Steam Generators - CNR 1966

This post looks at the section of a CNR manual for its engineers on the subject of steam generators. 

New passenger rolling stock of the 1950s was still designed to be heated by steam. While it seemed clear that diesel-electric power would eclipse steam locomotives for all types of service, the railways still had a large roster of older steam-era passenger rolling stock which was still in use. For maximum flexibility, it was beneficial to ensure that trains could be made up of a mix of new and pre-diesel passenger equipment.

Furthermore, in Canada and the US, it seemed that family automobiles and air travel might soon lead to the demise of the federally-regulated, generally money-losing railway passenger business. While examples of diesel-generated electric 'hotel power' for passenger cars existed in the 1960s, railways are capital-intensive conservative organizations. No one was going to invest great amounts of money in 'new concept' equipment when the older equipment on hand would still operate acceptably well for another 30 years or so. 

... so we have this jet-age publication on keeping your passengers warm with steam.

Before you look at the 1966 document, here is a helpful overview of steam generator technology from 1950. It describes other uses of steam besides heating ... and carefully differentiates between warm climate steam generation needs, and the steam needs for equipment operating in places like Canada.

from: Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice; 1950-1952; Simmons-Boardman. 

Incidentally, the CNR manual below was not the last word on steam generators in Canada. 

In the late 1980s, there was a renaissance of steam generating literature publishing by VIA as it struggled to keep its 1950s-era equipment in operation. While the equipment was designed to require 'a minimum of attention' on the road (in the 1950s), VIA sometimes hired 'train riders' to operate and troubleshoot their old steam generator equipment on its transcontinental trains as it became less and less reliable.

Page SG 8 should be on the reverse of  Page SG 7 (above) but the page is blank.
Unfortunately, that page includes procedures for starting when the ambient temperature is below freezing.
... something we'd all be interested in learning about in Canada.

I'll take this printing error up with the CNR's mechanical department!

... Don't worry - I've got lots of steam generator information to share in future posts.

In lieu of page SG 8, please accept this 1982 photo of a westbound
made up of original CNR equipment, steaming away at Kingston station.

So, I guess we must pick up the procedures when it's time to shut down the steam generator ...

Brockville, May 1981, Part 3 (More Work for the Carmen)

As darkness begins to fall, the last few switching moves are made at Brockville. 

To see the earlier parts of this series, here are the links:

Brockville, May 1981, Part 1 (2 Carmen & 1 Switcher)

Brockville, May 1981, Part 2

As Number 46 departs up the CPR Brockville Sub, the power for Number 56 waits for the switch.

No 46 begins its maximum 40 mph trip up to Smiths Falls,
56's power makes its move.

The semaphore governs the CPR Loop Line to the Brockville waterfront.

A clear signal beckons.

With his hammer, carman's lantern, and ankle bands
(to prevent his pant cuffs from catching on passing equipment)
the carmen prepares to make the joint.

After the safety stop, he prepares the knuckle to hopefully make a good joint the first time.

If you follow the coach air hoses back, you can see the relative pipe sizes of the
train (air brake) line and the communicating signal line (above the train line, thinner).

The hammer is propped on the inside of the rail,
before it is used to secure the locking fittings of the Barco steam line connection.

I thought the 'rumpled tan raincoat' at the joint looked like the traditional outfit of a master mechanic/official
(as seen high on the tenders of refuelling steam locomotives in excursion service).

On closer inspection ...
He may be attending to the needs of the author/historian/dignitary
who seems to be wearing a nametag on his right chest
and a white engineer's cap.
There seems to be a crowd in the cab on departing.

(I checked, and OS Nock wrote about the 'corridor' trains way back when the old
'outer' Kingston station was still on the long curve.)

Time to go.

And a nice freight to round out the evening.

Brockville, May 1981, Part 2

This post continues with a look at Brockville evening operations. The public timetable appears at the end of the post. I think this sequence shows the splitting of Trains 46 and 56.

Probably after waiting a while, a yard move arrives from the west.

The right front (RF) of the unit.

Some portraiture of the power for Train 56 as it waits behind the station.

Do you recognize that train at the left edge?
I'm not sure, but I think it might be 'Turbo'!

(Be sure to send for my kitbashing article
on turning your ancient conventional equipment
into a Turbo trainset! Be sure to send an SSAE!*)

Today, I was wondering ...

