Which way?

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MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Oct 31, 2002
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Which way to steam engines go in for service?

In most roundhouses, they seem to go in forwards so the tender sticks out. However, I have a plan for a single-bay engine house that calls for the exhaust hood that fits over the loco's stack to be at the front of the building. Does this mean the loco backs in?

A related question - do locos ever get uncoupled from their tenders for service (or any other reason)?

Thanks.

Andrew
 
T

TomPM

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Oct 15, 2002
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Andrew

If you go to Steamtown you can see a couple of steam locomtoives uncoupled from their tenders while they are being worked on. When we were there last spring they had two locomtoives without their tenders in the roundhouse. I can't remember which ones they were, however.
 
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billk

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Jun 12, 2001
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I always thought they went in head first, so the front end of the loco would be at the back of the roundhouse, where the tracks are further apart to allow more room to do maintenance. The exception would be those photo ops, where all of the locos are pointing towards the turntable to make a neat picture.
 
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60103

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Mar 25, 2002
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Andrew:
Locos and tenders were regularly uncoupled for major shop work. They would also be swapped around for assorted reasons. Some railroads economised by having fewer tenders than locos because the tender would not be in the shop as long.
I don't know details, but I suspect that the couplings were not all compatible -- smaller locos would have lower couplings and hook to a different set of tenders.
I know that for a long time, certain English railroads would put the loco number on the tender and the road name on the loco. Eventually someone realised that it would be more efficient the other way round.
 
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RailRon

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Nov 23, 2002
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Hi Andrew,
coupling a loco to its tender is much more complicated than coupling two cars together: Apart from the mechanical coupling (mostly two or even three massive steel bars) you have to couple up the brake air hoses, then the feedwater pipes (also double in most cases), electrical conduits for the tender lights. On oil-fired engines there are also steam pipes to the oil bunker (to heat up the very viscous oil), and on stoker-fired enginges the heavy and complicated stoker mechanism. That's why a tender was only uncoupled for heavy maintenance work.
As for the loco position, there were both versions in use. billk already said it - when you had to work on the engine, going in front ahead was better, since you got more room for work.
But showing only the butt out of the door is less attractive, at least on our railroads! :D

Ron
 
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Bob Collins

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Feb 1, 2001
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I think that someone earlier hit the nail on the head and that it depends entirely on what is to happen with the engine as to why it might be nose or tail in first. It might also depend on how busy the turntable was and how much time they wanted to spend turning an engine clear around.

I recall about a hundred years ago when I worked as a tinners helper one summer for the UPRR in their Council Bluffs, Iowa yards (actually 1955) that they were still using some FEF 4-8-4's to move produce east. They serviced the engines there in Council Bluffs. It was not uncommon to go into the shops and see one of these beauties in nose first with the front end swung open and someone working inside. I would imagine that would also be the preferred way of doing it in the winter for obvious reasons.

That summer I walked all through those yards where you might see just about anything railroad you wanted to see...... 4-8-4s to gas turbines. They actually built the fuel cars for the turbines there too!! Those where the days my friends...................

Bob
 
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