steam heat in passenger cars

[Ted Miles]

Folks,
         i was thinking about all this winter activity. Did the WW&F have steam heat in the passenger cars? By the time the #8 and #9 got to the WW&F got to the railway, they did not seem to have it.

One of the Edaville cars had steam heat from their Christmas activity.  And some piping may be cheaper than trying to build an old style heating stove.

Thoughts?

Ted Miles, WW&F Member

[Steve Smith]

I hope the powers that be will place any piping, steam, vacuum or whatever, such that it doesn't make it hard to use tools to push journal box waste into proper position. A couple of journal boxes on Coach 3 are tough for me to do because of pipe in interfering position.

[Mike Fox]

Hi Ted. No idea why no one has answered. The original railroad heated with stoves, and I do not think steam heat was used.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

The original WW&F did not use steam heat, as far  as we know.  Our coaches 3 and 8 have remnants of Edaville’s steam heat system, but these remnants are very deteriorated and not serviceable.  We’ve considered installing a steam heat system, as well as stoves as the original railway used.  At the moment there’s not been any hard fast decision.

See ya
Jason

[Ed Lecuyer]

Even excursion car 103 has remnants of the Edaville steam heat. (In the winter, the excursion cars were covered with clear vinyl. I remember riding in them, and the "windows" would fog up with condensation.)

I think we should reinstall stoves into our cars. For safety purposes, however, they would probably have to be "powered" by something other than coal or wood. Maybe a kerosene heater (like the ones we use now with the automatic shutoff) but shaped/enclosed to resemble the cast iron original?

[Roger Cole]

The Strasburg Railroad coaches have working coal stoves for winter use.

[Ed Lecuyer]

You can buy 1869 railroad coal stoves new:
http://www.usstove.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_66&product_id=122

[Philip Marshall]

The Strasburg RR mechanical department also sells reproduction Spear No. 16 coach stoves/car heaters, but I don't know if that would be an appropriate design for us. Here's a picture: https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/wp-content/gallery/reproduction-parts-caps/newparts_large_stove1.jpg

[Dale Reynolds]

Ed, that stove is for depots only, rolling stock had solid, flat bottoms so they wouldn't tip over.   dale

[John Kokas]

IMHO we should have stoves versus steam heat to stay historically and period correct.  The Strasburg reproduction might be a bit big for our needs.  I have a smaller "caboose" stove that I use out in my shed which I think is a Chicago Stove Co. unit.  They made identical units for cabooses and buildings, the only difference was the caboose stoves had duck feet with a hole for a lag bolt to screw into the floor.

[Mark Spremulli]

I would think that if the museum is planning on more winter activities that coal stoves would  be the way to go. If the car is set out at Christmas time then the cars would still have heat. Plus each coach could be heated separately and you already have coal. Just an opinion

[John Kokas]

I came across a website for small wood/coal stoves for shipboard use.  Go to shipmatestove.com and look at their "Skippy" model.  It's just about the right size and BTU output for our small coaches.  It also has the lagscrew holes in the legs which will meet our needs and with a 4 inch flue and damper which should match our roof openings.  A little bit pricey but a nice unit and made in New England.

[John Kokas]

Correction:  Shipmate is made in Bedminster, PA - not 15 min. from me.  They used to be in CT.

[Wayne Laepple]

Most coal stoves I've seen in cabooses and passenger cars are tied down to their base  with rods from the stovetop, in addition to being bolted or lagged to the floor, since many such stoves might come apart into their discrete sections in the event of a derailment or other accident.