Coal Quality on Preserved Locomotives

[enginelane]

There are plans for a new smallish drift mine at crofton , and I'm sure I've read somewhere that they see preserved railways as part of their market

Not heard about progress for a long time now though the sidings are still there from the opencast monevfrom years ago

[roythebus]

With the limited amount of fireman training I've done on the KESr, I know that they've had some batches of coal from Poland and Russia that have not been that good at all. you can usually tell because half way through the day the smokebox door would change colour as the ash built up in the smokebox! That usually meant the fireman lost  a bit of his break shovelling it out otherwise the build up would be too much for any ort of operation of the loco. but then there were usually a couple of cleaners hanging about who would volunteer for the job.

[peach james]

The last good coal to be had was in 1962, dad figures....

 

He has far more experience firing coal than I do on large stuff- that would have been on Yarna (Super Sentinel Tractor 7529).  We went on a determined mission to find Welsh coal around one place we could think there might be some in about 1986, but there was none to be had, the bunkers were all empty !  (that'd be Maid Marion, 3 Sentinels, a couple plowing engines, the Superheated Garatt, a Wren & something else...).

 

Coals most definitely do react differently when you burn them.  It's less of a problem as the scale goes up, as long as the coal is somewhere in the middle of the road of coals.  I have had some very good coal, strangely enough, best I have gotten over here was patent fuel, but it was Nanaimo, probably #2, and was great stuff to burn.  I've also had some where picking up the rocks off the ground covered in tar would have been a less smokey and more heat releasing type operation...

 

My home supply is about 4 tons of Quinsam, from here on Vancouver Island.  It's not great coal, but it beats burning wood hands down.  I have a limited amount of Pocahantas as well, that is saved for my Caribou, which is far more a picky eater than either the 4" Fowler or Britannia.  Firebox design and volume make a word of difference.

 

James