xerxesPosts: 107
Posted on: 2013-03-22 00:53:06.000
Thanks. I started out life as a fireman, shovelling coal in steam locomotives. The avatar pic shows a class 15F, every stoker's favourite engine to fire here, back in the steam days. I never had the good fortune to fire one, but revered them all my life, and did fire some similar classes, the 15CA and 15CB. They had an explosive beat: think of a tommy gun, but instead of chattering of bullets, think chattering of bombs. Fearfully loud. Talking in the cab was almost impossible.