August 5, 2005

• I’ve been having nightmares about firing for the past week.

  No, seriously, I have. Guess that’s just a tad indicative of how much
  I’ve been doing it for over a month now…oy. (Not to mention muscle
  soreness that lasts for about two days.)

  However, firing is not always as horrid as all that. In fact, earlier
  this week, Bill and I conducted a little experiment – left town with a
  slightly higher water level than usual. Now mind you, I had a
  thoroughly miserable time working with Bill in the shop and on the
  engine for a number of months. But he’s lightened up a great deal since
  I got qualified, and when we got to our turnaround point the other day,
  with 165 PSI in the boiler (which is damn good) and the water sight
  glasses half full (which is ideal), he took a look in the firebox to
  see what the coal bed looked like. Then he straightened up, shook my
  hand and said, “That’s how that’s done, my friend! THAT is how that’s done!!”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. And we had no trouble for the rest of the
  day. I fired for Bill again today, and even though a couple of trips
  were a little bit hairy pressure-wise by the time we crested the hill,
  we barely broke a sweat. (That, of course, may be due to the fact that
  the fire was evaporating all my sweat before it even escaped my pores.
  )

  Well, at last I have found a firing pattern that works.
  Tomorrow I’m firing for a good buddy of mine who works for the Reading
  & Northern, so the litmus test cometh – see if the same pattern
  will work under a different engineer. And who knows? Maybe the
  nightmares will subside.

  I tell ya, though, what a blast it is to get interrogated by zealous railfans when you’re trying to get some work done…
  

  • 8:57 pm
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