Fireman (steam engine)
Fireman or stoker is the job title for someone whose job is to tend the fire for the running of a steam engine. On steam locomotives the term fireman is usually used, while on steamships and stationary steam engines, such as those driving saw mills, the term is usually stoker (although the British Merchant Navy did use fireman). The German word Heizer is equivalent. Much of the job is hard physical labor, such as shoveling fuel, typically coal, into the engine's firebox.[1]
Contents
The Royal Navy used the rank structure Ordinary Stoker, Stoker, Leading Stoker, Stoker Petty Officer and Chief Stoker. The non-substantive (trade) badge for stokers was a ship's propeller. "Stoker" remains the colloquial term used to refer to a Marine Engineering rating, despite the decommissioning of the last steam-powered vessel some years ago.
Large coal-fueled vessels also had individuals working as coal trimmers, who delivered coal from the coal bunkers to the stokers. They were responsible for all coal handling with the exception of the actual fueling of the boilers.
The Royal Canadian Navy currently has steam powered ships: both of which are Replenishment ships. All Marine Engineers in the RCN, regardless of their platform (CPF, 280 or AOR) are nicknamed "stokers".
Railways
On steam locomotives, firemen were not usually responsible for initially preparing locomotives and lighting their fire. As a locomotive boiler takes several hours to heat up, and a too-rapid fire-raising can cause excess wear on a boiler, this task was usually performed by fire lighters working some hours before the fireman's main shift started. Only on small railways, or on narrow-gauge locomotives with smaller and faster-warming boilers, was the fire lit by the fireman.
Whoever was responsible for fire-raising would clear the ash from the firebox ashpan prior to lighting the fire, adding water to the engine's boiler, making sure there is a proper supply of fuel for the engine aboard before starting journeys, starting the fire, raising or banking the fire as appropriate for the amount of power needed along particular parts of the route, and performing other tasks for maintaining the locomotive according to the orders of the engineer (US) or driver (UK) (or Lokomotivführer in Germany). Some firemen served these duties as a form of apprenticeship, aspiring to be locomotive engineers themselves. The engine itself was cleaned by an engine cleaner instead of the fireman.[1]
Mechanical stoker
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A mechanical stoker is a device which feeds coal into the firebox of a boiler. It is standard equipment on large stationary boilers and was also fitted to large steam locomotives to ease the burden of the fireman. The locomotive type has a screw conveyor (driven by an auxiliary steam engine) which feeds the coal into the firebox. The coal is then distributed across the grate by steam jets, controlled by the fireman. Power stations usually use pulverized coal-fired boilers.
Notable stokers
There were approximately 173 stokers on board the coal fed ocean liner RMS Titanic. During the sinking of the ship, these men disregarded their own safety and stayed below deck to keep the steam driven electric generators running for the water pumps and lighting.[2][3] Only 48 stokers were among those who survived.[4]
Depictions in popular culture and art
- Yank, the protagonist of Eugene O'Neill's play The Hairy Ape is the stoker on a ship. Mat Burke, a principal role in O'Neill's Anna Christie is also a ship stoker.
- The Swedish graphic artist, drawer and mural painter Torsten Billman - himself coal trimmer and stoker 1926-32 at various merchant ships - has portrayed the hard work in coal bunkers and stokeholes.
- The first chapter of Franz Kafka's novel Amerika is entitled "The Stoker".
- The lead character, Bill Roberts - played by actor George Bancroft - in Josef von Sternberg's 1928 motion picture The Docks of New York is a stoker.
- Jeremy Clarkson acted as Stoker on No. 60163 Tornado while performing a Top Gear Race to the North against Top Gears Richard Hammond and James May. It was a hommage to the historical Race to the North, a rivalry between British steam engines, trains and men of different companies between London and Edinburgh.
- "Stoker Dreams" and "Stoker Love" - songs of Russian indie group Chimera.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Little and Often" 1947 training video on YouTube. Firing A Steam Locomotive, 1947 Educational Documentary for WDTV LIVE42, West Virginia.
- ↑ http://www3.gendisasters.com/new-york/5421/titanic-sinking-engine-room-heroes
- ↑ http://www.uco.es/~ff1mumuj/titanic1.htm
- ↑ Crew of the RMS Titanic#Engineering crew
References
- Jon R. Huibregtse, American Railroad Labor and the Genesis of the New Deal, 1919-1935. University Press of Florida, 2010.
- Walter Licht, Working for the Railroad: the organization of work in the nineteenth century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983.
- John W. Orr, Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001.
- Joseph Hugh Tuck, "Canadian Railways and the International Brotherhoods: Labour Organizations in the Railway Running Trades in Canada, 1865-1914." Dissertation. University of Western Ontario, 1976.
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