Dan Padova posted:Rusty Traque posted:Odenville Bill posted:The Tennessee Valley RR put a tender behind the 4501 with an auger to feed the coal to the firebox - no class at all.
Didn't 4501 have a mechanical stoker in service? According to Locomotive Wiki the Southern's M class 2-8-2's were given stokers in the 1930's.
If not, then it's a little more complicated than just "putting a tender on with an auger."
I'd be willing to bet the firemen appreciate the mechanical stoker.
It's still not totally "automatic." You still have to use the shovel to touch up the fire when needed. The fireman still needs to know what he's doing.
Rusty
That's an excellent illustration of how a stocker works. On the right, in the illustration there are members marked as "Pushers". I presume they are moving pieces that help move the coal toward the auger pit. However, I cannot see how or what moved them.
A large compressed air powered cylinder moved the coal pusher, when activated by the Fireman. Many railroads equipped their tender slope sheets with coal pushers.
