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Good evening everyone,

 

        I decided to add the fire box glow to this engine, it was pretty easy and only took about two hours from  start to finish.

I really like the way it turned out. Some details I just used a standard fire box glow light from Lionel, made my own wire harness and heat shrink wrapped all the wires. There was no hole for the light to pass through, so I just used an 1/8 inch drill bit to drill through the shell.  For the color of the fire glow I used a orange colored transparent film, to me a fire in real life is more orange than red. Thanks for looking !!!!

 

Alex

 

 item number 6-11420

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I believe a lot of firebox doors had an inspection hole or holes to gauge the color of the fire.  Here is some info below:

Steam Locomotive Controls: The Backhead


Running a steam locomotive requires much more than knowing what part does what, but it’s a necessary first step. Learn what each control does on the backhead of the steam locomotive and why it’s important.

Up for inspection is an OIL fired 2-6-2, the RVRy’s #7. The layout of the controls is for the most part identical to how a full sized locomotive operates, and ALL the controls present on the full sized locos are displayed here.

To see a larger version of this photograph, go here: http://www.weatheringman.com/Backhead_Detail_.html

Steam Locomotive Backhead Controls

Okay, follow from “A to Z” to learn about each part:

A- Atomizer- atomizes fuel oil and sprays it into the firebox to ignite and keep the fire going

B- Blower- manages the draft of air flowing from the back of the boiler through the tubes and out the stack, helps complete combustion of the fuel by supplying oxygen.

C- Throttle Lever- Does the obvious.

D- Independant Brake Lever, which is used to apply brakes to the drivers and tender trucks to stop the locomotive

E- Train Brake Lever, if all the cars were equipped for airbrakes it would apply the brakes on all the cars behind the locomotive.

F- Firebox Door- used to access the firebox prior to steam up, a lever on the side manages the draft on the bottom of the firebox, inspection hole is used to manage the color of the fire, which tells you how complete your combustion is and how efficient you’re running your locomotive. Idealy it should be a bright golden orange.

G- – Gauge Glass Valve- Used to flush out gauge glass to measure how much water is in the boiler.

H- Water Check Valves- If the gauge glass is broken you can quickly check where your water level is by quickly turning the top or bottom valve for less than a second so you don’t scald your fingers.

I- Gauge Glass- Measures water level in the boiler to make sure you’re making steam, but also operating safely with enough water to prevent damage to the crown sheet. 1/4 or 1/2 the height of the glass is ideal.

J- Oil Firing Levers- Used to finely control the amount of oil being sent to the atomizer to be burnt as fuel.

K- Left side blowdown valve- used to blow crud out of the cylinders and the boiler to keep it from becoming a gunky mess.

L-Oil shutoff valve- the master on/off switch for the fuel.

M-Headlight toggle switches

N- Air Pump Lubricator- Keeps the Airpump lubricated and (hopefully) working smoothly.

O- Left Side Water Injector- Injects water from the tender into the boiler, performs same task as “S”

P- Steam Air Pump Lubricator Valve- For the most part it turns on a small supply of steam to turn the lubricator on and get the pump started.

Q- Shop Air Valve- To gain pressure more quickly, we hook the boiler up to an air compressor, turning on this valve and plugging in the air hose is all this is for.

R- Turret Valve & Main Steam Pressure Gauge- Measures the PSI (Poundsfor Square Inch) of steam pressure in the boiler and the turret valve controls the movement of all steam to te controls in the cab.

S- Right Side Water Injector- Injects water from the tender into the boiler, performs same task as “O”

T- Independant Brake Pressure Gauge- Tells you how many pounds of pressure you have in the airtanks that the steam air pump compressed for you to apply your airbrakes with.

U- Train Brake Pressure Gauge- Same as above, but for the entire train.

V- Right Side Blowdown Valve- Does the same thing as left side.

W- Cylinder Cock Lever- Drains sitting water out of cylinders, typically done before and as the locomotive begins to move, that’s why you always see jets of steam shoot out of the cylinders as a steamer pulls away from the station or a stop and not too long after it ceases as the engineer decides the water has been drained.

