It was one of the so called pilgrim tours.
We were two shifts abord the engine, one for the travel to Miltenberg and one shift for the ride home back to Darmstadt-Kranichstein.
Each of us had once to do the climb uphill from Miltenberg to Wallduern in the franconian hills around the river main and neckar.
The train was about 120 tons, not heavy but heavy enough for the long climb beginning at amorbach up to the franconian hilltop village of Wallduern.
At the second round, it was my turn. Weather had changed from sunny to cloudy.
I entered the cab, opened the firedoor and started refreshing the fire. I opened the drop grate, pulled the large cinder plates from the grate corners into the ashpan and rebuild the fire with fresh coals. I opened the exhaustor little, to enlighten the coal, and turned on the friedmann injector. I extincted the ashpan and wetted the coal properly. The pointer on the pressure gauge lifted more on more, and I had to turn on the injector more and more, to raise the water level.
Because I wanted to go up into the ramp with about three-quarters of the gauge, providing my master at the right side a good steaming boiler.
So we moved on, switching for the train, and I got between the car and the tender, doing the coupling job. After entering the cab again, we did the brake test schedule and after getting the signal for "brake in order" we found the main signal in front right for the go.
Quickly we got the go command from the master of trains at wallduern and my master openend the throttle with the yell: "Depart"
So we got on.. and my problem stared right in that moment: The marching pump wasn't able to get in working order. It started, did some 3 or 4 hard up and downward strokes and died. I closed the steam, and tried it again. But nothing... it wasn't able to get in a working state, with about 5 to 10 strokes per minute, to keep my water level in gauge.
I informed my master about and he decided, to do the travel with the injector only. After guessing a little I informed my master, that the fire would get very bad, having high cinder formations if I do it with the injector, but if he will agree, I will try my best and do a fire, which could compete with the deepest hell.
My master agreed and before amorbach I stared to raise the fire. The engine responded quickly, and in amorbach the safeties lifted first. Fire was more than well, and the injector did his best, to overcome the heat, this fire produced, but no way.... loud the safeties opened, and my water level raised quickly over the desired three-quartes in gauge as we got the next "go" command from the master of trains.
So we went on in the climb. The track wouldn't get even and have the break point to even right after station entry of wallduern, but this was 9 miles, still hill up from this point. I opened the injector again and feed the fire some more shouvels of coal. The fire reacted well and the pointed raised again to the red marker at the gauge scale and my water was at four part from five. All was well, but as we entered the forrest after Rippberg it started raining. The engine stalled hardly, and the sand spreader was like the march-pump not working as it should be.
So my master openend the throttle carefully, but had to close it soon after the engine stalled again, reopened the lever carefully and the engine was moving on again. But as soon as the engine was getting harder on working, the engine stalled again. So the train was getting slowlier and slowlier and quickly we were down to only 12 mph... Our pilot was getting very nervous,as the engine stalled again and the speed decreased again, now being below 10 mph.. Our pilot was getting to my master and telling him: "Master, we had to gain for more speed, because the next crossing will open before we reach it, at that speed!" "Hmmmrrrmmm!" made my master and was looking at both gauges, but as he tried to open the throttle more, the engine stalled again very roughly. "I guess, if we had to stop before the crossing, to reactivate it or to protect the track with flag-holders, we won't get the train moving on again!" replied the pilot, now very nervous.
The senior master, who was from the frist shift on the footplate now changed from my widow to the drivers side. He watched the gauges on pressure and on water level. After watching the control wheel of the gear he laid his hand on my masters shoulder and said: "Well, Jack, what's the problem? Watch, three-quarters of water in the gauge the pressure on top mark, and you so nervous? So go on, so give her what she needs!"
My master left the controls and the senior openend the gear to full. The sound of the engine was getting quickly harder and louder. The beats from the chimney came now as hard hammer hits from an ancient iron works, and my fire was getting brighter and brighter by the harder and harder droughts through the ashpan.
The injector was now working at full strenght, the pointer on the pressure gauge wasn't moving, even as the senior master now started to open the throttle more and more again.
