A Day in the Life of a Steam Heat Car Worker | Whitewater Valley Railroad Polar Express

[@jr56440]

The escaping steam really adds another layer to the whole Polar Express motif.

[@Thej611]

It really does! I love it when we’re running steam. It’s so atmospheric to have the steam rising next to the steps!

[@SOU6900]

Never thought I'd actually see a train still using steam heat. Very nice.

[@Thej611]

Thank you much! It’s a unique and interesting piece of equipment for sure!

[@SOU6900]

Also, since y'all are still using steam for heat, are the cars still using axle driven generators for lighting?

[@Thej611]

I believe some of them still have them installed, but not operational. We have a small gas generator in the baggage section of a combine at the rear

[@RtCmdr]

Ontario Northland Railway: hold my beer!

[@rossbryan6102]

LOL AN RAILROADER SINCE SEPT 16, 1964, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE HEARD AN LIMA HAMILTON LOCOMOTIVE RUN !! IN THE EARLY AMTRAK DAYS , WORKING AS AN ASSISTANT SUPERVISOR OF DIESEL ENGINES , I FOUGHT THE GOOD BATTLE WITH THE STEAM GENERATORS BETWEEN MARCELINE MO ,KANSAS CITY ,AND NEWTON KS, ON THE SANTA FE FS , ON TRAINS #15/16 AND #3/4!! VERY LUCKILY, I WAS ALWAYS ABLE THE KEEP UP THE HEAT, WITH NO FREEZEUPS!! KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS!! 👍👍

[@Thej611]

Thank you for watching! I’ll do my best!!

[@jimanderson4495]

Very interesting. Thanks.

[@rjb5847]

Also, regarding the leak of steam, on some of CP's SGU equipped dual service locomotives, it was intentional to have a bit of steam escaping from the end of the pipe, to prevent freezing up. We used to get passenger units & dual service units on weekend extra freight trains. As a brakeman, I found the escaping steam to be a nuisance when coupling the trainline air between those locos & the first car on the train.

[@Thej611]

I bet it was a nuisance trying to cut the air in! It looks cool, but it’s a pain when you’re trying to get air hoses connected! Ours is not leaking intentionally. We have a ball joint there that needs to be replaced.

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

Thank you . I was curious for years about steam heat for passengers cars. Particularly these exact cars. Great sound captures too.

[@Thej611]

Of course! I’m glad you learned something new! The sounds of these cars are definitely unique and interesting! :D

[@brucefye3778]

Hi! New subscriber. KZbin put this video in my mix today. Never heard of such a car. Makes running the older steam heated passenger cars feasible without having a locomotive that has a steam generator or boiler.

[@Thej611]

Oh it absolutely does! I’m glad that we’re keeping some interesting historic equipment operating. Thank you for the sub!

[@frenchcanadian1007]

Very nice video, Justin. Thank you. Merry Christmas! :) Marcel from Saskatchewan.

[@Thej611]

Merry Christmas! Thank you so much!!

[@srfurley]

Here in the UK we had similar things which were known as boiler vans, but I think they were only used for pre-heating coaches before the train departed. For providing steam during the journey Diesel locomotives intended for use with passenger trains were equipped with boilers. There were several models, but they were troublesome, with poor reliability. I seldom saw steam heat where I lived, but occasionally se it when I travelled to other parts of the country, or on occasional rail tours. Steam heat on BR finished sometime in the ‘80s. There were even a few electric locomotives which were equipped with electric boilers, but these were withdrawn long ago. Most preserved Diesel locomotives have had their boilers removed, but when I travelled on the Severn Valley Railway at the start of this year behind a Diesel locomotive I was supprised to see the steam pipes being coupled up, and yes, it did have a functioning boiler.

[@Thej611]

Thank you for the insight! Sounds like railroads in the UK faced the same challenges as they did here with heating passenger cars

[@boweandrew3]

Interesting video I have always been fascinated by these Steam Generator Units as they were known as on VIA and CN

[@Thej611]

Hey thank you! They’re an interesting bit of history!

[@timc333]

I gotta tell you , I really enjoyed this video , very good camera work and nice editing gave an odd nostalgic feeling especially at the end catching the dark cabooses in the yard . Bet you sleep real good when you get home .

[@Thej611]

Oh I sure did sleep well after that. Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it!!

[@steves2694]

I'm guessing a steam generator car was used when railroads transitioned from steam to diesel power but still had Pullman steam heated coaches. Once coaches went to electric heat, the generator cars were retired. Correct?

[@Thej611]

That’s exactly right! They were used when a passenger train was powered by diesel locomotives that weren’t equipped with steam heating equipment!

[@bradfordthompson8326]

So sad ....The escaping steam was so exciting for a 10 year old Thanks for the memories ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

How are the passenger cars lit ? From Alco, Generator on passenger trucks or Steam Heater Car ? Pretty cool you guys run the rarest Lima locomotive too. Subscribed.

