Steam Servicing - Oil-fired Locomotives

[Matthew Roberts]

Having started on hashing out a western freelance railroad (see here), and thinking on going steam, and having only seen plans for coal-fired steam servicing areas...

What would be required to fully service an oil-fired steamer?

[3rdrail]

You can eliminate the coaling tower and also the ashpit and ash loading facility. In their stead you will need an oil tank with heating provisions and a crane to load oil into the tender bunker, similar to that used to load water but not as heavy. And a track to spot tank cars of inbound oil.

[Matthew Roberts]

Thanks, Gregg. I had thought that might be right. Wasn't it often Bunker C that was used?

Btw, what Western roads used coal, and what Eastern roads used oil?

[up1950s]

The UP used both , mostly if not all oil from Ogden Utah to Calif.

[3rdrail]

Bunker C is why you need the heater for the oil tank. Even the SP had coal burners, why do you think the the AC9's were conventional 2-8-8-4's? Several Eastern roads, like WM,  used a few oil burning steam locomotives on passenger services. The Pennsy had some oil burning L1s Mikados, why I cannot recall. The only Eastern road mainly oil burning was the FEC. No coal near Florida!

Oh, the BEDT 0-6-0T's were all oil burners and ran without firemen, which is why they lasted so long..

[Bob Bufkin]

Do know that the Pennsy used their oil fired L1's in Sunnyside Yard to provide steam for the yard.  At least in their last days.
Bob

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The only Eastern road mainly oil burning was the FEC. No coal near Florida!

Also, don't forget that Henry Flagler made his money as a partner in standard oil.

[Matthew Roberts]

Richie, that would be on the old San Pedro, Los Angeles, & Salt Lake, right? I could see why.   

Gregg: I knew that there was some SP coal steam, just not much, and I know that all of their Texas operations (mainly T&NO) used oil-fired steam locomotives. But why would those Pennsy Mikes be oil-burning? FEC makes sense. What was the BEDT?  ???

Bob, thanks.

Ed, thanks, too. ;D

[brokemoto]

Baltimore and Ohio C-16s, the famous 'Little Joe' or 'Docksider' 0-4-0Ts were also oil burners.  There may have been other oil burning switchers that the B&O used in the streets of Baltimore.

Baltimore had some rather strict smoke abatement laws.  In those days, the way to get the smoke abatement boys off your case was to use oil burners.

B&O did convert two of those four well-known 0-4-0Ts to conventional configuration and reworked them to burn coal.  The old Atlas/RR 0-4-0 and tender represents the results of this.

Western Maryland bought those oil burning pacifics because the part of Baltimore where its passenger station stood was in the smoke abatement zone.  The one extant WM road locomotive is one of those pacifics.  Funny-when you think of WM, the last two things of which you think are passenger trains and oil burning steam.

SP used oil exclusively in California. 

ATSF used coal east of somewhere in Kansas or maybe Trinidad, Colorado and oil elsewhere. 

GN used oil and coal.  In fact, if it has a BelPaire firebox and burns oil, it is probably a GN locomotive. 

Some WP power also burner oil. 

Virginia and Truckee went almost right from wood to oil, as did SP.  There were a few coal burners on the SP in the late nineteenth century, but as soon as M. Urquhart figured out how to do it in Russia, the SP grabbed onto the technology rapidly.

Texas and Pacific also used many oil burners.  The one remaining operating T&P steam locomotive (is it still operable?) burns oil.  T&P also used peat burners, for a while, as there are many peat bogs in Tejas, but they did not last; T&P converted most of them to oil.

New York Central had some moguls, pacifics, ten-wheelers and even some hudsons that worked on coal in the winter and spring and oil in the summer and fall.  These locomotives ran on the Ulster and Delaware and some other Catskill lines where flying cinders were liable to start forest fires.

Don't #844 and #3985 run on crude?  Or maybe one or both did at one time in the latter part of their careers?  What does UP's operating shop switcher burn ?

[3rdrail]

I have no idea why PRR converted 5 or 6 L1s Mikados to oil fuel, but it was not to use for steam at Sunnyside Yard. Two were sent to Sunnyside because they were oil burners, they weren't converted to send there. Suspect it was for use in high fire risk areas.

The BEDT was the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal.

[Bob Bufkin]

One of the books I have shows photos of the PRR oil burners and I got the info from that.  Rods are removed and they are stationary in Sunnyside. 
Bob

[Bob Bufkin]

3rd Rail.  The Pennsy in the 1950s, The Last Great Decade put out by the PRRT&HS has color photo of the L1's in Sunnyside.  States they were used as stationary boilers.  Boilder for what use - It doesn't say.
Bob

[up1950s]

Richie, that would be on the old San Pedro, Los Angeles, & Salt Lake, right? I could see why.   


Bob, thanks.

Ed, thanks, too. ;D

Yes the LA&SL was a sub of the UP there . Not positive about that San Pedro part , that pre dates my era on the reporting marks , but I heard that name before , so I don't doubt you .

EDIT , I had to look it up . It was the SP,LA&SL till Aug 16 , 1916 then the name was changed because of a lack of relevance with the San Pedro do to it being taken over by Las Angles over that past years . The new as of 1916 name was the LA&SL and that was taken over by the UP in 1921 . The UP retained the LA&SL and the OSL reporting marks till a  1988 corporate house cleaning . After that those reporting marks were no more , though I betcha you could find then here and there . The rails on those roads were now UP proper . In the latter steam and diesel era there appeared no change to the onlooker as the locos always were painted UP with the exception of a small cab side or tender rear labeling them to the sub company .   

[Nato]

   Walthers includes in with their Industrial Size rail yard water tank two Water Cranes (spouts) and yes one Oil crane a slichtly smaller size and diameter pipe, all can swivel on their bases.  Some Terminals  like Cheyenne,Wyoming serviced both Coal and Oil Steam Locomotives as their Backshop there handled a large precentage of locos from various parts of the system, some Northwest District locos were oil, others coal, all 800's 4-8-4 were converted to oil with the threat of a nationwide coal strike in the late 1940's ,but operated system wide,both oil locomotives from the LA&SL and coal fired locos that worked East could be found at Salt Lake.                                                                                             Nate Goodman (Nato).

[3rdrail]

3rd Rail.  The Pennsy in the 1950s, The Last Great Decade put out by the PRRT&HS has color photo of the L1's in Sunnyside.  States they were used as stationary boilers.  Boilder for what use - It doesn't say.
Bob

You missed my point. What I said was that the two L1s's sent to Sunnyside Yard were already oil burners before the rods were removed and they were converted to supply steam to passenger cars parked in the yard there.