A few years ago I made some nice arrangements to the benefit of Steamtram Hoorn Medemblik. In return I was invited for a day out on the footplate. At long last this was the day to come along as an apprentice firemen.
1 Much to my surprise this was the loco. If I had been given the opportunity of choise I would have chosen this one. It is one of the particular beauties in the collection and I have a preference for the Limburg Tramway Company
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4 Part of prepping the loco for its run is polishing all the brass parts, which took me up the loco.
5 The brass that will turn hot needs an extra treatment with oiled cloth to limit discoloration
6 The air pump from above
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8 Typically a Dutch tramway locomotive has inside motion. It is better protected from dirt and dust and it also keeps the general public from entangling themselves unvoluntarily in the moving parts.
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10 Tiny as it may be it a perfectly normal two cylinder engine allbeit with Verhoop valve gear, basically a simpler version of Walschaerts'.
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12 While prepping the loco the attributes for brushing up the loco are sprawling all over the place.
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15 Grease pump
16 A view through the grate where a modest fir slowly heats the engine
17 Jaap, the driver, adds some wood.
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19 Paul, the firemen, my coach and friend, tends to the fire shovel
20 Two other characterics of the typical tramway locomotive are visible here: the water tanks below the footplate, and the doors that give access from the loco to the coaches vice versa during the ride.
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26 Snifter valve, allowing the engine to caost without drawing air back in from the smokebox
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29 Inside motion has the setback that it is more laborious to maintain. Jaap in "the basement" to grease and oil the engine
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32 Beforelong the engine moved forward
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35 to get more water
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43 Injector. Operating it seemed deceptively simple, then turned into some kind of black art, and gradually became a habit.
44 A party of asian tourists arrived bus.
45 Waiting for the final signal to leave.
46 And away we were. The blower needs some adjusting....
47 Road crossings slow the pace of the tram as they operated manually
48 An intermediate oiling during a stop
49 How romantic, a steam train wedding
50 Keeping the boiler around 11,5, a play between water level, boiler pressure and temperature and firing.
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52 At Medemblik
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54 Paul's bacon 'n eggs are renowned...
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59 The (left) water glass, indicating the water level in the boiler.
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62 The tiny loco towed a sizable tram, twelve steel coaches.
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64 Eastern interest for the star of the day.
65 On the way back rain set in wichich made the rails slippery. The loco had considerable trouble to keep the train moving at some places.
66 though Jaap did not seem to mind very much. On the contrary, the worse conditions got, the more he seemed to enjoy it ;-)
67 Back in Hoorn
68 I always wondered about the use of the small porthole like windows in the the driver's cab. But since today I know: you can keep an eye on the chimney which is the most important indicator how well you're firing the loco.
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70 Time for a refill. The loco takes some 500 kg of coal which is more or less depleted after one return trip.
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73 Shunting the engine back to the shed
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78 As soon as the engine came to a stand, the rain stopped, making cleaning much more comfy
79 The sun even came out.
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81 Rinsing the ash from the ashpan
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83 NS 7700 class, the "largest" operational NS steam loco
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86 The "sheep", cleaning cotton.
87 Very square inch was cleaned, so the engine was stabled dry and shining.
88 And again the mechanism was tended to.
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90 The engine was reversed into the shed.
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95 At lastly the cinders and ash were carefully scooped out of the smokebox avoiding dust as much as possible.