Topic starter
04/04/2008 6:46 pm
That boiler explosion thread got out of hand!
Bob Reynolds the term pulling a fire simply means cleaning the grates when cooling down. I never heard of any fire smothering device. This tale isn't about that.
Captain G. W, McBride worked on the Str. Duffy many times. On one of his first trips he found out about a bad practice on the part of the firemen the hard way. In order to go home soon after they landed they would allow the pressure to drop during the last half-hour of the trip from the digger to the sand yard. They had to clean their fire and bank it for the night before going home, so they started early. Unaware of this G. W., who also wanted to get home, made a quick landing, sailed into the fleet, rang to back and the engines said, "pho-o-o-o," instead of "CHOW, CHOW!"
Sure enough, the tow went on in and cornered a barge. Nothing sank, but the whole bunch got home late that night.
09/04/2008 3:43 am
Note on boiler fuel: On the Yukon River they were still fireing with wood until the boats were laid up in the 1950's.
In 1819 -1820 a boat the "Missouri Packet" was built in or near Louisville. She snagged and sank a bit above Boonville, Mo. in 1820. and was excavated 1986-7. I had a look look at the boilers and engine in Dec 1987. The boilers were 16 ft long and 34 inch in dia. They had one fire flue. The flue appears to be a return flue and entered the bottom of the
boiler and exited at the top. This flue was 16 inches in dia. I think the boilers and Engine may be on display at the Arabia museum in Kansas City. The boat was a bootjack and only one engine. I felt that she had a cut off valve. She has a simple slide valve. The paddle wheel had Iron arms and a fly wheel (balance wheel) on the side opposite the engine and crank.
Carl Jones