# Orange Blossom Cannonball



## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Yesterday March 9th, the wife and I along with Jerry and his wife Jane took a ride back in time on the Orange Blossom Cannonball in Tavares, Florida.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsU1GorA_MM


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Pics from the Train in Tavares

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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Not sure why they do this other than for pics, but thy said it was blowing off steam from the bottom of the boiler.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

That is called a "Boiler Blowdown". When you boil water, just the H2O converts to steam and is used. The minerals and other chemicals in the water remain behind. Then you add more water and boil off the H2O and you then have an even more concentrated mixture of minerals and water. Soon the water cannot keep the minerals disolved in the water and it precipitates out and falls to the bottom (or just sticks to the sides of the boiler) and that "rock" layer is a poor conductor of heat. So the heat of the fire does not get transfered to the water as easily, so the metal of the boiler between the water and the fire gets hotter than it would otherwise. Two problems with that... one, it takes more fuel to produce enough heat to boil the water, and two, the metal can get hot enough to MELT, stretch and fracture, which results in a boiler explosion and death and destructions associated with it.

If you have a coffee pot that you have boiled water in, you can see the minerals left behind in the pot as a white-ish film on the bottom and sides of the pot/pan on the inside. If you have really hard water (lots of minerals in it) you may even have a crusty film on the faucets of your home where water has splashed and then evaporated, leaving behind the minerals on the surface of the faucet or sink.

So, sometimes, it is advantageous to add lots of water to the boiler, and while still adding more open a vent in the bottom of the boiler so that the pressure of the steam will force some of the water out and in the process, take some of the crud laying on the bottom of the boiler with it, and also thus dilute the concentration of minerals in the remaining water.


Obviously, this has to be done where the venting boiling water won't harm bystanders or trackside structures and vegetation.


It is a major loss of steam, but it helps reduce the amount of crud in the boiler and thus saves the boiler from self-destruction and the expense of having to remove the flues and hire someone to crawl into the boiler (when it is cold!) to scrape the crusty minerals out.

There are often vents on both sides of the firebox right at the appropriately named "Mud Ring" (the lowest portion of the boiler around the firebox), and on some engines there are other blowdown valves at the front or back of the mud ring or along the bottom of the length of the boiler barrel.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Semper 

Great info. 

Thanks for posting.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Cute train and great modeling, except for that .332 code track in front of the station.... seeing that I couldn't help but mutter disdainfully .... 'What a toy!' 

Randy, in your sequence of leaving the station there is another display of steam as they open the cylinder cocks and let out any water that has condensed inside. As the piston travels inside any water trapped on the exhaust side can punch the cylinder cap like a rock. Steam can compress, water can't. At speed the draft prevents the need, while sitting the steam isn't moving and can condense. The cocks are on the bottom and are controlled from the cab. 

John


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

And sometimes it helps to open the cylinder cocks when a critter just refuses to respond to the warnings from the bell or the whistle (they can ignore the bell or whistle, but they usually will move for the "hissy fit" noises provided by the open cylinder cocks).









Gosh! I DO miss running those old girls at times.

Have fun, David Meashey


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## Tom Parkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Little known tidbit about the big bulge in the stack. You see this locomotive is a wood burner. So there is an attachment that is inserted in the stack bulge. This attachment is able to hold several racks of ribs. Now the ribs get slow smoked and since exhaust steam also goes up the stack it helps keep the ribs nice and moist. By using tallow in the lubricator and adding just a hint of seasoning you are now talking some mighty fine ribs!!! First attempts at putting the ribs directly in the smokebox were not terribly successful. Seems it's just a little too hot there and the ribs were tough. Moving it up on the stack greatly improved the final product.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Tom Parkins on 12 Mar 2013 08:32 PM 
Little known tidbit about the big bulge in the stack. You see this locomotive is a wood burner. So there is an attachment that is inserted in the stack bulge. This attachment is able to hold several racks of ribs. Now the ribs get slow smoked and since exhaust steam also goes up the stack it helps keep the ribs nice and moist. By using tallow in the lubricator and adding just a hint of seasoning you are now talking some mighty fine ribs!!! First attempts at putting the ribs directly in the smokebox were not terribly successful. Seems it's just a little too hot there and the ribs were tough. Moving it up on the stack greatly improved the final product. 

While I have had an egg cooked on a shovel put in the firebox of a boiler (a steam traction engine, not locomotive) I have to question this tidbit. The use of only tallow for lubrication ended quite early in the development of the Steam Locomotive and it became only an additive to petrolium distillate oils which would render the meat unfit for human or animal consumption. And I think the velocity of the exhaust would embed cinders in the meat that would pretty much ruin the flavor and texture of the meat. 
The bulge in the stack was so that the velocity of the exhaust would slow at that point and through a series of baffles the cinders would drop out of the stream and get caught on screens and other plates instead of exiting the stack and falling on the trailing cars, setting them afire, and starting other trackside vegetation on fire also (something that happened often anyway). There is a panel or plug in the side at the bottom of that bulge, that is opened in the shops (or at water/fueling stops) to remove the cinders that collect there.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Semper; 

I did see a steam locomotive used for cooking about 15 years ago, but the source for slow cooking was the cowl of the steam dome, not the smokebox or smoke stack. It was part of a slide show at a NRHS Chapter meeting. The slide show was concerning a trip to ride behind steam locomotives in Paraguay. The train stopped at some remote outpost for the "crew's lunch." Passengers wondered how the crew would be able to buy lunch in such a desolate place. The engineer climbed atop the boiler next to the steam dome, while the fireman held up a serving tray from the running board. A nicely roasted dressed chicken and a long string of sausages were produced from under the cowl of the steam dome! 

And to think that I only used the boiler backhead on the Crown Metal Products 4-4-0 to warm up my foil-wrapped hamburger for lunch, when I could have been doing some gourmet cooking!









Fun stuff, David Meashey


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, the backhead has been used to cook many a meal. I had never heard of sticking food under the steam dome cover, but I am sure it gets plenty hot there!

As for heating food on the backhead... not really gourmet cooking, but I remember a story told on one of the RR forums several years ago (and confirmed by some others that ended up involved in the "incident") about a can of beans that was put on the backhead and forgotten... well... forgotten until the can exploded, blowing beans all over the cab. Luckily, the Fireman and Head End Brakeman were out of the cab and the Engineer was out of his seat, standing in the gangway talking to the Fireman on the ground. But, several people beyond just those three got involved because, a few weeks later, the roundhouse shop crew discovered dried beans caked on the ceiling and back side of some of the gauges that had not been completely cleaned off while it was still out on the road.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Semper;

Great story about "spilling (exploding?) the beans." I would guess that was not the only time something like that happened in a steam locomotive cab.

Our Porters on the W,K&S had a rimmed shelf above the fire door to hold containers of steam cylinder oil and keep it warm, but I suppose that engine crews could also have used that shelf to keep a metal pot of coffee warm. A clean rag stuffed into the spout would have kept coal dust from adding "flavor" to the coffee.

Ironically, when I worked at Mack Trucks, Inc. in the mid-1970s, exhaust manifold ovens were very popular with some of the truckers. There were even recipes for various meals with the "time" based on the number of miles at 55 mph. Perhaps it is part of the human condition to want to cook on our machinery?

Best, David Meashey


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## general1861 (Jan 22, 2010)

Those are nice pictures Randy. I wish we had stuff like that around here where we live... 
Travis


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Ah, Travis 

it looks like you have several tourist railroads in Ohio. 

http://www.touristrailways.com/namerica/OHIO/


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