Railway Ethics - Coal trucks...

[Conductorphil]

A random question that has been bothering me for a few hours. I figured here would be a place to post it.

On a full scale route, a steam locomotive is driving along. All of a sudden, it runs out of coal from the coal bunker/tender for whatever sort of reason (It shouldnt happen - Lets just say that it DID). Would it be unethical, or at least illegal, for the fireman to get coal from any coal trucks that happen to be part of the consist? Even if it was just enough to get along to the next coaling station?

Just curious...

 

[Euphod]

I'm no expert on coal, but there has to be different grades of coal. I'm not sure the kind in the tender matches the kind in the hoppers. Or, in the immortal words of Darrin McGavin:" It's A CLINKER!!!!!!"

Okay, I just did a little research, and it seems that:Steam coal is a grade between bituminous coal and anthracite, once widely used as a fuel for Steam Locomotives.
Bituminous coal is dense sedimentary rock, black but sometimes dark brown often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material, used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation.

 

[backyard]

Back in the dayz of the proliferation of a plethora of steam powered trains, there were coal tipples and water tanks at least every 25-miles, a minor repair shop every 50-miles, a major overhaul shop every 150-miles including a backshop with a blacksmith forge.

Coaling facilities were sometimes present when there was no water supply. On steep grades, there would be a water tank where there was no coal tipple.

So the chance of running out of fuel(coal) vs the ability to judge how far a pile of coal in the tender could take you, was null.

But given a slip-up they would stop and gather wood if they had too, so robbing coal off a car would be no fantasy.

The General, during "The Great Train Chase" as well as the Texas, ran out of wood and the crew had to forage for wood and water in the forest in several locations along the Western & Atlantic RR in North Georgia, US-America.