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At all water pits, good lighting is not only necessary for the fire cleaning, but it contributes greatly to safety of employees.

In cold climates, no trouble is generally experienced with freezing of deep-water pits if many engines are handled. However, the ash cars freeze solid and may make unloading very costly if not practically impossible, unless unloaded promptly. Another objection often made to deep water pits is the high cost of construction which really requires that terminal arrangements be definite enough to consider the ash pit investment a permanent one. The shallow-water pit is less costly to construct for equal engine standing room, but such pits are apt to be constructed longer to give the desired ash storage. Shallow pits are cleaned daily during a work period of from four to eight hours, while deep pits are cleaned a few hours per day or every two or three days, depending on size of pit and amount of ashes accumulated.

The better installations of both types of water pits give almost as great dependability of operation as it is possible to get, with low operating cost, provided the ash handling force does not have a deal of idle time and provided enough engines are handled to reduce the fixed charges per engine. Uniform operation depends upon suitable source of electrical power and availability of electrician in case of need if overhead and gantry cranes are used and the availability of an additional locomotive crane, if such a crane is used.

5. Most of the remaining types of ash pits commonly used either have the ashes discharged in a hopper or a series of buckets, from which the ashes are removed to cars by a great variety of mechanical arrange

ments.

The most generally used ash pit in this group is the "Robertson Conveyor," although during the last few years a very similar ash hoist known as the "N. & W." has also been put upon the market. The essential features of the latter were developed on the Norfolk & Western Railway. Both consist essentially of hoppers discharging into cars which are hoisted by cable on an inclined track and dumped into cars on an adjacent track. The Robertson Conveyor is installed in single and double units, the latter being required for ash pans with several hoppers or long discharge. It consists of a track opening between the rails about five feet long with ties protected by metal aprons, through which ashes fall into skips, holding about one and one-half cubic yards. The skips are hoisted either by air or electricity on a structural steel frame work which extends over the loading track to supporting metal bent between tracks. The required air pressure is from ninety to one hundred pounds.

The N. & W. conveyor has a cast iron hopper, eight feet long, and nearly two and one-half feet deep, with controlling gate, discharging into a skip holding nearly three cubic yards. It is intended to be used with electric power.

Both of these conveyors have the disadvantage that to meet commercial competition they must be standardized or of fixed dimensions as to area over which they receive ashes, and as to ash capacity of skips, whereas these requirements as given by locomotives in actual use vary

over wide extremes of dimensions and capacity. The single Robertson unit should be purchased only when it is known to have sufficient ash capacity. In the double Robertson unit, the small ash skips are normally spaced eight feet center to center, which is very favorable to receive cinders from many different classes of power. For some engines, the hopper of the N. & W. type is too short, but it is entirely long enough for the great majority of engines. If either of these conveyors are installed, the requirements of power in service should be checked. Both lack arrangements for standing room of fire cleaners on one side of the engine.

The advantage of these conveyors lies in low cost and easy work for labor, combined with very little delay in handling engines on account of the feature of loading ashes. However, a mechanical failure makes it necessary to abandon the pit immediately, because there is no storage. The amount of water used to quench fire is under control and cars need not freeze so solidly as with water pits. On the other hand, careless labor will load live ashes and burn cars, which is also true for many other types of pits. Compressed air may give trouble in freezing weather. Again these pits must always have cars into which the ashes can be loaded or the ashes will have to be dumped on the ground, in order not to delay cleaning engine fires. To guard against delay due to lack of switching service, at least two cars should be spotted for each loading point, and where a number of conveyor units are used they should be spaced at least three ash-car lengths apart. This will permit a loaded car to be dropped down and a second car loaded independent of conditions at any other loading point. A suggested track layout has three tracks, engine tracks outside and loading track between, with conveyor unit from each track discharging into the same car. This arrangement is open to the criticism that during switching of ash cars no hoisting with the conveyor can be done unless crossovers are especially arranged to provide for at least two separate operations in switching the ash cars.

A somewhat common ash-handling arrangement has hoppers in each of several tracks and under the hoppers there is a transverse tunnel or chamber in which an ash car is operated. This car or cars receive ashes from the track hoppers, and is then moved to the end of tunnel and hoisted for discharge into cars or similar results are obtained by other mechanical means. In some installations bucket conveyors are used and overhead storage in concrete bins is provided. In others, instead of a single hopper in each track, there are several buckets on separate cars which can be moved and dumped into the hopper or ash car. This type has a peculiar advantage, as it can be used with main tracks for cleaning fires of engines on line of road. It also favors use of multiple tracks either as ash-pit tracks, outbound tracks or open running tracks, according to terminal needs at different times of day.

A few ash plants have a continuous series of ash buckets in long pits between the rails, the buckets being moved under overhead fixed hoists or structures for unloading either directly into cars or into overhead storage bins.

The successful handling of ashes from stationary boilers by means of the suction from a steam jet has led to several similar installations for railroad ash pits. Fairly high pressure is necessary and the steam consumption is great.

Most all of these special arrangements require expensive construction and nearly continuous removal of ashes. Then,. again, the operation of such plants generally separates the force of fire cleaners from those removing ashes and thus prevents utilizing the idle time of fire cleaners. Most such plans must be justified by their adaptation to peculiar local operating requirements or to a desire to consolidate several classes of terminal work.

Locomotive Fire Cleaning

Ash pit design and layout must be based upon a correct understanding of the methods used and work done in cleaning locomotive fires. A statement of the essential facts is given in the "Summary" of this report and will be largely omitted here.

