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Working on the cab of a locomotive brought in for repairs at the Chicago & North Western 40th Street shops, Chicago. December 1942. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano.
There were many uses for the steam generated by a locomotive than to merely drive the wheels. The man kneeling on the right is working on the automatic stoker, a steam engine in itself that drove a large screw which brought coal into the firebox. Other valve handles on the Fireman's side (the man on the left) used steam ported into the firebox to distribute the coal evenly onto the grate. The Fireman's job also included maintaining the boiler water level which again used the energy of steam to preheat and inject or pump water from the tender. Air pressure for the braking systems was maintained by a steam driven air compressors. Even the electrical systems used steam to drive small boiler-mounted turbine generators.
Other controls used steam to move the reverse linkage, activate the blower to keep the firebox draft while the locomotive was standing at a station and to open or close the cylinder cocks, clearing condensed water when getting underway.
Love this photo too, thanks to jack
Looks more complicated than I expected it to be.
TK
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