Re: Pictures of #9 before restoration for the Loop

I can hazzard a guess, but thats all it is. With as short a barrel as that boiler has, if she was beign fired hard enough, the gasses from the firebox may well have still been burning when they went up the stack and fried the bear trap.
I worked on a Hisler engine that had a boiler about as long and at night you could see the flame going right up the stack and the front end glowed cherry red. often times the spark arresters we had on her lost their tops or other parts from the flame in the stack.
Just a theory mind you, but her combustion with coal would be different than on oil and bear traps and that firebox / barrel combination may not work well together.
just 2 bits worth of theory