigilant. People often ask why we do not use Oak or some similar wood. The reason is that it takes to long for it to ignite and generate maximum heat. On the uphill grades you need heat NOW, and pine gives us that.
As for how long it takes to get up steam, we fill the boiler to a point where it shows a couple inches in the glass. From that point, it takes about 2 or 2 1/2 hours to get up a full head of steam. If the glass is higher with water, it can take much longer, for the obvious reason there is more water to heat.
Hope you get to see Eureka under steam one of these days.
Dan Markoff