The Napier Deltic has a very distinctive sound. You can hear it in locomotive form on youtube. If you are into that sort of thing there are some really good videos on the Rolls Royce Crecy engine as well.
The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
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Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#82the station: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tc2Hs8kdwbFcbaxC6
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those are amazing engines. It's a pity that in the future we'll just be using magnets and coils, there something about these designs that moves me in a way that nothing electrical ever will. And I'm a great fan of renewable energy, and realize that the pollution that has been created (and is still being created) is absolutely unsustainable.
There are people working on internal combustion engines with a very similar design currently, for many applications (military, trucking, etc) diesel or diesel electric is the only realistic option for the foreseeable future: https://achatespower.com/
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Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#84Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#85SysAdmin related: I was once talking to a fire chief and I asked about how much water the fire engines carried. He said that they carry about enough to put out the typical house fire. The first engine on scene immediately jumps to fighting the fire. The second engine on scene hooks the first engine up to the water supply before going on to fight the fire. I've often thought about that when there's a work crisis: If I…
Our engine holds 1200 gallons. It goes in first* and starts putting the wet stuff on the red stuff. As the engine drives in it drops a 3" hose along its path. Next is our big tender with 3000 gallons. It stops at the street and connects to the dropped hose to pump more water up to the engine. The tender also has a drop tank -- think about a portable kids' wading pool but much larger and deeper. Shuttle tenders refill…
Wow. We're probably more rural and can't fit such large apparatus in many places we have to go. Out our type 1 engine carries 1,000 gallons, and our type 3 (wildland) 500 gallons and our tenders have 2,000.
1,000 isn't going to put out a house fire unless it's really small and not fully involved. The past two good structure fires we had took 20,000 and 60,000 to gallons respectively.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
The hard way.
"No worries Chief, that'll buff out!"
Exactly. Back when I was a newbie we melted all the lights on the engine as well as on my own truck since I was first on scene POV (Personally Owned Vehicle). And of course we charred some hose but that's common. Then CHAOS happened (Chief Has Arrived On Scene) and he quickly moved both trucks farther away from the fire, saving the county (and me!) the cost of a new truck.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Our engine holds 1200 gallons. It goes in first* and starts putting the wet stuff on the red stuff. As the engine drives in it drops a 3" hose along its path. Next is our big tender with 3000 gallons. It stops at the street and connects to the dropped hose to pump more water up to the engine. The tender also has a drop tank -- think about a portable kids' wading pool but much larger and deeper. Shuttle tenders refill…
> It's very important to park the engine close to the fire but not too close. Ask me how I learned this. I was a farm hand as a summer job to cover beer and books in my college years. We harvested wheat which carries a high fire risk. Most farms kept a tractor with a large plow hooked up so it could quickly encircle and contain any fires. Pulling a 40’ wide plow is hard . Tractors can do it because they have huge eng…
Didn't know wheat harvest came with fire risk. I know about the dangers of grain silos but I didn't know the harvest itself was risky.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Our engine holds 1200 gallons. It goes in first* and starts putting the wet stuff on the red stuff. As the engine drives in it drops a 3" hose along its path. Next is our big tender with 3000 gallons. It stops at the street and connects to the dropped hose to pump more water up to the engine. The tender also has a drop tank -- think about a portable kids' wading pool but much larger and deeper. Shuttle tenders refill…
Wow. We're probably more rural and can't fit such large apparatus in many places we have to go. Out our type 1 engine carries 1,000 gallons, and our type 3 (wildland) 500 gallons and our tenders have 2,000. 1,000 isn't going to put out a house fire unless it's really small and not fully involved. The past two good structure fires we had took 20,000 and 60,000 to gallons respectively.
Agreed. We could never put out a residential structure fire with one truck's worth of water. That's why we ask for mutual aid and an army of shuttling tenders shows up.
Our big tender never leaves the street; it's too big and too heavy for residential driveways.
We do have a brush truck for tighter spots and for use as a relay pump for extra long driveways.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's very important to park the engine close to the fire but not too close. Ask me how I learned this. I was a farm hand as a summer job to cover beer and books in my college years. We harvested wheat which carries a high fire risk. Most farms kept a tractor with a large plow hooked up so it could quickly encircle and contain any fires. Pulling a 40’ wide plow is hard . Tractors can do it because they have huge eng…
Didn't know wheat harvest came with fire risk. I know about the dangers of grain silos but I didn't know the harvest itself was risky.
Oh yeah. It’s a constant threat.
The wheat is harvested “dry”. The plant dies and dries out. The drier the better. Moisture leads to mold in the silos and clogs up the harvesters.
The wheat is harvested by “combines” which are literally a combination harvester and thresher. Both machines are extremely complex.
They’re used at 110% capacity to beat the fall rains then sit rotting for 9-10 months. Lots of seized bearings or broken bits of machines sparking and starting fires.
The grain trucks I drove had their air conditioners removed to discourage idling and the exhaust pipes dumped directly in front of the rear tires to auto-snuff exhaust fires.
Re: The Mack Super Pumper was a locomotive engined fire fighter (2018)
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
The type 55 "deltic" locomotives, named after army regiments used to do the east coast Edinburgh-London train run, there were 22 of them in service and one in the science museum London. They had the first 100mph rating for diesel passenger service. The engine had a unique characteristic whine or whistle. As an avid train spotter at Waverley station in edinburgh I loved hearing it, saw every one and was in the cab of…
A series of 10 "baby deltics" were built and ran for some years, although they weren't particularly successful on the whole.
They were basically out of service by the time I was out of short trousers. I made special trips south to see the "warship" class 43 hydromatic transmission in Western Region out of Old Oak Common in London, the type 44 "peak" series and the diminutive type 3 diesel shunter at Birkenhead. The baby deltics were probably parked in a yard waiting scrapping.
I have dim memories of being held up over a bridge to watch steam trains pass, but by the time I was obsessively writing down numbers they were special trains like "Sir Nigel Gresley" and "the Flying Scotsman"
I left britain before the east coast electrification. I do still see my favourite type 8 Diesel shunter, the most ubiquitous kind in Britain, when I pass by.
If you want sheer power, It's a Deltic every time. That high pitched whine, it's unmistakable.