2. Ashes are discharged into small shallow pits of non-combustible construction. Some pits have metal ties with 12 to 18 inches of ash storage below base of rail. Most generally the pits are between the rails and from 18 to 30 inches deep of various lengths and provided with hand hose and drainage. Such pits are used at very small terminals or in yards where switch engines would lose too much time running to the terminal ash pit for fire cleaning. Numerous other similar arrangements will be suggested by local physical conditions, particularly where engine. track is located on a high bank. In such cases, several small pits can be built under the engine track with one side open next the low ground and small dump cars used on a light level track. Where ashes cannot be wasted with a short haul, but must be loaded into cars, an inclined runway or some simple mechanical aid may be used in loading the ash cars. If much of mechanical equipment seems justified, then consideration should be given to other common types of pits.

The main advantage of these simple pit arrangements is the low cost per engine of handling ashes when proper allowance is made for the cost per engine of investment in ash plant, ash cars and track on which ash cars are placed. Another advantage is due to the possibility of dumping ashes at one time and removing them at any later time that may be convenient.

3. A time-honored ash pit is that with a depressed loading track and with paved pits under the engine tracks, the ashes being removed by shoveling into cars. At some terminals where locomotive cranes are available, ashes are removed with clam shell buckets. A "single" pit has one engine track and one depressed loading track, a “double" pit has two engine tracks with the depressed loading track between. Formerly many such pits were constructed with both rails supported on pedestals, but as men are no longer required to work under engines to clean the fires, such pits are now sometimes built with one rail bearing on a masonry wall and the other rail supported by cast iron or cast steel pedestals. Some roads find the masonry bearing wall to be expensive and difficult to maintain in a safe condition, and recommend that both rails be supported on pedestals with thin curtain walls used between the pedestals on the closed side of the pit. These pedestals are often spaced 30 to 48 inches apart, dependent upon driver wheel loads and form of beam used to support the rail. Single rails without extra support between pedestals are too light for heavy wheel loads. One and two rail supports are made by inverting the rail without riveting to the track rail and by placing bearing castings between two rails and bolting the combination. Sometimes the track rails are supported on I beams, in which case the span generally varies from five to twelve feet and the cast pedestals are more often cylindrical and filled with concrete rather than the common type with ribbed webs. These pedestals are securely anchored to masonry and the pit is paved generally with either fire brick or vitrified brick on a concrete base. The retaining wall next the depressed track should be raised slightly above the top of the paving to prevent ashes washing over it, and should be pro

vided with drainage holes, unless drainage is obtained by sloping the pavement in the reverse direction, as is sometimes done. The vertical distance from top of rail of depressed track to level of edge of paving should be about five feet. This height does not require a large investment for the depressed track and retaining wall and yet provides for easy shoveling of ashes into such cars as are generally assigned to ash pit service. Some hopper bottom cars measure 10 ft. 8 in. above top of rail and where such cars are apt to be used, an increase in height of the retaining wall may be desirable. Suitable drainage must be provided for the depressed track, which is a feature that generally gives a deal of trouble. The amount of normal ash storage afforded by this type of pit depends upon length of pit, depth from base of rail of engine tracks to pavement and upon the number of cars that can be placed on the loading track. One road secures additional storage by using two depressed tracks between the two engine tracks. With either labor trouble or failure to switch loaded cars, the amount of ash storage is immediately reduced to that which can be dumped into the pit from the engines. Where many engines are handled, this can never be much more than enough to take care of rush periods without shoveling. Practical handling usually requires that even during rush hours, one of more men be kept continuously busy shoveling. Depth of pit should not be less than three feet and preferably four feet. Greater depths will result in a decided increase in construction costs and in added length of depressed track. Those who recommend this type of pit point out the following advantages:

(a) No skilled labor is required.

(b) Maintenance does not affect service, as repairs are restricted to replacement of pedestals and rail supports with spare parts, or else to repairs of pavement which can readily be made without impairing service.

(c) Pit can be operated in all kinds of weather if labor be available.

(d) Loaded cars do not freeze so solidly as with water pits. (e) Construction cost compares favorably with that of other

types of pits.

(f) Where fire cleaners would be idle a great part of the time, their use to load cinders does not add to the total cost and the cost per engine may therefore be as low as with other types of same cost of construction.

The disadvantages are:

(a) Unskilled labor under recent industrial conditions is seldom required to do so dirty, hard and disagreeable work as is normally necessary at a busy pit of this type. In stormy weather, or during extreme cold or heat the working conditions are about as severe as labor will stand even when labor is plentiful and afraid of losing work. Moving in section forces to clean these pits is no very unusual occurrence.

(b) The quick cleaning of engine ash pans makes it desirable to have standing room or a platform on each side of the engine at the track level which is an impracticable arrangement on the open side of this type of pit.

(c) Uniform operation at the larger terminals requires switching of ash cars practically as soon as loaded, which almost never suits other yard work. In some locations, it is possible to place several empties on a track and drop the cars as they are loaded, the same as at coal tipples, but this is exceptional. (d) At the very time that proper operation of ash pit is most essential to train movements in periods of congestion, extreme weather conditions, etc., there is more liability of interrupted service due to the labor element, limited ash storage space, car shortage and lack of switching. This occurs, too, when supervising officials should be free to handle other pressing troubles.

(e) When so many engines are handled that added men are required just to load the ashes, the cost of operation is apt to be higher than for other types of pits.

4. Water pits are of two general classes, which are conveniently designated as shallow water pits and deep water pits. They are used with terminals handling from forty to several hundred engines per day. Shallow pits are long pits three and a half to four feet wide and about four feet deep, constructed between the rails. Deep water pits are usually nine to thirteen feet in depth, constructed to give a large amount of ash storage and arranged for removal of ashes from outside the engine track. Both kinds of pits are kept nearly full of water, thus quenching all fire of ashes which drop into them. Ashes are removed by clam-shell buckets operated from either locomotive or overhead traveling cranes; sometimes gantry cranes are used.