The laws of both Canada and the United States require locomotives to be equipped so that ash pans can be emptied without the necessity of any employee going under them. The United States law is known as the Ash Pan Act, approved May 30, 1908. It has the wording "unlawful to use any locomotive in moving interstate or foreign traffic, not equipped with an ash pan, which can be dumped, or emptied and cleaned without the necessity of any employee going under such locomotive." The Canadian law is found in General Order No. 87, Order No. 15988, February 17, 1912, of the Board of Railway Commissioners. Its wording is"shall equip such locomotives as may be in use with ash pans that can be dumped or emptied without the necessity of any employee going under such locomotive, except in cases of emergency." Another order of this same Board, General Order 107, July 4, 1913, covers the prevention of fires originating on the railroad and contains the following requirements: (a) Prescribes covering of the openings of ash pans with heavy sheet iron dampers or screen netting dampers, and fastening of same. (b) Prescribes location and use at certain parts of the year of overflow pipes from lifting injectors for wetting ash pans. (c) Prohibits employees opening dampers of such engines under certain conditions.

(d) Regulates dumping of fires in the following wording: "No such railway company shall permit fire, live coals or ashes to be deposited upon its tracks or right-of-way, unless they are extinguished immediately thereafter, except in pits provided for the purpose."

Obviously, the actual construction of ash pans, so far as location, dimensions and methods of discharge are concerned, must govern the layout of track, hoppers or pits designed to receive the ash discharge. Numerous representative ash pan plans were secured from leading railroads and from the locomotive manufacturers. These plans show an endless variety of ash pan arrangements, evidently due to need of ash pan

capacity under different restrictions as to space and clearance, especially for modern heavy power. Some of these ash pan arrangements are essentially indicated in the accompanying drawing. Types I and II are common examples of those pans that discharge ashes at one point or in one pile. In type II the maximum length of opening reported was 36 inches. Type I requires use of blower, type II covers all single hoppers discharging by gravity. Width of discharge opening for all inside pans is seldom under 20 inches, and often 24 inches. A few plans show 27 inches. Types IV and V illustrate the more common arrangements where ash pans have two hoppers. Numerous other pans are used with two hoppers or two discharge openings. Some gates slide horizontally, some are hinged at the top and others at the bottom. One ash pan really consists of two pans of type I placed one ahead of the other, and both being flushed in the same direction. Another has similar flat slopes to the pan, but flushes in opposite directions. In many the hoppers slope in each direction so that ashes tend to drop vertically while others, even with a gravity discharge, tend to pile up in one direction. For types IV and V the out-to-out length of openings without regard to method of discharge varies from 42 in. to 125 in. and includes such variety as the following: 42 in., 44 in., 48 in., 52 in., 60 in., 64 in., 73 in., 81 in., 90 in., 91 in., 112 in., 125 in. Few plans show over 91 in. Some U. S. R. R. Administration standard plans show about 48 in., on the other hand some heavy engines built in 1918 show 87 in. to 90 in.

Type VIII represents inside ash pans with three hoppers. Apparently there is more uniformity of design with this type than for any other ash pan arrangement. It seems to cover largely recent design approved by the U. S. R. R. Administration. Out-to-out lengths of discharge openings vary from 82 in. to 99 in. Most gate arrangements are of the type shown Types III, VI, VII and IX show a variety of ash pan arrangements with pans both inside and outside the track rails. The overall length of discharge is from 103 to 115 inches, the overall width is from 106 to 112 inches. Practically no ash pits are planned to receive ashes on the outside of the rails, so that the use of these outside pans, especially with modern engine of large tractive power is a disturbing feature of ash pit design, unless such construction may be considered exceptional. From correspondence with locomotive manufacturers, your Committee believes that outside pans will receive only limited use and that they should not be considered in ash pit design except where actually in use.

From the above data, it is evident that a large railroad system, having a great variety of power, needs to use ash-receiving hoppers of very liberal length, with some extra allowance for spotting engines and for the spread and piling up of ashes beyond the extreme out-to-out lengths of discharge openings. All the power used on any one road may, however, discharge ashes over a very short length, so that at present short hoppers will give as good service as longer ones. Such facts make it difficult for your Committee to present definite conclusions and recommendations for general use throughout the country, and make it much more advisable in this report that information be given and underlying considerations indicated with design to be fixed by local operating requirements.

The amount of ash storage which is possible with any type of ash pit design is fundamentally important to uninterrupted ash pit service and in estimating the capacity of the pits as to number of engines which can be handled during rush periods and per day. The amount of ash per locomotive is dependent upon the kind of cleaning done, grate area of engines, character of coal, and operating features as affecting condition of fire. Obviously real ash pit design must be based upon classes of power in service and tests of ash per engine for the terminal under consideration. A check of 7,013 fire cleanings showed 1.41 cubic yards per engine with a good grade of coal and with the largest power having a grate area of 54 sq. ft. Other reports indicate more ash per engine. Your Committee recommends that at least two cubic yards be allowed per engine for figuring average storage capacity and that for hopper capacity not less than 22 to 3 cubic yards be allowed for modern engines having 80 or more sq. ft. of grate area.

The capacity of an ash pit in terms of engines handled over it in rush hours is dependent either on its physical size or engine standing capacity or upon the operating force employed. The latter can be changed from time to time to meet varying needs, but physical capacity generally is fixed. It is determined by the time actually required to clean engine fires plus some practical allowance for lost time due to interference from other engine handling or lack of attention. Your Committee desired to make an extensive check of the time actually required to clean fires of various classes of power so as to secure a reliable average figure, but very little data was furnished.

One report may be summarized as follows:

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Where local data has not been secured, it is suggested that capacity be estimated on the basis of an engine staying on the pit 45 minutes and requiring 30 minutes cleaning by two men. Capacity thus estimated will probably be exceeded in actual operation unless a large part of the power is heavy, or there are other unfavorable conditions.

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