Fig. 1.
[Fig. 1.] represents the regular scoop shovel commonly called “a coal shovel,” but among railroad men and others, known as a locomotive or charging scoop. The cut also represents a regular shovel. Both these are necessary for the ordinary business of the boiler room.
Fig. 2.
In [cut 2] are represented a furnace poker, A, and two forms of the slice bar. They are all made by blacksmiths from round iron, some 7 or 8 feet long and only vary in the form of the end. The regular slice bar is shown in C, [Fig. 2]; and “the dart” a special form used largely on locomotives is shown in B.
The dexterous use of these important implements can merely be indicated in print, as it is part of the trade which is imparted by oral instruction. One “point” in making the slice bar may be mentioned to advantage—the lower side should be perfectly flat so that it may slide on the surface of the grate bars as it is forced beneath the fire—and the upper portion of the edge should be in the shape of a half wedge, so as to crowd upwards the ashes and clinkers while the lower portion slides along.
There is sometimes used in connection with these tools an appliance called a Lazy Bar. This is very useful for the fireman when cleaning a bituminous or other coal fire: it saves both time and fuel as well as steam. It is a hook shaped iron, ingeniously attached above the furnace door, so that it supports the principal part of the weight of the heavy slice bar or poker when being used in cleaning out the fires.