Watch a video from the trip right here at youtube -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blCTyV71QAs
Now the engine reacted, it stalled not... the senior master openend now the throttle more and more, and with 145 psi at the engine we were getting faster and faster... the sound of the engine, her voice, filled valley with the hard beating sound and as we reached the crossing, we found all the waiting cars with the windows open to listen the sound of the hard working engine, even if it was raining roughly.
So we made it the last ramp up and we were going into the last curve before wallduern.
As we entered the station and got the point of break even, the pointer on the pressure gauge made the last jump. "Sorry!" I yelled out, "I can't hold her anymore!" and soon after that words, the master stopped the train, the water in the gauge dropped and returned, and with a loud "Blam" the safeties opened and started blowing steam. 5 minutes still blowing steam, the senior master came over to me, laid his hand on my shoulder as I stopped the endlessly working injector: "Sorry, I have no water full gauge, up to the crown screw of the glass, I have to blew her! Guess the fire was little to much!"
"Better little to much, son" he replied, "than little to less!" He grinned at me, and tightened his neck tie. He was very satisfied, because the master of trains was a few seconds before at his window and mentioned, that even the diesel suburban trains did it not better at this waether conditions, more worse, if the trains were filled as ours was.
"Guess, you should take the rake and pull a little hole in the middle of that hell of a fire on the grate." the senior master mentioned "help her little bit to come down and stopping the blowing!"
So I pulled the rake out from the store below the tenders coal desk, opened the fire door. The heat coming out was terrible, I wasn't able to breath from hot air, but the hands did the work automatically and opened a free grate area in the middle, were no cool air could enter and reduce the heat in the firebox.
But I found also little clinker on the grate, because the hard draughting actions hill up prevent the forming of clinker. But by the mass of coal on the grate, and the not so hard working engine, I would be sure that have a miltenberg at the valley bottom a mass of clinker formations at the front and rear edges.
The hells fire, I had to pay for on the way home. I sighed and rushed the rake back in it's storage and closed the fire door.
But we made it hill up, without the march pump and under hardest wether circumstances...
We were two shifts abord the engine, one for the travel to Miltenberg and one shift for the ride home back to Darmstadt-Kranichstein.
Each of us had once to do the climb uphill from Miltenberg to Wallduern in the franconian hills around the river main and neckar.
The train was about 120 tons, not heavy but heavy enough for the long climb beginning at amorbach up to the franconian hilltop village of Wallduern.
At the second round, it was my turn. Weather had changed from sunny to cloudy.
I entered the cab, opened the firedoor and started refreshing the fire. I opened the drop grate, pulled the large cinder plates from the grate corners into the ashpan and rebuild the fire with fresh coals. I opened the exhaustor little, to enlighten the coal, and turned on the friedmann injector. I extincted the ashpan and wetted the coal properly. The pointer on the pressure gauge lifted more on more, and I had to turn on the injector more and more, to raise the water level.
Because I wanted to go up into the ramp with about three-quarters of the gauge, providing my master at the right side a good steaming boiler.
So we moved on, switching for the train, and I got between the car and the tender, doing the coupling job. After entering the cab again, we did the brake test schedule and after getting the signal for "brake in order" we found the main signal in front right for the go.
Quickly we got the go command from the master of trains at wallduern and my master openend the throttle with the yell: "Depart"
So we got on.. and my problem stared right in that moment: The marching pump wasn't able to get in working order. It started, did some 3 or 4 hard up and downward strokes and died. I closed the steam, and tried it again. But nothing... it wasn't able to get in a working state, with about 5 to 10 strokes per minute, to keep my water level in gauge.
I informed my master about and he decided, to do the travel with the injector only. After guessing a little I informed my master, that the fire would get very bad, having high cinder formations if I do it with the injector, but if he will agree, I will try my best and do a fire, which could compete with the deepest hell.
My master agreed and before amorbach I stared to raise the fire. The engine responded quickly, and in amorbach the safeties lifted first. Fire was more than well, and the injector did his best, to overcome the heat, this fire produced, but no way.... loud the safeties opened, and my water level raised quickly over the desired three-quartes in gauge as we got the next "go" command from the master of trains.
