The Fraternal Order of Wood Lobbers. That's the unofficial moniker that one crewman used to describe the team that runs Eureka & Palisade #4. Here, the F.O.W.L. can be seen doing their thing at Tacoma Siding on the Durango & Silverton, under a threatening sky. In all seriousness, wood doesn't have the same BTU value as coal does, so wood-burning steam locomotives will typically eat through their fuel supply in a lot fewer miles than the newer coal-burners do. The little 32-ton Eureka & Palisade #4 pictured here, requires a couple of fuel stops on the run from Silverton to Durango. Not only does she have to stop more often, but wood is also a lot more difficult to load than coal is. Over the years, a human "wood line" has proven to be the most efficient means of doing it and that's what you see the F.O.W.L. guys doing here. Interestingly, locomotive fire wood comes in grades. That's right. According to Eureka owner, Dan Markoff, there's uphill wood and there's downhill wood. You can guess which stuff is better. The absolute best stuff is sometimes called "Atomic" and the worst of the downhill stuff is referred to as "Death Wood", because it basically puts the fire out. Yes, operating a wood-burning locomotive does have its challenges, but running completely out of fuel is not typically one of them. Should the wood supply in the tender run down, the guys from F.O.W.L. have a handy-dandy chainsaw back in the caboose!
A tribute of appreciation to the workers who maintain the track, keeping our railways in shape regardless of weather and danger, and keeping them running effeciently.