X- Reverser/Johnson Bar- Controls the valve gear which determines the direction in which the siderods, motion and drivers travel.

Y- Whistle Cord

Z- Fore and Aft sanding levers put sand on the rails in front or behind the drivers for traction.

 
Alan

Alex....if you look closely, there is a door molded into the backhead.  What you did is simply add an inspection hole to that door.  Many steam locomotives had inspection holes...peep holes.  An eight inch drilled hole translates into a 6 inch inspection hole.  I have no idea if that is too big compared to the prototype but I bet someone will chime in with an answer without a critical comment attached....

 

Alan

Last edited by leavingtracks
Originally Posted by leavingtracks:

I believe a lot of firebox doors had an inspection hole or holes to gauge the color of the fire. 

 
 
Alan

Well, not quite. ONLY oil burning steam locomotive have, what you guys have been referring to as, the "inspection hole". However, the "inspection hole", or more correctly referred to as the "peep hole", is used to sand out the tubes/flues, thus ONLY oil burning steam locomotives have them. That hole is NOT used to "gauge the color of the fire", especially at night! Also, that "peep hole" has a flip-over steel cover plate, which can be quickly flipped open for sanding out the tubes/flues, and then quickly flipped closed. If that hole where simply left open all the time, the brightness of the fire would pretty much blind the cab crew at night.

 

Coal burning steam locomotives generally have the "butterfly" type of fire doors, but no "peep hole".

 

For what it's worth, that hole on the model doesn't look too big to me. However, it should have a flip-over cover plate added.

Hot Water....take a look at the enlarged picture of the backhead by clicking on the photo link.  It appears that there is in fact a inspection / peep cover that is in the up position.  I guess what I am saying is in a way, Alex has "modeled" his firebox door with the cover in the up position...whether he knew it or not

 

Alan

Originally Posted by leavingtracks:

Hot Water....take a look at the enlarged picture of the backhead by clicking on the photo link.  It appears that there is in fact a inspection / peep cover that is in the up position.  I guess what I am saying is in a way, Alex has "modeled" his firebox door with the cover in the up position...whether he knew it or not

 

Alan

OK, yes. But you might search the internet for a photo of the in-cab view of 4449's fire door, then you'll have a much better idea of just how big the door, AND the peep hole with its cover plate, really are.

Guys I think you're being mislead by the pictures I took, the light of the fire box glow is shining around the edge and making it look a lot bigger than it is. It's really a very small hole. I think the fire box light was way to bright when I took the photo, I will go take another photo with the light dimmer and I think you will see the how small the hole really is. 

 

Alex

Originally Posted by Hot Water:

Alex,

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, above, I think the hole you drilled is just fine, and looks very nice. Please do not pay any attention to those individuals who may NEVER have been in the cab of a real steam locomotive. Keep up the good work!

Hot water,

 

I thank you very much, and always value your expertise

 

Thanks, Alex

Nice work Alex, I love stuff like this.  I have a suggestion for your next such conversion.

 

Pick up some of the flickering tea lights at your local Dollar store, they have the flickering LED and a CR2032 battery.  You can use that LED as the lighting for the firebox glow, then you get a flickering fire in there.  I got the last batch for three for a dollar.  I did that in my cab forward conversion, it gives you an interesting effect.  I had to drill through almost 1/2" of diecast material, so the led just setting in the hole gave interesting reflections off the side of the hole for the firebox.  You just need a diode, resistor, and a filter capacitor, and you can power it from track voltage.

Originally Posted by Hot Water:

Alex,

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, above, I think the hole you drilled is just fine, and looks very nice. Please do not pay any attention to those individuals who may NEVER have been in the cab of a real steam locomotive. Keep up the good work!

Couldn't agree more. The hole looks great, and the color of the "fire" looks spot-on.

Well thanks to all of you guys for the nice comments, and positive input

It's well appreciated

 

Also a thank you to Hot Water, and Steve(smd4), you guys "really" know your steam engine's. !!!!!!!!!!!.  

 

Alan,  thank you for all your great info and input

 

Gunrunner, thanks for that info on the flickering LED's

 

Don, your engine fire box looks awesome

 

Thanks, Alex

 

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