Check out the massive amount of sparks put out by this steam locomotive at a coal mine in China:
Here’s the link, in case the embedded video doesn’t show up for you: https://youtu.be/8grHpQAB1jA?t=5m19s
That’s scary amazing! The 3rd and 4th trains in that video look like they are about to blow.
What’s happening when the chuff sound suddenly gets a lot faster? That happens a few times in that video.
Thanks for posting that, Ray!
Did you notice that in the first 2, daylight runs, the pop valve was wide open? That makes me wonder if the fireman had over-stoked the locomotive.
Jim Rowson said:
That’s scary amazing! The 3rd and 4th trains in that video look like they are about to blow.
What’s happening when the chuff sound suddenly gets a lot faster? That happens a few times in that video.
Thanks for posting that, Ray!
That would be the drivers slipping for some reason.
Maybe the locomotives are stoked so hot because they are running to a sudden increase in grade.
But that many embers around a coal mine is just a bit scary.
Floor sweeps … cheap coal, pulverized and full of crap.
Ever hear of a Stack Rapper? A hogger that tends to lift the coal off the grates…
I imagine those Chinese locos have stokers and they run 'em full open to get enough heat because the engineers run 'em wide open, lifting the fire… meanwhile I’ll huddle in a corner under a wet blanket.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
Could we install sparklers on our g scale stuff and have them look like that?
Thanks Dave M.
My thoughts, as someone that actually fires a steam loco.
If that was my engine, I would jump off as fast as I could. All that white smoke… its STEAM! Lots and lots of it. WAY to much! I think that the only way you make that much steam out the stack is if you have a massive tube leak. If you have that big of a tube leak, and it’s peeing all over your fire, you have to way over fire, by adding a ton of coal, and then to keep the fire going you have to turn on the blower full blast to make enough draw to keep it all going. Tons of draft, tons of fire! A whole lot of un-burnt cinders being sucked thru the tubes and then blasted out of the stack. If you watch the video there isn’t much chuffing out the stack cause the blower is blasting a ton of steam constantly out the top. The smoke box is probably as full as it could possibly be, also necessitating the full blast of the blower.
The sudden speeding up of the chuffs, is when the wheels loose adhesion and start free running ( slipping ). It isn’t good on a loco’s drive train, When it happens you quickly, back off the throttle, and hit the sand, and then when it hooks up again ( grabs adhesion ) you open up the throttle to regain power. The cause is always to much load (tonnage ) for the track conditions. Like you can easily pull the load on dry tracks, but when it stars raining you start to slip. Fall leaves, snow, and even catapillers can be a source to look out for. But just overloaded on dry tracks can also be a cause, Plus an inexperienced driver thats too aggressive on the throttle.
Big compounding of things going wrong. I don’t know how long a loco can take that kind of abuse and stay together.
I’m doing, so far, a really good job of keeping my mouth shut -->
richard vaughn 2 weeks ago (edited)
Steam trains are potentially more environmentally freindly depending of whether it burns coal or wood. Also steam engines have way more torque at lower speeds which allows the engine to turn slower which reduces maintenance. Steam engines also dont idle.
REPLY
Adam Dufresne
5 months ago
The Sparkes Meen it is a wood fired Engine. And the Spark Arrestor has been removed for more Air flow thru both the steam and firebox, to produce more Torque and speed to pull the heavy loads. I found this to explain it better…
Scott FW
1 second ago
Re: "The Sparkes Meen it is a wood fired Engine. " Okay, let me get this straight, at a coal mine in the desert the management is hauling wood to the desert to use to fire the locomotives at that coal mine. I see.
The person who posted the video stated that the loco is coal-fired. Also, I’ve seen other videos of that railroad taken during the day, and you can clearly see coal in the tender.
In the UK we have a well known 4-6-2 Bullied tender loco called The City of Wells nicknamed “The Volcano”. So called because of the seemingly prodigious amounts of steam and smoke that issues from its chimney compared to other classmates still in existence and running. The reason ? Pretty much unique in the large size loco scene here, and compared to its classmates, it is fitted with a Giesel Ejector type exhaust drafting system.
Ray Dunakin said:
The person who posted the video stated that the loco is coal-fired. Also, I’ve seen other videos of that railroad taken during the day, and you can clearly see coal in the tender.
I agree with Ray, several years ago these vids made the rounds.
I’m guessing there are no baffles in the smoke box and it’s bad coal that takes the blower to make it burn hotter. Also they are from a time when China was less enlightened.
Thanks for filling this clueless one in on the various bits of info. Entertaining and informative 
John Caughey said:
Ray Dunakin said:
The person who posted the video stated that the loco is coal-fired. Also, I’ve seen other videos of that railroad taken during the day, and you can clearly see coal in the tender.
I agree with Ray, several years ago these vids made the rounds.
I’m guessing there are no baffles in the smoke box and it’s bad coal that takes the blower to make it burn hotter. Also they are from a time when China was less enlightened.
AH, what does that mean? Less enlightened? The Chinese have been running steam locomotives for quite a long time.
David Maynard said:
John Caughey said:
Ray Dunakin said:
The person who posted the video stated that the loco is coal-fired. Also, I’ve seen other videos of that railroad taken during the day, and you can clearly see coal in the tender.
I agree with Ray, several years ago these vids made the rounds.
I’m guessing there are no baffles in the smoke box and it’s bad coal that takes the blower to make it burn hotter. Also they are from a time when China was less enlightened.
AH, what does that mean? Less enlightened? The Chinese have been running steam locomotives for quite a long time.
Well my intention was: Lately they have become more pollution conscious… I don’t think they would allow that today.
Oh, ah. Ok.