Hi All;
Walt is correct in his assessment of "pure PA anthracite". It does not
work in our steam engines. Once a year, PLS gets a large dump truck and goes
to a special spot in the coal regions. They bring back enough coal so that
those members who want it have coal to burn. It's a mixture of several coals
and seems to work well. That is all I know about that coal.
My own personal experiences of running with coal is nil. That will
change this season as I have 2 engines that can run on coal. Neither are
Gauge 1. Dave Knowles is a long time large scale steamer from NJ who shared
his many years experience of using coal with me last year as I helped him
unload his 1 1/2" train. His procedure mirrors Tony's outlined below. There
is one thing Dave does not like. His experience shows that standard charcoal
briquettes leave a coating that is difficult to remove in the firebox. He
uses pure charcoal. He gets it at gourmet cook shops. Mesquite I think. It
does cost more, but in the amounts he uses, doesn't feel it's a big cost
factor.I wonder if any of the other listers have found a glaze or coating in
their engines?
I have to get away from using propane you see. Geoff insists!
Phil.P. Reading,PA.
> Hi Walt,
> You are correct. The actual firestarting procedure is
with
> kerosene soaked charcoal brickets, and as fire and temperature
> picks up you start adding keresene soaked coal or anthracite.
> Spreading thin even layers over the fire. By watching the flame
> colour and steam
> pressure increase, you gradually add dry coal or anthracite. With
> a good drafting fan,
> I can raise running steam in about 10-15 mins. Also I remove
> the draft fan at 25lbs pressure and allow
> engine blower to pull up to 60- 80 lbs pressure. Above 25 lbs
> pressure the engine blower is more
> efficient than the fan. After one lap of track, 300' ,
> I close blower entirely. The fire
> is drafted sufficiently through the firebox grill underneath. If
> pressure
> drops below 20 lbs while on circuit, the engine blower will
> still raise the steam without the fan. I typically run about
4-5
> 300' lap circuits before adding more coal . i.e. 2-3 shovels
> full. Shovel is approv 1" x 3'/4"
> wide x 1/8" deep. I load immediately behind the firebox door.
> Then while
> running the coal moves forward. If you load to the back of
> firebox, you will block the firetubes with cold coal.
> My longest running time has been 1 hr 20 mins, then I
> called it a day.
> Next engine will be radio controlled.
> Hope this answers your question.
> Tony D.
>
> At 08:42 AM 1/20/01 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >Hi,
> >For all practical purposes, I left PA when I granulated from grad school
at
> >PSU in 1960. Have only been back there for funerals, and the only one
left
> >now is mine.
> >THEREFORE, I really do not have any idea of where or how to get PA coal.
I do
> >know that most live steamers in the area do not use it! My recollection
is
> >that hard coal is difficult to ignite and difficult to keep burning i.e.
the
> >Reading RR work on the Wooten system.
> >I personally have never fired a Ga 1 live steamer with coal. Maybe I'm
naive
> >about this, but wouldn't charcoal and a very little amount of roofing or
road
> >tar be easier to use. Quick starting briquettes were impregnated with wax
to
> >make them easy to ignite. If they were impregnated with a little tar,
they
> >would give the smell and color of real coal, and would be easy to ignite
and
> >easy to procure. So what am I missing here? Why has charcoal not been
used in
> >Ga. 1? And don't say it is because the briquettes won't fit thru the fire
> >door!
> >Keep your steam up, using the fuel of your choice!
> >Walt and Lunk
>
>
