Oil, coal or wood?

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kudu
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 622
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:34 am

Oil, coal or wood?

Post by kudu »

I have a query concerning some of the oddest locos to run on standard gauge.

In 1880 and 1882 ten small 0-4-0 well tanks were built at Crewe (pardon my language). When I say "small" I mean "small" - 19ft 0.5in long, less than 11ft high to the top of a tall outsize dome. They had no cab, but platforms, plural, driver and fireman being placed at opposite ends. But one used in Liverpool Docks had a bell and a full-length sideless canopy complete with shedplate bracket, so at least the driver knew where to park for the night.

And they burnt oil. Or most of them did, because at some point, probably under the care of the LMS, two were reboilered as coal burners, though they may have been built as such. This is what I read, but a photo of one of the pair (p15 of "Locomotives Illustrated" 122 on 0-4-0Ts) plainly shows logs on the floor.

My question is: can I conclude these two locos were wood- rather than coal-burners or might either fuel be used on a loco that would no doubt spend most of its day stationary? And can I assume oil is out of the question on a loco that can burn wood?

I've never met an oil-burning steam loco, so I would welcome answers from anyone who has.

Thanks

Kudu
Hatfield Shed
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 1664
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:34 pm

Re: Oil, coal or wood?

Post by Hatfield Shed »

The typical heavy residue left after early petroleum refining processes, usually referred to as a 'bunker' grade, was the cheap and nasty stuff used at various times to fuel steam raising plant, including loco boilers. The method of getting this stuff to first ignite and keep burning was to vapourise it using a steam jet directed into the firebox where it would ignite on contact with burning solid fuel on the grate. Wood would work as well for this purpose as it did for getting the coal alight in a cold firebox.

Once alight it would maintain, even once the initial solid fuel on the grate was consumed. If supply was briefly interrupted, re-ignition by hot carbonaceous deposits on the firebricks of the arch or placed on the grate would occur; and should this not happen, then while the firebox remained hot, a lighted paraffin soaked rag on a wire could be poked into the firebox to re-ignite the oil.

Our good sage Dick Hardy both spoke and wrote of his experiences in 'Steam in the Blood' when this technique was applied to a WD 2-8-0 placed in his charge for evaluation. There was some loss to his eyebrows when attempting the paraffin re-ignition technique, but a working outcome was achieved, though what he reported left no doubt that he would have much preferred the effort of moving coal onto the grate. As he described it the vapourising steam jet was arranged as a flat ribbon to create a sheet of flame fully filling the firebox, and firebricks were placed on the grate near the firehole, where they were made white hot and ensured reliable combustion was maintained.

Never having seen the technique the above vague description is the best I have to offer.
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manna
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Location: All over Australia

Re: Oil, coal or wood?

Post by manna »

G'Day Gents

Quite a few loco's of the South Australian Railways, ran at various times, using Coal, Oil or a combination of both, depending on the price of coal or oil, the smaller loco's seem to always be coal, but the bigger loco's, 2-8-2, 2-8-4 and 4-8-4's were swopping fuel all the time.

manna
EDGWARE GN, Steam in the Suburbs.
kudu
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 622
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:34 am

Re: Oil, coal or wood?

Post by kudu »

Thanks for the info, guys. I conclude the pile of wood in the photo was compatible with a coal- or even oil-burning loco.

Kudu
65447
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:44 pm
Location: Overlooking the GEML

Re: Oil, coal or wood?

Post by 65447 »

The GER had a plant at Stratford producing gas for carriage lighting that produced an oil residue that ran into the adjoining River Lea. The resulting pollution eventually became too much and then Engineer James Holden devised and patented an oil-firing system that was successfully employed in a number of locomotives. It was only when the requirement for oil exceeded the supply of the waste that the locomotives were altered to burn coal only. I forget the exact date and reason but later the government ordered locomotives to be altered to burn oil but it was not fully pursued.
Quite simply a coal fire bed was started and then oil, pre-heated to aid vaporisation, was sprayed over that fire bed by specially designed nozzles.
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