Don, I am curious about the operation of the trailer booster engine on the 1522, and I would appreciate any insights that you could provide. Was it an on or off proposition? If not, did it have its own “throttle” and get its steam from the turret? Or, did it get its steam from the dry pipe and was it controlled by the main throttle? How were the gears disengaged when it wasn’t in use? What was its effective speed range? Did it get a lot of use during the 1522’s excursion life? Any other comments? -keb-
Re: Booster Engine Questions--+another steam question I'm also interested in the booster operation and I'd like also like to find out about automatic bell ringers and how best to spot them--I suppose a bell without a rope would probably be a clue to an automatic?? Tom
"Automatic" ringers, had a small cylinder on the yoke. A valve in the cab, put the bell in motion. Air powered bells still generally had rope pulls. There may have been a few of the exotics such as the PRR T-1, which had its bell hidden, that didn't have rope pulls.
One time when I was a kid down at the Springfield depot probably around 1947-1948, a (daytime) train pulled in. Likely the Will Rogers or Sunnyland and it had a spiffy semi-steramlined engine with one of the streamline pilots (like #1503, but it could have been one of the 1000's or 1060's). Anyway it had an auto bell ringer and I thought that was really cool! Just like the "new" diesels...I always wondered about them--which engines were equipped--were they randomly applied etc. Tom
Was it an on or off proposition? If not, did it have its own “throttle” and get its steam from the turret? Or, did it get its steam from the dry pipe and was it controlled by the main throttle? How were the gears disengaged when it wasn’t in use? What was its effective speed range? Did it get a lot of use during the 1522’s excursion life? Any other comments? The booster on the 1522 (and all the other booster equipped Frisco engines) had three positions,off, idle and run. There is a valve alongside the reverse lever quadrant in the cab. Before using it, the procedure is to idle it to warm it up and it has cylinder cocks on it that will close automatically after a period of time. Then you move the valve to the run position, put the reverse lever down in the corner and engage the pawl on the quadrant, which operates a cylinder under the booster and engages the gear with the gear on the axle. When you open the engine main throttle, the booster receives steam from the line from the fireman's side cylinder. The wider you open the throttle, the more steam the cylinders get and also the booster. If the booster should slip, theres an air valve you can push to cut it out until you release the valve. When the engine is moving enough where you can start "hooking it up" after the reverse lever passes a certain point the pawl drops out and disengages the booster. You can also knock it down sooner if you wish. 18-20 MPH was the fastest speed to use it, and you shouldn't cut it in over about 10 mph if you are moving already. We didn't use it much on the 1522, but towards the end, I would use it just for the novelty of it and to get the train moving sooner. It's exhaust is quite audible and sounds like a little Shay engine running. Frisco was a believer in them to get trains moving up to track speed quicker as well as help start a heavier train. I always thought of it as a little insurance policy.