Shallow pits are so narrow that they require especially long buckets for reasonable capacity. Such pits are usually arranged in units of three or five tracks spanned by a crane. With the three-track unit, continuous pits are provided for the two outside tracks, while the middle track is used merely as an ash car track. With the five-track unit, pits and ash car tracks alternate similarly. Thus ashes can be removed from any portion of any pit not covered by an engine and loaded into cars without interference with work of cleaning fires of any engine or without carrying ashes above either engines or workmen. Tracks should be spaced not less than fifteen feet center to center based upon the need of good working space for men on the ground between ash cars and adjacent engines. Overhead traveling cranes are usually used with these pits. The pit itself needs to have some metal protection, such as embedded rails, placed on its sides and bottom on account of the scraping action of the clamshell buckets. Drainage should be provided not only near the top of these pits, but also at the bottom to facilitate cleaning them out for inspection or repairs. A sloped pavement is used between tracks draining to the pits over the head of the track rails.

The common arrangement of deep water pits is that of a rectangular double-track pit, with one rail of each track on a side wall and with the other rail on pedestals, the clamshell bucket being operated between the two tracks. One road has many single pits at intervals along one engine track, using the adjacent track on the open side of the pits as an ash loading track, using locomotive cranes. Many other arrangements are possible and good where enough engines are handled to justify and require more extensive and expensive track layout and pit construction. With the usual double track pit, no special ash car track is provided, and therefore ashes can be loaded only when few engines are on the pit so that one engine track can be blocked by the ash cars. In some cases, an ash car track is located adjacent to one side of the pit, all three tracks being spanned by the loading crane. With this track arrangement, the loading of ashes into cars interferes with the handling of engines over the pit only to the extent of providing an open space between engines through which the clamshell bucket may be handled to the ash car. A number of pits have been built with three tracks, the middle track being exclusively an ash car track. This arrangement adds greatly to the cost of construction, which must be justified wholly by the complete lack of interference between the work of cleaning fires and the work of removing ashes.

One road, after a careful study of ash pits, is now constructing a circular form of double-track deep-water pits, which apparently has many advantages, and compares favorably in cost with other pits. It accommodates two engines at a time, one on each of two tracks, and has working platforms or ground space on each side of cach engine. Railings remove the danger of men falling into the pits. This type of pit facilitates the flow of ashes to the center of the pit where they are most readily handled by clamshell bucket, and has several advantages in construction. The circular wall resists earth pressure cheaper than can be done with retaining wall sections and favors the use of quite deep pits with ample ash storage without such a large increase in construction costs as would be required with the rectangular form of pit. Again, the outer circular concrete shell or wall can be built above ground and sunk by the so-called "open crib" method, thus saving cost of sheathing, and some yardage of excavation and backfill. The balance of the concrete in foundations and inner walls can be cheaply placed. By the construction of several such pits properly spaced and serving the same two-engine tracks, fully as great engine capacity, and as nearly compact an arrangement, can be obtained as with rectangular pits and, it is claimed, at less cost.

Many deep-water pits have been constructed with rather long spans under the rail between supports, the rail beams consisting of various arrangements of channels and I beams. Such steel rusts and warps badly from the action of heat and the chemicals in the ashes, and unless such beams are protected or removed when necessary, they are apt to fail under some engine. Many kinds of protection have been used which increases the serviceable life of these beams, but none of which present

their ultimate replacement. Your Committee believes it would be better practice to space rail supports fairly close together, use bare steel beams, always have spare beams on hand and renew from time to time as necessary. Obviously such beams should have a surplus of strength when first installed.

The big advantage of a deep-water pit is the large amount of ash storage and the resultant dependability of handling engines over the pit.

Some criticism is raised against this type of ash pit on account of occasional accidents resulting from men falling into them. While such accidents are due to utter carelessness, your Committee feels that such safeguards should be provided as are feasible, particularly where there is considerable travel in line with the pit. Various methods have come to the attention of your Committee for safeguarding this type of pit, as follows:

(1) Railings are provided all around the pit except right at the track at the ends of the pit, where engine movement and proper engine side clearances prevent the use of railings. At the tracks, stockguards, shallow or sloping pits have been used, but they fill up with dirt, snow, ice or cinders, and apparently do little good. (2) In one instance, wooden rafts have been placed in the water between the tracks, which are removed by the crane to the end or sides when the ashes are taken out. These rafts are apparently not satisfactory, because storage space is not always available, the rafts are often damaged in handling, a hazard to employees is introduced while handling them, and they become water-logged and sink below the surface.

(3) In another instance, sectional steel gratings have been placed between the tracks and rods spaced 9 in. to 12 in. centers between the rails, these rods being wide enough apart for cinders to go through them and not wide enough apart for a man to fall through. This method completely covers the pit so as to prevent accidents, but has not proven wholly satisfactory for substantially the same reasons as in the case of the rafts.

(4) In other instances, sidewalks with railings thereon have been provided along the inside of the tracks. This removes need of care when men step down off engines, and also provides a working platform for fire cleaners. Such platforms with railings connected at the ends of the pit, when well maintained, and used in connection with fixed gratings between the rails of each track, should effectually prevent accidents. However, the use of inside platforms is impracticable unless provided for when a pit was originally constructed, as the space required for operation of the clamshell bucket cannot be reduced. In new construction, such platforms can be provided by using wider track centers and a correspondingly deeper pit to maintain the same flow line of cinders. The cost will be materially increased with rectangular pits, but not a great deal with the circular pits above described.