So we went on in the climb. The track wouldn't get even and have the break point to even right after station entry of wallduern, but this was 9 miles, still hill up from this point. I opened the injector again and feed the fire some more shouvels of coal. The fire reacted well and the pointed raised again to the red marker at the gauge scale and my water was at four part from five. All was well, but as we entered the forrest after Rippberg it started raining. The engine stalled hardly, and the sand spreader was like the march-pump not working as it should be.
So my master openend the throttle carefully, but had to close it soon after the engine stalled again, reopened the lever carefully and the engine was moving on again. But as soon as the engine was getting harder on working, the engine stalled again. So the train was getting slowlier and slowlier and quickly we were down to only 12 mph... Our pilot was getting very nervous,as the engine stalled again and the speed decreased again, now being below 10 mph.. Our pilot was getting to my master and telling him: "Master, we had to gain for more speed, because the next crossing will open before we reach it, at that speed!" "Hmmmrrrmmm!" made my master and was looking at both gauges, but as he tried to open the throttle more, the engine stalled again very roughly. "I guess, if we had to stop before the crossing, to reactivate it or to protect the track with flag-holders, we won't get the train moving on again!" replied the pilot, now very nervous.
The senior master, who was from the frist shift on the footplate now changed from my widow to the drivers side. He watched the gauges on pressure and on water level. After watching the control wheel of the gear he laid his hand on my masters shoulder and said: "Well, Jack, what's the problem? Watch, three-quarters of water in the gauge the pressure on top mark, and you so nervous? So go on, so give her what she needs!"
My master left the controls and the senior openend the gear to full. The sound of the engine was getting quickly harder and louder. The beats from the chimney came now as hard hammer hits from an ancient iron works, and my fire was getting brighter and brighter by the harder and harder droughts through the ashpan.
The injector was now working at full strenght, the pointer on the pressure gauge wasn't moving, even as the senior master now started to open the throttle more and more again.
Watch a video from the trip right here at youtube -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blCTyV71QAs
Now the engine reacted, it stalled not... the senior master openend now the throttle more and more, and with 145 psi at the engine we were getting faster and faster... the sound of the engine, her voice, filled valley with the hard beating sound and as we reached the crossing, we found all the waiting cars with the windows open to listen the sound of the hard working engine, even if it was raining roughly.
So we made it the last ramp up and we were going into the last curve before wallduern.
As we entered the station and got the point of break even, the pointer on the pressure gauge made the last jump. "Sorry!" I yelled out, "I can't hold her anymore!" and soon after that words, the master stopped the train, the water in the gauge dropped and returned, and with a loud "Blam" the safeties opened and started blowing steam. 5 minutes still blowing steam, the senior master came over to me, laid his hand on my shoulder as I stopped the endlessly working injector: "Sorry, I have no water full gauge, up to the crown screw of the glass, I have to blew her! Guess the fire was little to much!"
"Better little to much, son" he replied, "than little to less!" He grinned at me, and tightened his neck tie. He was very satisfied, because the master of trains was a few seconds before at his window and mentioned, that even the diesel suburban trains did it not better at this waether conditions, more worse, if the trains were filled as ours was.
"Guess, you should take the rake and pull a little hole in the middle of that hell of a fire on the grate." the senior master mentioned "help her little bit to come down and stopping the blowing!"
So I pulled the rake out from the store below the tenders coal desk, opened the fire door. The heat coming out was terrible, I wasn't able to breath from hot air, but the hands did the work automatically and opened a free grate area in the middle, were no cool air could enter and reduce the heat in the firebox.
But I found also little clinker on the grate, because the hard draughting actions hill up prevent the forming of clinker. But by the mass of coal on the grate, and the not so hard working engine, I would be sure that have a miltenberg at the valley bottom a mass of clinker formations at the front and rear edges.
The hells fire, I had to pay for on the way home. I sighed and rushed the rake back in it's storage and closed the fire door.
But we made it hill up, without the march pump and under hardest wether circumstances...
Allways keep two-thrid level in gauge and a well set fire, that's how the engineer likes a fireman
