Here is the back side of the boiler on #97. Talk about work !!!! I got to fire this beast for a trip. With the engine lurching forward and backward plus swaying from side to side. It is quite a chore to shovel coal and try your best to get it thru the butterfly door and into the firebox. And it is not just getting the coal thru the hole. The coal must be evenly distributed on the grates in order to keep all areas of the firebox with even heat. Many times I would get a shovel of coal, turn and step on the pedal to open the butterfly doors, swing the shovel around toward the opening.......and WHAM... hit the back of the bulkhead as the engine would sway hard to one side or another. The engineer would just look at me and laugh, telling me we might not make it to the destination at the rate I was going.

Photo taken: November 13, 1983

© Photo by: Timothy M. Baggett