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SEABOARD CHANGES FROM COAL TO WOOD-FIRED ENGINES.. 1902

Posted: Wed July 31, 2013, 10:42 pm
by Bruce Osburn
FROM: THE TIMES, Richmond, Va., October 11, 1902.

WOOD BURNERS.
Colonel Frank Huger, superintendent of the Second Division of the Seaboard Air Line, says an order has been issued for all engines on the Carolina Central from Hamlet to Wilmington to be changed from coal to wood burners on account of the scarcity of coal. He says the company hopes to get coal enough to supply all main line engines.

The Atlantic Coast Line is having many of its engines changed to wood burners.

Re: SEABOARD CHANGES FROM COAL TO WOOD-FIRED ENGINES.. 1902

Posted: Mon September 16, 2013, 8:15 pm
by jhscarborough
I read, also, that trains running to Florida south of Hamlet were converted to wood because wood was more plentiful than coal in the deep south. Some of the conversions were done at the Hamlet Shops. As a historian I apologize for not being able to cite my source, but I swear I read it.

It's fairly easy to go from coal to wood—grate size and tender style—but not so easy to go the other way. Coal takes beefier walls in the firebox—some were bricked arches—and stouter tubes in the box to accommodate the higher BTU output.