The sparks might be because it's burning wood rather than coal, I believe this was common in some parts of the US during the early railway years, because there was a lot of wood around.
A lot of times they'll throw coal/saw dust in the firebox to put on a spark show at these types of events. Under normal loading with normal fuel, it wouldn't send up nearly as man sparks. If they're just cruising around, they hardly throw any.
That would explain it, the amount of sparks did seem excessive. I can't see trains having regularly run around like this in the 19th century, the place would have completely burnt to the ground.
Fairbanks AK had no coal until near the 1930s and before that the whole valley was cut for firewood and every creek or river bank mined. Lots of steam powered ore processors, heating, machine shops etc
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u/onefourk 16h ago
The sparks might be because it's burning wood rather than coal, I believe this was common in some parts of the US during the early railway years, because there was a lot of wood around.