Old Steamer Apparatus...

[yfdgricker]

A firefighter friend of mine was asking me these questions and I honestly didn't know the answers. So I turn to all of you. How long did it take a steamer to reach it's boiler pressure? Did they have to keep a small fire going in the boiler when it was in quarters so they would be ready if there was a call? You see all these pictures of the steamer belching black smoke on the way to a fire, what happened with all the smoke when they returned to the firehouse. Did they have to let the steamer cool down and the bioler fire to go out before they put it back into the barn? You would end up with some really sooty fire house ceilings if you just backed it in. Coal was used to heat the boilers correct?

[Box 2565]

O.K.  Steamers aren't a strong point with me, but I think I can get the basics down for this.

From what I have read in the past, the initial fire lit to get the pump going was usually kindling wood with a cup of kerosene thrown on it.  As soon as the steamer left quarters, the keresene was thrown on and the fire lit.  It only took a few minutes for the fire to burn hot enough to get the pump going.  By the early 1900's, the boilers had been improved to the point where the rig could pump in 3-4 minutes.  Once you arrived at the fire, coal was then used as the fuel source.

Charles H. Fox patented a stationary heater that could be connected to the steamer while in the station.  If this device was used a constant stream of hot water was run through the boiler through a connection in the floor.  This greatly reduced the amount of time needed for pumping.

I wish I could remember where I read this, but one of the things that you never did in the old days was get the engineer mad at the company.  As a dirty trick, he could light the kerosene before you left the station which would make a real mess.  Since the engineer was the top dog, he wouldn't be cleaning it up either!

The one point I not sure of is returning to quarters.  By the time the fire was out and the company was back at the station, the coal would still be burning.  My guess is that they dumped the coal and put a bucket of water on it.  

If anyone can add to this, or correct anything I've stated, please do!

[daysleeper47]

During its initial tryout, the Gov. Tod Steamer used by the Tod VFC, the precursor to the modern Youngstown Fire Dept., was able to pump in under 7 minutes, once it built up enough steam. Here is a first hand account:

"The trial of the new steam fire engine, 'Governor Tod' from the works of H. C. Silsby, New York, Seneca Falls, on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning last, gave such general satisfaction, that a Committee appointed for the purpose by the council to recommend its purchase. With the engine at the foot of Phelps Street and drawing water from the canal - with 1500 feet of hose paid out - the stream reached to the Martin house from whence a stream from an inch nozzle was thrown over Excelsior Block" (That's on the corner of Hazel and Federal)  

 "In another test, with respect to the time made in generating steam, a better result was obtained, as the engine began to pump in seven minutes. She was located at the canal near the Mansion House, the full length of hose reaching to Merchants Block."  

[yfdgricker]

I found this information in a book entitled Fire Fighting of Long Ago (1988).  It says that the first steam fire engine built in London in 1830 by Braithwaite weighed more than 5000 pounds and generated steam after some 20 minutes.

In 1858, Lawrence, Mass had a steamer that could raise steam in a boiler to 60 pounds in about 10 1/2 minutes.

LaFrance Fire Engine Company of Elmira, NY advertised being able to produce 30 lbs of steam in three minutes and 80lbs in five minutes using cold water (1881). They give a nice breakdown of a trial run in Montgomery, AL on 4/19/1881:
1st smoke to first steam...1 1/2 min
5lbs...1 1/2
18...2
32...2 1/2
40...2 3/4
47...3
50...3 1/4
63...3 1/2
70...3 3/4
80...4
85...4.10
90...4/15
95...4.25
100...4.30

[daysleeper47]

Do we know know how many steamers the YFD had in operation over the years, how long the Gov. Tod steamer was used, and such things as makes and years of YFD steamers? We all seems to know a whole lot about the motorized apparatus, but what about the steamers?

[daysleeper47]

My website says the following:

In 1912, Youngstown had four second size Metropolitan steamer engine built by American LaFrance at Cincinnati, Ohio.  One of them was Engine/Steamer 2. She was put in service 2-27-05 as Engine 2 at Station 7 and motorized with a Christie tractor in 1913.

[daysleeper47]

I found another website, which sheds "a bit" more light onto YFD's steamers. Like we all know, the Gov Tod was a Silsby, but I found that it was serial number 168 and was a 2nd Size steamer. The size I think I knew, but not the serial number. It was the only Silsby steamer that Youngstown is thought to have owned.

Source: http://www.engine3.org/Silsby/SilsbySiteDirectory.html