03/23/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is one I took of the Porter locomotive as it sat by the Roundhouse right before our safety meeting.  The Porter is a tank engine and carries it's water supply in a tank over the boiler.  This can help provide traction but can also cause issue as water does not want to inject into a boiler when it is too warm.  Since the water is sitting over a hot boiler the water supply needs to be kept fairly full to keep the water cool enough to inject efficiently.

03/09/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the blog!  Today's image is one of the Porter locomotive arriving at the station to pick up it's load of passengers.  I was waiting to board as well for my turn at firing the locomotive.  I thought this image worked well in B & W which gave it a bit of a moody look.

01/26/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  The Porter locomotive was up and running again this past Labor Day Weekend at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion.  I get to work a shift of 2 hours on it firing and it is quite fun.  It's a Tank style engine that carries it's water supply over the boiler and then has a small bunker on the back to carry coal so does not have a tender.

09/08/24

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  I was in Minnesota last weekend firing on 3 different trains.  It was great!  LOL  For 4 days I started at 10 on one and finished at about 6 on the last one.  There were other people there too so it wasn't non-stop.  This is the one I started the day on, the Porter tank locomotive.  It is pulling into the station for it's first round of the day on the last day of the show.

 

08/18/24

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Last week I showed inside the cab on 353, today I thought I would show inside the Porter.  It is a much smaller cab so I had to d it at an angle, this is from the Fireman's side. The lever and red valve just below it to the very left are for the Injector, to get water into the boiler.  The sight glass is on the front of the boiler and has the 2 red valves attached to it.  The device hanging from the ceiling on the right with the 2 valves hanging from it and all the pipes coming out of it is an oiler to lubricate various items of the locomotive.  The pressure gauge is on the wall above various valves such as the main shut off valve for the steam.  There is a fan sitting on the floor in front of the firebox door because of the flue work, to keep the people cool who were performing the work.  The door is a single door and does not have an automatic opener.  When firing you are opening the door and throwing coal in or, at times, someone opens the door for you if there is an extra person in the cab.  Even though it's a bit tight in this cab, it's a fun locomotive to fire.

07/14/24

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  When I was up in Minnesota this past June, both the full size locomotives were having some work done to them.  Today's post is a bit different as it contains 2 images.  This first image is the Porter locomotive, a tank engine meaning it carries it's water over the boiler instead of behind it in a tender.  It was inside the roundhouse getting new tubes or flues as shown in the 2nd image.  The flues start inside the smokebox and extend to the firebox (where the coal or wood is burning).  The heat travels through these flues and heats the water in the boiler to make the steam to power the locomotive.  A locomotive can require new tubing for various reasons, the 2 main ones are age and improper firing.  If you let cold air into the smoke box the tubes can expand and contract too much and become loose and allow water to leak from the boiler which is not good.  It will be nice to see the Porter back out and running at the show over Labor Day weekend.

11/27/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is another drone image, this time taken during the Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion this past September.  This is the Porter locomotive and it's train as it was leaving the area where it loads passengers not far from the main gate.  You can see several steam traction engines lined up along the main road.  This is just a very small portion of all there is at the show.  One of the restored train depots is visible as well.

10/2/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  I was at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion this past Labor Day weekend.  I was attending the railroad safety meeting and both the full size locomotives that I get to help on were sitting outside the roundhouse steamed up.  I was able to get this shot of them which I liked with the steam and smoke.  The Porter is on the left and 353 is on the right.

I have been experimenting with my new drone and you can watch a short video I made of 353 HERE.  I need to get a bit better with the controls but I was pretty happy with how this one turned out.  It was quite windy that day as well but the drone handles it quite well so I was pleased with that.

7/24/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  This image goes back to Minnesota once again from this past June.  This is another image of the Porter locomotive I get to help operate.  It's a Tank style locomotive which means it carries it's water in a tank over the boiler.  There is a coal bunker on the back as well.  A nice self contained locomotive though it's range is more limited.

7/3/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog once again.  I was in Minnesota a couple weekends ago.  The Porter locomotive that I have been able to work on in the past was out and about running for Steam School weekend.  

2/27/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is another of the small Porter locomotive that I get to help fire on.  Porter's carry their water in a tank that goes over the boiler and the coal is carried in a small bunker on the back of the locomotive eliminating the need to pull a tender.  They were built by the H. K. Porter company and were mainly used as switchers or in coal mines or on sugar plantations due to the small amounts of fuel they can carry and their small size.  It's quite a fun locomotive to fire on.

2/6/22

 It's Steamy Sunday!  Today's image goes back to The Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion last Labor Day weekend.  The Porter Tank engine that I get to help fire on in the afternoon was just pulling in to load passengers near the water tower.

1/9/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  This is the Porter tank style locomotive that I got to have a shift on this past year at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion.  It's a great small locomotive that they got running again after some issues and were hauling a train around the grounds in addition to 353.  Here it was loading passengers at the stop by the water tank.

12/12/21

It's a double digit day today.  😀  It's also Steamy Sunday here on the Blog once again.  Today's image is a closer up image of the Porter locomotive I got to help operate during this past Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion over Labor Day weekend.  The Porter was up and running this year and pulling passengers around opposite the 353.  It was a great long weekend for me of working 3 different trains.  I started the morning on 353, then had a break, then went to the Porter and then ended with the Wagner.  In this image the Porter, a tank engine, was coming into the station to drop off and load passengers as I was waiting to start my shift.

9/12/21

 The Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion was held once again this past Labor Day Weekend.  I was able to work on all 3 steam trains there this year, fun times.  The Porter Tank engine was running passengers around along with 353.  I took this shot of it pulling in to the depot while waiting to get on for my shift at firing.  It's a fun locomotive to work on with some great people as well.  Happy Steamy Sunday!

12/29/19

Today is the last Steamy Sunday for 2019.  I had to post something fun.  This is an image of the Porter locomotive that I got to help operate again this year after it had been down for several years.  I was grateful to the people who got it up and running again and allowed me to help fire it up and also fire it around the track during the Labor Day Show.  It was a blast.  This locomotive does not have a tender, it carries it's water in a tank over the boiler and the coal is in a bunker in the rear.

9/29/10

This is the Porter locomotive that I was able to work on again this year at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion in Rollag.  These locomotives do not have a tender.  They carry their water in a tank that surrounds the boiler.  This locomotive was originally used in a quarry.  I captured it here in the Roundhouse.

9/8/19

While in Minnesota I worked the annual Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion. I was able to work on a train I had worked on about 8 years ago before it had some issues.  This is a Porter locomotive and I was just about to get on and fire a trip around the grounds.  It was great fun and wonderful to see in operation again at Rollag.  I met some great people and hope to work with them again next year.