[modeleng] Corn

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Gents,

Here is what I had on my computer this morning about burning corn.  =
Starting off with Jack Bodenmann out in California.
There used to be an old live steamer that went by the name of Corn Cob =
Kloppenburg. He got that moniker for burning... you guessed it, corn =
cobs in his engine. I don't know how well it worked. Here is another =
corn related story that you might like. Years ago we were running at Art =
Laidlaws old track in Santa Margarita Ca. It was a neat little track =
that ran right next to the Southern Pacific main line. Art was running =
his coal burner and when he wasn't looking Karl Hovanitz threw a hand =
full of popcorn in the firebox. Art walked over and got back on the =
engine just as the popcorn started to let go. Poppity Pop Pop!!! You =
should have seen the look on Art's face. He jumped up and ran for it =
hollerin' something about staybolts. Lucky for Karl, Art is a good =
sport.
Too Much Fun! Jack Bodenmann

This one from Willie up in Sorrento, Maine
Dunno unk;
Seems to me it could be rather explosive.... Grin
On a serious note, I would think you could not keep enough corn in the =
firebox for enough heat.=20
I have tried to burn wood in my lokie and found on pine it really takes =
a lot of wood to keep up the steam.
Willy

My mother used to tell me a joke as to why Grandfather no longer has =
dairy cows.  Seems it was wicked hot one day at the neighbors corn =
field. The corn all started to pop. The cows all saw the popped corn and =
thought it was snow, so they froze to death.=20

This one from Al Messer in Tennessee
What kind of residue does Corn leave behind when it is burned?=20
Al Messer

As you can imagine, Al's query is answered by a typical Chaski board =
remark though it is lost on me.
Old Maids
lol
Willy

This one from our graduate Mechanical Engineer, Bill Bowser of =
Cincinnati, Ohio
Theoretically you could burn any combustible material in your =
locomotive, but the size of the firebox might prevent you from using =
enough low BTU fuel to make sufficient steam to operate. The rate of =
steam production depends on the rate of combustion. The BTU (British =
Thermal Unit) content of coal varies from about 10,500 to 15,000 BTU/lb. =
For wood it is about 7,000 BTU/lb. I would expect corn cobs and other =
agricultural debris to have about the same BTU content as wood. Dried =
corn would probably be in the same neighborhood as well.
  I have often thought it would be neat to design a steam powered leaf =
collector that would suck up and burn leaves in the fall so you wouldn't =
have to rake and bag them for disposal. The heat of the burning leaves =
would produce the steam to operate the machine.
This project has never gotten past the daydreaming phase.
Bill=20

And these comments from Charles Brumbelow of Nashville, Tennessee
Actually, a turbine (jet) engine from a helicopter would do the trick =
nicely. Suck the leaves into the compressor part which would powder them =
and feed the dust into the combustion chamber where they =
would....well....combust. This would turn the compressor which would =
suck the leaves......=20
Union Pacific had a bunch of gas turbines and [at least] one coal =
burning turbine which used jet airplane engines, so there is [sort of] a =
prototype and this is [sort of] on topic. I eagerly await the day photos =
of a model built on the chopper turbine show up.
Charles=20

And here is one from John Buckwalter of Florida and is probably a =
reference to claims by various people on the Chaski list that I use the =
boiler of  the "Newbie Project Locomotive" to distill illicit spirits. =
---Hic!- - -Hic
Some how I will bet this thread turns "Sour" before its all over )=20
John

Charles seems to have the same idea as John
Nah....it'll get mashed instead..... Charles=20

 I don't know why these blokes think I might use that boiler for =
anything other than running my lokiemotive, but they are fixed in their =
minds about this "corn squeezing" business because I live in Tennessee I =
suppose.  Al Messer then says this:
"Sour" as in "Sour mash"?=20

Then Ferd (Fred) Rorex down in Austin, Texas.  See what I meant when I =
told you how these blokes minds run when Newbie and corn are mentioned =
together!!!
Funny, that was just where I was headed when I first saw the subject =
line and saw Unk was the one bringin' it up. Didn't we establish =
something with the "Newbie" ? =20
Sorry Unk...... I had 'ta, but I think you knew that this was coming=20
Ferd=20

Well that is the thread so far.  The closest we have come to anyone =
running corn is that reference to "Corn Cob Klockenberg" having used =
corn cobs and the in depth discourse by ME Bill Bowser.  I would say =
from Bill's comments, plus the fact that corn can be burned in pellet =
stoves, that corn would probably work just fine if one was able to burn =
wood successfully.  I tried burning wood in my RRSC American and found =
it very difficult to keep enough wood in the firebox due to rapid =
combustion.  This was by using kiln dried oak chunks.   It was basically =
trying to feed the oak chunks through that small fire door on the =
American while trying to watch water, track and speed that "done it in" =
as Eliza Doolittle might say. Only thing about using corn would be that =
one could make a sort of scoop wherein he could load quite a bit in the =
firebox at one time.=20

One of "Corn Cob Klockenberg's" locomotives is owned by Tim Mikko of =
near St. Louis Missouri and regularly shows up at Mid-South meets, but =
he burns coal instead of corn cobs.  I have photos of the locomotive =
which says "Corn Cob Railroad" on the tender.

I will copy and make further posts as they come in, but be prepared for =
more references from various wits to the possibility of making corn =
whisky with my Newbie.  We do have fun over on the Chaski board with OT =
subjects and  the "authorities" try to keep it somewhat under control, =
but without a lot of luck.  If it were all cut and dried On Topic, I =
think the Chaski list would perish.

"Unka" Jesse Livingston in Tennessee





=20






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