Boiler Management Course

This year the course will run again after its successful introduction a few years ago. Prospective applicants must be members of SMEE due to the society’s insurance requirements. The one day course is held at the home of one of the society’s long standing members in the Croydon area of South London.
   Boiler design and construction are explained with various items being passed round to demonstrate design details. Safety in design and use is stressed with reference to regulatory requirements.
    Students are shown the stationary coal fired boiler. Having filled it with water to a suitable level, a fire is lit starting with wood. We will be discussing when and how much coal should be added to the fire. When there is sufficient steam pressure, there is a demonstration of an injector being used to feed the boiler with water. The boiler is piped up to a Stuart No1 engine and when there is sufficient steam pressure, the engine is started after it has been lubricated. Students then manage the operation of the boiler under supervision before it is shut down. The storage procedures are then explained.
   After lunch, the 5” gauge 3” scale 0-4-0 steam loco is ready for use after oiling up and filling its tanks with water- the boiler is already full to the correct level. Once in steam, operation of the engine is demonstrated around a continuous track before students are invited to take the controls and under direct supervision drive and manage the engine around the track. As the afternoon progresses and students become more competent, supervision relaxes but still under the close eye of the instructor – and wagons are added behind the engine to give experience of and demonstrate the difference of operation with a load behind the engine.  The day ends with the shutting down of the engine and preparation for storage.