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Thanks. Footage is a bit grainy, but you get a feel for what things are like on the footplate.

krnlg

Just testing the safety valve !!

This is the oldest comment I have seen in a long time. Greetings from the future, if you're still out there. =D (How did the exam go?)

I knew you had left a comment on one of my old videos!

Pardeep Pandher ...hard work yes but also fun!

Yes Ed, it was about the only thing I had in my favour as I am naturally left handed...I would have made it look a lot worse otherwise!

strake750 Well, I would have said "challenging" rather than awful. It's actually very enjoyable trying to pit your skills against a living breathing machine. With an experienced fireman this would have looked a lot easier!

It is England. North Yorkshire to be precise, on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Mega Calculation of Sum

You're an idiot if you think a "rag" is going to give you any protection from serious heat for long periods and even more of an idiot to think you have to have or will ever get a "feel" for MECHANICAL "CONTROLS" THAT ARE ONLY PROVIDING MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE TO OPERATE VALVES. Especially when as PRESSURES CHANGE THE EFFORT NEEDED TO OPERATE THE VALVES CHANGES. Which of course is why most "controls" are excessively "strong" so any change in pressure and required effort at the valve results in a far smaller change in "feel" at the controls. Those "old timers" are using rags because good, high-quality SYNTHETIC GLOVES for continuous exposure to high temps are difficult or impossible to find or afford over there. LEATHER GLOVES are a very poor choice for exposure to continuous heat. The leather literally dries out and gets stiff and "high heat" gloves like welding gloves have even shorter lives in those conditions than high-quality, fitted and tanned leather gloves do. Welding gloves are made cheap and big for easy "installation" and "removal" and to make them disposable and prevent guys from feeling stuck with them when they start getting stiff and dangerous. The amount of time these "professionals" spend fucking with the controls and making changes that will only require an additional 2 or 3 MORE changes as a result proves they don't have the slightest fucking idea what they're doing or are just making it look "good" for the camera. But I'm pretty sure its the formula. You sure as hell can't need to shove coal like a motherfucker for two minutes and then take a brake for give if you're actually "feeding the fire" correctly. Apparently these fools also don't get that as speed increases, so does the "volumetric efficiency" of the engine and LESS STEAM VOLUME (displayed as pressure when "confined" in the boiler) is required to maintain speed. Just like a regular car or truck needs more power to ACCELERATE to 60 mph than it takes to STAY THERE , so does a locomotive. The overall fuel consumption might be about the same on a lbs. per horsepower-hour basis, but less torque is being produced and over a shorter period of time so the "mileage" increases.

+Rallarbusen I can see _you've_ never fired on a loco smaller than an Austerity 0-6-0ST!

maheed 4290 Sorry, but what does wweg mean? Weird, Wacky English Geezer?

Yeah, same as most British whistles. They all sound a bit pre-pubescent!

Looks like some form of Hard coal too me, perfectly good for burning in the firebox, smokey stuff and very volatile. The lumps are all a similar size tbh just save the larger ones for the back of the fire and the smaller stuff for the front of the fire.

what a load of rubbish DEEREMEYER1. Clearly you have no experience of steam locos.

+DEERMEYER1 There speaks someone with no firsthand experience of coal, firing, steam locomotives, or British railways! That looked like pretty decent coal to me. Remember that in general the coal we have in the UK is a much higher quality than that which is available in the US. Over here you're always taught that if the coal doesn't 'ring' against the shovel, it's either rubbish coal or you're doing it wrong. Of course the coal won't instantly burst into flame, what were you expecting? It's a steam loco, you've got to plan about ten minutes in advance of what you're doing. You can't just bung a round on and expect it to react instantly! And to answer your question, no, we don't have 'crushers'. Generally the coal gets broken up on shed, or (particularly nowadays) the railway will just buy coal already around the right size. A bit of variation doesn't matter - you just put the larger lumps at the back, and the smaller ones at the front (though it will vary a lot from loco to loco). I'm not sure what you're suggesting by putting "British" in scare quotes. That loco is immediately recognisable from the cab-layout as a BR Standard of some sort, in this case a class 4 no. 75029. All the BR Standards (as in fact were all British steam locos!) were designed and built entirely in the UK, which is the case even to this day. In short, I'm going to assume you're some sort of troll aiming to get a reaction, in which case - well done! But if not, and you genuinely don't have a clue about steam locomotives, then I hope this short explanation has been of use and interest to you. Good day. =)