"Cutting Coal"

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Well, pin another rose on Bill's old Coast Line.

Tell us, Bill, if their power was so great why didn't they keep it clean?

Ed King
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 9:09 PM
Subject: "Cutting Coal"



> In mainline service on the ACL we did not have to  "cut coal."   At the 

> risk

> of bringing down the wrath of  the N&W crowd again,  the ACL  was one up

> on the N&W in this department.   All P-5-a and P-5-b  Pacifuc locomotives

> in the 1500, 1600, and  1700 class,. which represented about  90%  of the

> steam motuve power used in freight and passenger service on the mainline,

> and the Wilmington and Norfolk Districts came from Alco  Locomotive

> Works equipped with coal pushers.  This was in effect a steam cylinder

> mounted at about 45 degrees behind the coal bunker which, when activated

> by steam pressure shoved the whole rear wall of the coal bunker forward

> thus moving the entire  volumn of coal  toward the open  stoker trough

> on the floor of the tender.   As a rule, coal pushers were not used very

> much in passenger service as the vibration set up by high speeds would

> shake the coal down continually while the train was  at track speed.

> Bill Sellers.

>

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