# Riding a Winter Steam Freight



## Tom Parkins (Jan 2, 2008)

*Some Background *The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) runs from Cumberland, MD up the mountain to Frostburg, MD a distance 13 miles with some great scenery including a nice tunnel. The WMSR uses a 2-8-0 #734 painted in WM livery. The real WM never owned this locomotive, it was a former LS&I but it is very near a copy of the WM 2-8-0s. The line hauled predominantly coal down the mountain, but also some bridge traffic. During the steam era this line saw almost all types of steam power including 4-8-4s ,mallets and 2-8-0s. 
The WMSR now handles passenger excursions during tourist season and operates photo freights in fall and winter. I road the Jan 29th photo freight. There was about a foot of snow on the ground. This train was 10 cars and an authentic WM caboose (Northeast Style as modeled by USAT). The cars were mostly 50-60s vintage but looked convincingly like a steam era local freight found on this line. 








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*In the Engine *I spent a fair amount of time riding in the cab of 734. The cab is fairly simple typical of locomotives of this size built about 100 years ago. A few upgrades include 26L brake stand which is found in many modern diesels. A stoker was added for which the firemen are glad. Also added is a cylinder pressure guage. This is different than the boiler pressure gauge as it measures the steam pressure right at the cylinders. It is a big aid when the engineer starts out a heavy train upgrade. It makes it much easier to prevent slipping. 


On a photo runby the engineer generally backs up the train a half mile or so. He gives 2 quick tugs on the whistle pushes the reverser full forward and releases the brakes. The throttle is slowly "jerked" out. It is not a smooth motion. It is stiff and you are fighting the steam pressure. He watches the cylinder pressure and if it should go up too fast he will back off the throttle to prevent a slip. A quick flick of the sanders may also be in order. Since we are starting on a stiff grade, it is not unlike starting a manual transmission car on a grade. The train wants to roll back before the pistons can do their thing. Slowly there is one crack of the exhaust then another. The train starts to move and open the throttle just a little more. Slowly the train picks up some speed, the engineer backs off the reverser and the exhaust sharpens. As the photo line comes in sight the engineer blows a crossing warning. This is for the effect of the videographers. The train is now accelerating as you pass the photo line. After the engine has cleared the photographers the engineer backs off the throttle and looks back over the train. As the caboose clears the photo line he applies the brakes, about a 10 pound reduction. The train slows quickly since it is up grade. He may use the independent brake (engine brake) to finalize the stop. One long toot of the whistle says he is stopped and brakes are set. Of course this is modern railroading and radios are used. The conductor will give instructions on backing for another runby and how far to back past the photo line. 









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Looking ahead of a steam engine provides limited visibility. Because this was the first train up the line it felt a little strange leaning out the window and not seeing tracks in front of the engine. You just hoped that the rails were still under all of that snow and that there are no surprises like boulders. I can only imagine the feeling on a snow plow in real deep snow. 









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The cab of a steam engine is never quiet. This engine now has a stoker. The stoker is a giant screw run by a steam driven piston. Inside the firebox are steam jets which "blow" the coal across the firebox. This particular load of coal was pretty poor. It had a lot of coal dust. That caused the fireman to constantly have to push coal down to the deck and also frequently clogged the stoker. The stoker would clog at the opening and did not get caught up by the steam jets. Fire bars had to be used and rakes in the firebox. Then the fireman would manually have to shovel coal. The smoke was also heavy with extra soot and ash which showed by the end of the day. 











The stoker engine is noisy. This coal being full of dust also caused frequent cleaning and shaking of the grates. This was usually accomplished before backing up for a runby. The injector is used to put water in the boiler which is under high pressure. Injectors also add to the noise of the cab. Of course there is all sorts of banging. WMSR track is decently maintained. But this old 2-8-0 is rough riding. With no trailing truck wheels it bounces and jerks side to side. Conversation is difficult when under way, and communication is mostly shouting and hand signals. One piece that is seldom modeled on our G gauge steam engine is the apron which is the metal plate that goes between the tender deck and the cab deck of the locomotive. This piece rides freely and bounces up and down and bangs as you go around curves. The gap on our locomotives is much greater than the real thing. 


We executed a few short runbys. That is we did not back up for full speed but backed up perhaps a hundred yards or so. This permitted photographers to capture a starting sequence. Usually here the engineer would open the cylinder cocks, even though the cylinders were hot. This exhausted more steam out the front and makes for some dramatic photos. ( I may have to see if I can vent my smoke unit out the cylinders on my Mikado) The starting sequence is just a little different. The engineer starts slowly and then after the train is fully rolling he will give a big tug on the throttle. There is a delay and the whole engine shakes as the drivers slip furiously. There is a little showmanship in the engineers as they ply their craft. 

I think the biggest difference in riding the 1:1 compared to our garden models is the speed at which things happen. When you run a steam engine you always have to anticipate ahead. Nothing happens quickly on a steam engine. Starting, stopping, shifting cars takes so much longer in reality than in the garden. Hopefully I can add another page of riding the caboose. 








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Tom


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Nice pictures Tom,

Thanks for posting....


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for posting. I quite like the fireman photo. Don't see that shot very often. 

Robert


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## CCSII (Jan 3, 2008)

Great series of photos. Thanks for putting these up!


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Spectacular photos! Thanks for posting! 

Robert, too?


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Tom,

Great pictures and an even better account of what the crews on the real thing have to deal with. The cylinder pressure gauge is interesting. Makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. I would have loved to have had a counter post for this with some steam in regular service at Wolsztyn, but alas, those locomotives were out of service when I arrived in Poznan. 

Great pics! Looking forward to your caboose thread.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Tom; 

Thanks for the photos and the commentary. 

I never had the luxury of a cylinder pressure gauge on the two H. K. Porter products I ran for the W, K&S tourist line. Missed the luxury of working sanders, too. But then we only ran from April to October, so there may have been some frost to deal with, but no snow. Still, the trains were usually less than 450 tons, and most of our hoggers could finesse things without too much need for sand. We tried to avoid wheel slip, as that was not too good for cylinder packing or the axle bearings. Since hoggers and firemen also had to service the locomotives, that meant if we broke it, we also had to fix it. 

Usually not too much went wrong, but I was firing 65 the day she broke a spring shackle key. Talk about a locomotive looking like she had gone on an all-night drinking binge! My hogger that day said, "This engine looks like O'Brien on a Saturday night!" Of course, it had to happen at the far end of the line. We limped back at about 3-4 mph, and I spent most of my time hanging on the steps to the fireman's side of the cab watching the brakeman's footboard to make sure it did not snag on anything. The board was only about two inches above the railhead, thanks to the locomotive's now-unequalized condition. Still, we got back without any further problems. 

Ah, the fun of real steam locomotives! 

Best wishes, 
David Meashey


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