Steam Locomotive No. 7240
by Anthony Sacco
Title
Steam Locomotive No. 7240
Artist
Anthony Sacco
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Another wonderfully restored steam train. But wait, this is a fireless cooker train. This is
Steam Locomotive No. 7240, a 0-4-0F from The Texas Company (Texaco). It was built in February 1937 by the H.K. Porter Co. of Pittsburgh, PA for use at the "The Texas Company’s" (Texaco) Marcus Hook (PA) Refinery as the plant switching engine. No. 7240 is a very unique form of railroad motive power, being very different from a conventional fire-powered steam engine. More commonly known as a “Fireless Cooker”, it is one of the most remarkable and foolproof locomotive designs devised. A fireless engine is equipped with a large tank or reservoir instead of a boiler and firebox…it carries no fire. In a fireless steam locomotive, in place of a boiler, the locomotive is fitted with a cylindrical tank which is charged with steam and hot water from a stationary plant. The engine works like a conventional steam engine,using the high pressure steam above the water in the accumulator.
“Fireless Cookers” were very desirable for service in plants where cleanliness and the elimination of fire hazards were important. They were quite popular in textile mills, agricultural processing plants, chemical industries, gun-powder plants, paper mills, electric-power plants and refineries.
No. 7240 has now been donated and restored at the Whippany Railway Museum in New Jersey.
Uploaded
December 26th, 2020
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