The way the government set up the expensing of contracted service for VIA equipment ... what kind of 'annuity' was written to pay the CNR (the beneficiary) for servicing VIA's 'new' Turbo. I also wonder what the asset value of the Turbo was ... when it was transferred from CN's to VIA's books. CNR officials must have been relatively pleased to have the long-suffering Turbo experiment become someone else's responsibility.

I remember reading an example of the 'no fault' service contracts the railways were given at the time: If steam generator water was used to top up a diesel fuel tank because the contracted railway employee was not familiar enough with the different (or similar in this case) filling ports - VIA paid for the repair. 

This kind of thing happened back then because CPR workers were servicing former CNR equipment and vice versa.

I was told (on a VIA 'CPR train') that the Canadian's stainless steel equipment had so many wheel flat spots (during one trip, right under our roomettes - but it did save us from sleeping through the stop at Bisco!) ... because the CNR crews on the transcontinental service were not accustomed to the effectiveness of the Canadian's disc brakes.

... And, of course, the steel brake shoe equipment was operated in trains which also included the CPR equipment ... so how were they supposed to set the air to get a consistent braking force?

* stamped, self-addressed envelope

The crew for Train 56 is reporting for duty.

A dramatic old-school arrival of Train 46/56.
The steel-on-steel braking is putting on a good show.
Notice the second engineer getting ready ...

He's snagged the string loop knotted to orders and a clearance.
You can see the little bundle hanging beside his belt.

The train will be transferring from CNR to CPR track.

As if to answer my puzzlement from the previous post
(regarding the title of a VIA crew member signalling for a brake test) ...

The acting conductor is differentiated from brakemen/flagmen by that gold hat band.

Notice the brake cylinder travel, and shoes against wheels.

... more from this sequence next time ...


The timetable in force when these photos were taken:

Brockville, May 1981, Part 1 (2 Carmen & 1 Switcher)

While I am generally fuzzy about the dates of photos, I certify that these evening photos were taken in late May of 1981. The Montreal-Toronto passenger schedules from this timetable are reproduced at the end of this piece.

It seems likely that the first set represents the connecting of VIA train 55 (from Montreal) and train 45 (from Ottawa).

The carman is walking the train.

Another carman is controlling the movement as a car attendant stands by.

The carmen makes the connections.

The passenger brakeman (qualified as a conductor - but probably not this train's acting conductor)

 uses the communicating line to signal the headend for the necessary brake test.

At the last car, the carman will watch for 

piston travel at the brake cylinder and brake shoes against the wheels.

*   *  *

The "Communicating Signal Appliance"

Many of these practices were seen at the Kingston VIA station ...

Radios were later approved as the primary system for train crew to engine crew communication. However, at this point, the reliable, proven communicating line ("communicating signal appliance" in the rulebook) was the mandated method used for brake tests, spotting passenger trains, giving the highball etc. The valve in the car vestibule would hiss loudly as it was used to sound the small whistle in the locomotive cab.

Stopping

When stopping a train, the train crewman sounded two whistles as required by the rules.  The first whistle would be sounded ("get ready to stop") and the second would often be sounded several seconds later when the vestibule had almost reached the desired spot. On a very long (heavy) slow moving train the interval between signals might be ten seconds or more. During Air Canada strikes circa the late 1970s, Toronto-Montreal trains sometimes reached 19-20 cars.

To avoid a 'brickwall stop' (shoe/wheel/rail adhesion is highest at the slowest speeds) ... Generally, the passenger engineer would use a relatively heavy application to slow the train, release, and then use a lighter application to spot the train as required. In the failing evening light, part of the steel brake shoes (and a thin part of the wheel treads) would sometimes glow red and give off sparks if the approach to the station was aggressive.

Starting

On a long train, a number of vestibules would be opened - each attended by a member of the operating crew. An exception might be a club car with its own attendant - just a few passengers would quickly exit/board there while the masses milled around the other vestibules. As the platform emptied of boarding passengers, the train crew members would remain on the platform and they'd often stay down there until the time indicated in the employee timetable ... as the passengers settled themselves and their belongings.

When loading was complete at each vestibule, the brakemen and conductor would each raise one hand vertically at arm's length. This would be the high sign for the highball among the train crew and they would board. The "proceed" signal ('highball' does not appear in rulebooks) came from the conductor using the communicating signal. 

Some conductors would observe from the upper vestibule door to (presumably) witness that no late passenger was injured in some desperate attempt to board the moving train through a closed vestibule. Habitually watching the bare platform would also help ensure that no train crew members were left behind - an rare error which would rest on the conductor's shoulders.

