It is interesting that 2 of the world's 4 operable Climax Locomotives are burning wood. Wood has the advantage of being readily available in many places, but it sure doesn't have the BTU value that coal and oil do. Wood-burners go through a fuel supply pretty rapidly and the fuel bunker on this engine does not look large at all. I'm just guessing that she was built to burn coal or oil and that she was converted based on local supply issues. Interesting series on a rare type!
|
Certainly wood burning is far from preferable, especially in the preservation era. That combined with its low speed mean 1694 is only used for special events. In service it ran on a Forestry Commission tramway where timber to burn was in plentiful supply, and labour to prepare it cheap. I suspect the Climax Manufacturing Company would have offered wood or coal burning variants of the design, and 1694 was always built for wood.
|
|