marklankton Offline Upload & Sell: On
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kurt765 wrote:
Thanks for the comments! I can tell you a few of the controls.
The left side is the Fireman's side. The knobs arranged in a V on the lower left are for the 5 steam jets that blast the coal brought up from the stoker into various areas of the firebox. No shoveling here for such a huge locomotive (well once you have a fire going and some steam pressure). Other knobs on the left would include controls for injectors (injecting new water into the boiler), probably the feedwater heater controls as well.
On the right side is the Engineer's side. Here we have the throttle hanging down from the ceiling (red horizontal knob). To the right of that is the cutoff lever (vertical red knob with a grip lock that must be pressed in, this is the forward / reverse control). The engineer has an injector control in there somewhere too. Both sides have steam pressure, brake (air) pressure, and temperature gauges. There are water glasses that indicate water level in the boiler (critically important!). Engineer has sand control to disperse sand on the rail just in front of the driving wheels for increased traction. The whistle control would normally be a rope that hangs down from up near the roof.
Lots of controls in there for sure, and no labels! They are truly fascinating pieces of mechanical technology. It's so different from our modern computer age that it's almost alien.
-K...Show more →
It's a really nice photo, but I have to admit I like the explanation of the controls even better. It would be quite a kick for me to ride along and see this control room in action!
Mark
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