The cab whistle cut through the engine noise and could be heard quite a distance from the train when the cab windows were open. A photographer could use the whistle as a warning to get ready for a 'train-starting photo' - especially if smoking Alco/MLW units were in the locomotive consist.

Occasionally, in the few years which followed this photo, one might hear a train crew member give a verbal 'OK to go Number xx' via his radio. Nothing would happen. The engineer would explain he was waiting for the proper signal. The crew member would dutifully use the signal line and the train would depart.

I covered (rulebook and diagrams) the need, development and mechanics of the communicating appliances in this older post. And I see that I gave that brakeman an increase in pay to acting conductor when I used that same photo ... hopefully one of my two statements is correct.

Reaching the Headend - Air Signal Equipment

Time to go!

Below the couplers, you can see (top to bottom): 

the (air brake) train line,
the communicating signal line (smaller hose),
the steam line.

A westbound Rapido rolls through Brockville without stopping.

I counted 9 cars.

A freight waits for some of the evening traffic to clear.

*  *  *

The timetable for this date appears below.

Applicable reference marks are reproduced below.

The system timetable has 4 pages of them.

The high-numbered reference marks are not included

They pertain to 'no local traffic', 'no checked baggage' and GO Transit.

CNR 1982 A Summer Day in Brockville. The Gananoque Sub in 1963.

On a humid, overcast summer afternoon in 1981 or 1982 we were down in Brockville to find some railway activities to photograph. 

Way back then, A Trackside Guide to Canadian Railway Motive Power by Earl Roberts (1982) had just been published for the first time. This booklet represented a major advance and it was a valuable reference for Canadian railway enthusiasts. The first edition was 55 pages long.

Today, this publication is known as The Canadian Trackside Guide.

The 1297 was built by EMD in 1958.
I had never noticed the rooftop class lights by the number boards.

The tank car was new in January 1963.

A westbound VIA train passes through the east end of the Brockville yard.
To see more of the yard, just scroll right.

RS-18 3733 was also built in 1958 - by MLW.
It had a top speed of 75 mph.

A westbound VIA is leaving Brockville.

Another VIA westbound is arriving at Brockville.
The second engineer has just dropped off.

My manual Yashica FX-2 also picked up the headend activity.

I understand that the baggage car position during this era was held by a fully-qualified
train crew employee - who also had enough seniority to bid on and obtain the position.

If you consider the operating realities through most of Canada, keeping a fully-qualified person here during the age of steam made pretty good sense. In a case where a passenger train experienced an equipment failure, etc, on non-ABS track before radios ... it was probably best to keep both the engineer and fireman with the steam locomotive. If providing flagging protection for the headend had been necessary, the baggageman could have been employed to flag there or to flag adjacent main tracks if there had been a derailment. 

I worked really hard to make a case for the rules-qualified baggageman. 

At the particular moment, circa 2000-2002(?), when VIA went to the 'flight attendant' model of on-board staffing for 'The Corridor' - in which only those in the cab had operating responsibilities ... I was riding back from a CP Annual Meeting in Toronto (way back when the conglomerate and/or railway still had their meetings at the Royal York). One year, they brought a locomotive simulator to the hotel to provide demonstrations of the technology - but I digress ...

Back to the VIA train, Toronto to Kingston ... The conductor union rep in our car - who had just been told of VIA's change to passenger train staffing - was rather ... upset. He spoke of just being told they 'weren't needed' anymore and this loud dissertation continued on down the track. 

... The fact that the engineers were willing to go back and heft baggage was key to VIA's implementation of the new staffing plan at that point.

A few years prior to that event ... after a through VIA train made its last intercity stop at Kingston, an engineer would routinely radio back to needle his boss and the rest of the train crew ... 'Sit back ... relax ... and enjoy the rest of your ride.'

*  *  *

I kept a point-and-shoot Vivitar 110 flash camera in the car for quick trackside use.
With some sun at a good angle, it produced a nice result at Gananoque with this westbound.
I think some rounded-fuel-tank MLW 6-axle units are along for the ride.
The radio elements on the station aerial predated the modern steel tower equipment.

*  *  *

Six days into Lester B Pearson's time as Canadian Prime Minister,
while John F Kennedy was the US President and not long after Cuban Missile Crisis ...
CNR put out this employee timetable.

This was only three years after the end of steam
and many of the railway's features had not yet been scaled back.

Both Belleville and Brockville were engine crew change points.