Size of wood for tender load

   The logs in my General's (4-4-0 American) tender's load are about 1/2 inch long, but vary, slightly over, slightly under. That makes them approx. 2ft long, which seems a manageable length for both humans tossing them, and firebox placement.

I'd say they are closer to fireplace matches, which are often a tad thicker; but who is to say the trees aren't a little bigger or smaller around there

I'd look at some twigs with branch nodes to split and mix in too.

Here's a modern example:

http://www.bing.com/images/sea...x=135&ajaxhist=0

Adriatic posted:

   The logs in my General's (4-4-0 American) tender's load are about 1/2 inch long, but vary, slightly over, slightly under. That makes them approx. 2ft long, which seems a manageable length for both humans tossing them, and firebox placement.

I'd say they are closer to fireplace matches, which are often a tad thicker; but who is to say the trees aren't a little bigger or smaller around there

I'd look at some twigs with branch nodes to split and mix in too.

 

Thanks. 1/2" seems like it would be ok. It's something I didn't give much thought to when I started this project.  16" seemed kind of small because that would have been about 3/8" long.

I thought about maybe staining one side of the matches before I cut them down so they did look so uniform. I just have to find my India ink that I have stashed somewhere.

rex desilets posted:

Here's a modern example:

http://www.bing.com/images/sea...x=135&ajaxhist=0

That's good pic. I wonder how long they are. 3'? They look pretty long. I'm trying to picture standing one next to the guy with vest on. I guess from his belt line down would be about 3'. One of the logs on end might reach his waist. It's kind of hard to figure. I might be way off here.

You're in the right ballpark.
I wonder if the wood length might be  determined by firebox length. I assume that the fireman tosses the wood in lengthwise.
I haven't found any literature about firing wood-burners, so that's  just a guess.

I looked around some on Google trying different stuff like "steam loco wood length" and "size of wood for wood burner locos"  and stuff like that. I didn't have any luck.

Maybe these will help:

Rusty

I wonder if the scrap wood pile might get burned too

Back when I was working for the ES&NA, I think I recall Bob (the owner) would have the hickory for the wood burning #1 cut about 24" long.

I have so many pleasant memories of my years with the ES&NA. Loved the little 1-spot. (My favorite among the ES&NA steam engines.) Sweet handling, nice exhaust sound, WONDERFUL aroma from the stack... ah the memories!

Here's a picture of it from back in those days when the ES&NA was a class operation.

I guess 1/2" would probably work so I'll try that and see how it looks.  I can always cut more if I want to try a different size. I ordered tender fences from PSC and I'm waiting for those to come.

Adriatic posted:

 I'd look at some twigs with branch nodes to split and mix in too.

 

I seriously consider using fine twigs maybe trimmed from your neighbor's azalea garden,

I don't think I have ever seen this specified.  Most sources indicate 19th century locomotives burned "cord wood".  Assuming they meant that literally that would mean either a 4' log or something that a 4' log could be cut into.  Through the 1850s many locomotives had fireboxes less than 48" long or wide, so 24" seems a safe bet.

I'm thinking 24 inches is the maximum and 16 would be more common.    You have to cover the grate and keep it going.   If the pieces are too big, they would leave too many gaps which would be cold spots in the fire.    Also 24 inch logs would be somewhat more cumbersome to handle in the cab and to throw into specific locations in the firebox.

This has all been very informative. Thank you all for your input. Garden twigs sound like a good idea, too. I'll just experiment with a couple sizes and see what looks best.

Check around the 5:45 mark in this video:

Firewood posted:

Check around the 5:45 mark in this video:

Great video. Not just for the wood either. It looks like most of those might be around 16". There were a couple odd ball sizes but most were around the same size.

     I never thought about the wood burning aroma, I've only been behind oil fired. I know what coal smells like too. I could do without that; but I could handle the wood fire 24/7 and smile.

Sarge T posted:

Firewood posted:

Check around the 5:45 mark in this video:

Great video. Not just for the wood either. It looks like most of those might be around 16". There were a couple odd ball sizes but most were around the same size.

There's an old story from Northern Canada about a local fellow who was sentenced by the local judge to cut up the entire winter's supply of firewood for the local Mountie station. He did so and left for his far-off home. When they started to use the woodpile later that year, they say every log was too long for the Mounties' woodstove. An incompetent woodcutter, or maybe a very crafty one? 

Must have been Paul's dad 

You know 

Poppa Buyon   

The Eureka is still running these days.  Here's a pix of it being loaded.  Looks like 18 to 24 in 'fuel' sticks.  Russ

I bought a box of long wooden "fireplace" matches and laid them out and painted one side on each to see what color would look best.

I tried burnt umber, brown oxide, nutmeg brown, dark granite, and black acrylic paints. I also had a bottle of India ink that said brown but it had more of bluish tint. the burnt umber looked pretty close. I went over the burnt umber with wash of the brown ink and I thought that came out the best looking.

I tried cutting them into 16" scale pieces (3/8") and they looked pretty short and stubby. I then tried 24" (1/2") and that looks pretty good but they looked too big around like an O scale guy wood trouble getting his hands around them. When I looked at the box of matches, I saw that it said "Extra thick for longer burn time".

I'll have to get some that aren't the extra thick ones and try it with those. I think that will do the trick. I don't know that I want to try to split them to look better. That would be a task.