Oil Firing

Here is the fire door showing the peep hole into the firebox , little door lets the fireman to watch colour of the fire when running as it reflects the state of the fire , instead of trying to look inside . The brass handle to the left is the firing valve for the oil .

 

I have a question. How does the burner ignition system work? Is there an electric spark igniter, or a permanent pilot, if a pilot, what is the fuel source?
Thanks

 

The ignition system was basically a man with a long stick with a burning rag on the end of it!

 

Amid all the discussion about oil firing 2253 on the NYMR, I wonder if it is possible that there may be one or two old-timers with previous experience as Borrows well tank No.3 ran there a few times in the very early days and notoriously "exploded" on a run up the bank to Goathland after its fire went out and spontaneously reignited, allegedly blowing off its smokebox door! It doesn't seem to have suffered though, and later continued its journey....

 

Can someone elaborate about the roof stays please. How can you not need stays between inner and outer fireboxes?

 

In contrast to the UK, the use of steel fireboxes in the France has been almost universal since about the 1920s. Indeed there is no legislation now to allow the operation of copper fireboxes.

 

I think what they're trying to say is that the stays / rivets don't protrude into the firebox, so they aren't ablated by the hot flame and gasses.
Not that there aren't crown stays at all.

 

In Poland, steel fireboxes are routinely cut out and completely replaced every 18 years.

 

In conversation with @athelney who was involved with CP2860 in her final years on the mainline, I can add a bit more background information.

2860 did try using diesel fuel but being fluid it surged in the tank during braking causing interruptions to the supply to the burner, then flooding the burner with the risk of blowbacks. They switched to using recycled motor oil from a company in West Vancouver and had better results. It must be refined and filtered to remove any contaminants, such as coolant, carbon, metal from bearings etc.
The surging could be solved by baffle plates in the fuel tank, but adding those is something for the construction phase, not a later modification. I'm not certain what grade of fuel CP used to use for their steam, but if anyone is interested I could try finding out. ( It means asking people who worked with the final steam footplate crews in the 1970's relating memories from the 1950's, so the trail is a bit tenuous.)

Cheers, Neil

 

Yes on 2860 , we used a rag soaked in fuel , lit it and dropped in front of the burner which was just under the lip of the firebox door . The blower , firing valve and atomiser were adjusted prior to ignition, and then readjusted when alight .

 

Thanks Neil for putting up the info , found a bit of time to comment , to update the fuel used by CPR back in the day it was heavy crude {bunker C } as used in ships also , but you needed a stationary steam source to heat it up so it would flow once you lit the fire , 2860 has coils in the tender tank for heating as well , of course in later days { 2007 } we did not have that available so used diesel for a while , then changed to recycled motor oil as noted , it was a little thicker but still burnt well .

 

This is the Von Boden burner inside the firebox of 2860 , its located below the firebox door and faces back towards the brick wall .....

 

For lighting up we used BARO: Blower, Atomiser, Rag, Oil.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies on the ignition system. I have seen old industrial burners lit that way, but now the modern standard for the industrial burners seems to favour systems that are seen as being safer for the operators due to blowbacks that have occasionally occurred. It is interesting to see the different practices.

 

This may be of interest. GWR document: Oil Fired Locomotives - Handbook for Enginemen.

 

Everything you need to know. Swindon ahead of the game as always.

 

Except that it was a blind alley. Whether it was bad luck or bad judgement, the GWR copped a number of these:-
Atmospheric haulage,
Broad Gauge,
Fishguard/Irish development,
Oil firing,
Gas Turbines,
Diesel hydraulics.

Quite possibly more...

 

Yes, you can be ahead only if the others are following . . .

 

I’m not sure that’s exactly evidence of Swindon being ahead of the game: all four of the Big Four were doing trials with oil firing at that point and most (if not all) had done do in twenty years earlier in 1926; and many of the pre-grouping companies in the years before that. It was a widely used technology, even in the UK.

Tom

 

In the 8F Society Archive I have a documents entitled '2-8-0 Freight Tender Engine - brief description with hints on maintenance and repair'. I suspect it was written by Ron Jervis. Ten pages are devoted to the fitting and use of oil firing and include full instructions on all aspects. I suspect all the Railways had a similar document.