I thought for the first series of blogs, we could look at what goes on behind the scenes. As many of you know, the engines run on steam power. Unfortunately we cannot just make steam and run the engines, its a bit more complicated than that.
Over winter, the boiler has to undergo a thorough clean. This involves firstly emptying the boiler of water, and is generally done on our last steaming day in November once visitors have left. A few days later once the boiler is cold, work can begin on the flues. This starts with the removal of all the fire bars and all the pipes and glasses etc that you can see on the front of the boiler. We get a “willing” volunteer to enter the boiler through the fire box and clean all the flues. For those who don’t know, the flues run to the back of the boiler, then down and under the boiler, and return along the sides. The reason for such a complicated flue system is to make sure that all the heat from the smoke from the boiler is used, to help make the process more economical.
Once the flues and fire space have been cleaned, an inspection will be carried out. The flues are only accessible during the winter, when the boiler isn’t used, and all the wadding used to make them air tight is removed. Any remedial works that need doing will then be done.
Following from this, we find another “willing” volunteer to go in the water space. Entry is through a small hole on the top of the boiler. Again the inside of the boiler is cleaned and then checked for any problems.
Once this work has been completed, we get a visit from the boiler inspector!