[@Thej611]

Thank you for the subscription! It means a lot! We have a small gas powered generator at the rear in the baggage section of a combination baggage-passenger car. We run electric lines along the ceilings to electric lights in the cars!

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

@Thej611 Thank you.

[@BruceBergman]

Looks like you need some ties replacement and ballast tamping. A little swaying...😮 17:59

[@Thej611]

Oh yes! Not to mention, the steam heat car likes to really rock back and forth

[@Rebel9668]

That's pretty cool. I've only rode the train in the Summer so I've obviously never seen the steam car before. With those porthole windows I assume it originally ran coupled to a streamlined set like E or F units? Good to see old #25 is still going :)

[@Thej611]

Old 25 is still plugging away after all these years!!! Yes, originally, this car would have been coupled in right behind a set of F units or Alco cab units that weren’t equipped with steam generators of their own.

[@bradfordthompson8326]

I found the steam escaping from under the passenger cars as AMTRAK arrived in stations very exciting.... Kinda sad now DAYS ....WISH AMTRAK WOULD TURN "THE ELECTRIC HEAT UP NOW DAYS"!!!!!😊😅😮😢🎉😂❤❤❤❤❤❤❤..THANK YOU FOR KEEPING US ALL WARM .ITS REALLY FIRST CLASS WHEN TOURIST TRAINS HEAT THE CARS ...VERY SAD SOME DONT 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Thej611]

No problem at all!!

[@rjb5847]

I recognized the ex-CN SGU right away, but I have to ask, was the large number board/class light setup on the cab end of one of the locomotives, grafted on there? It looks like the type of number boards CN used on both ends of their SW1200RS units.

[@Thej611]

I believe they have been added on after the locomotives arrived at the Whitewater Valley. The big class lights are used as tail-end markers in darkness!

[@Philobeddoe12]

New viewer/subscriber here. A couple of questions, what is the fuel that powers the boiler? Also do you stay in the steam car while the train is making its run or do you have other duties?

[@Thej611]

The generator burns regular diesel fuel! There’s a large fuel tank in the back of the car that holds around 800 gallons. We stay in the car during operation so that we can adjust the flow of steam if need be or in case something happens and the boiler shuts down! Thank you for the subscription!!!

[@Philobeddoe12]

@ Thank you for sharing your activities. This is very interesting, looks like a great job to have.

[@Thej611]

Thank you so much! It’s a neat role to fill!

[@bradfordthompson8326]

Do you Hook of Air to end of ateam line on passenger cars to blow the steam and water out of the steam line ? Beautiful trains WOW 😊😅😮😢🎉😂❤❤❤❤❤

[@Thej611]

We do not! At the end of the night, we’ll open the steam line all the way up at the end and push a bunch of steam through the line to blow it out. Then we’ll unhook all the connections between each car and that usually clears out most of the water in the lines.

[@Mr8704]

Can it pull water from both tanks?

[@Thej611]

Yes! There’s a direct connection between both tanks. So it feeds water out of both tanks simultaneously

[@badabing7235]

Nothing to get all steemed up about😂😂...

[@aeyb701]

Nice to see one still working as designed. Not much expertise out there for anything steam heat-related. Ex-VIA, Ex-ex-CN stream generator unit, aka SGU. The round windows say it was made by GMD of London Ontario, or National Steel Car Co. Some had square windows indicating made by Canadian Car and Foundry. They were also used in summer, to power the electromechanical AC on psgr. cars cooled that way. I have seen pictures of summer time passenger trains without them, out of Toronto, pulled by freight engines. Mustn’t have had concern about long stops without psgr car wheels to drive the compressors.

[@Thej611]

I wondered about the true origins of the car! I knew it came from VIA but good to know it originated with CN. I would assume these cars were purpose built for this rather than converted from an older car?

[@rickshaw6440]

That steam Jenny would be cnr originally.

[@marknolan8052]

What are the 2 locomotives?

[@Thej611]

The locomotive coming out of the shop first is Whitewater Valley Railroad 25, a Lima-Hamilton LS-750 built in 1951. The second is New York Central 9339, an Alco S-1 from 1948

[@kennethhanks6712]

The S-1 was actually built in 1-48 for Proctor and Gambles manufacturing complex in Cincinnati, OH and was donated to Whitewater Valley in 1985. Part of P and Gs donation was that the loco NOT be maintained in their livery so she was painted NYC in memory of Whitewaters heritage and numbered 9339, the last unused number in that NYC series. The 25 is ex Cincinnati Union Terminal.

[@Thej611]

I had heard that story somewhere! Thank you!

[@robertalbertson889]

I would assume once all those steam pipes connecting the cars are repaired, the steam system will work more efficiently and probably save some fuel as well 😉

[@Thej611]

Oh absolutely! It’s a never ending struggle keeping these cars from leaking!

[@robertalbertson889]

​@@Thej611hahaha 😆 I can imagine 😅 my friend. I've always wanted to see how the steam cars operated, so thank you so much for making this informative and interesting video... Happy New Year 😊

[@Thej611]

I’m glad to be of service! Happy New Year to you too!!