Roundhouse Engineering "Bundaberg".
- Thread starter casey jones snr
- Start date
Looks great - just like a hard working industrial engine.I am not always sure about the look of spark-arresters but this one suits it.
A spark arrester, to prevent starting lineside fires..... same reason that similar ones (some smaller, some even bigger) are fitted on many locos, European and American.
Jon.
It's a spark arresting stack, to try and prevent sparks / embers from the fire escaping and igniting the lineside grass etc. in hot / dry climates. The Bundaberg loco worked on a sugar cane line in Queensland Australia. I've seen similar sugar cane lines when I was in Fiji in 1974, though it was diesel operated by then and I only saw static steam locos.
I've experienced a grass fire caused by a steam loco on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway when I was manning one of the small stations as a summer job back in the 80s. Not fun, fortunately the fire engine was able to get along a farm track next to the line.
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....which is why some rail systems like the Harz have special firefighting trains, and/or a firefighting water tanker coupled to the back of some regular trains during very dry periods.
Jon.
Not this one then????
On second thoughts it would probably fuel the fire rather than put it out!
These locos ran literally right through the cane, if a spark started a cane fire it would be catastrophic because the fire would just race away, when a cane paddock goes up it is virtually unstoppable but very spectacular the only way to stop them is push a break through unburnt cane and back burn.
If the cane is burnt the sugar content (CCS) starts to drop and the farmer loses money. Also the mills can only accept a certain amount of cane per day which is why the different farms are allocated a number of bins/day a quota system.
These days the cane is cut unburnt but the quota system still operates to spread the income for the farmers over the crushing season.
