VALLEY VIEW, Ohio -- Bryan Porter shovels coal as an act of love and respect.
For the rest of the month he and other volunteers will be lavishing that unusual form of affection on a Berkshire 2-8-4 steam locomotive as it chugs along the rails of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. The excursion line tries to borrow steam engines at least once a year to use instead of the diesels that normally work its 51 miles of track.
A smaller Baldwin 0-6-0 switch engine will supplement the mighty Berkshire, making steam-powered shuttle runs between Brecksville and the railroad's 'Fitzwater Maintenance Yard in Valley View.
On Friday the Berkshire lounged at the Fitzwater yard. A muscular black plume of smoke reached skyward, punctuated by a spike of white steam as Porter made the locomotive whistle.
Larry Blanchard, the railroad's 'operations manager, said steam locomotives are never supposed to cool down completely.
Unfortunately, the Baldwin did exactly that, running out of coal in Independence. Blanchard had to fetch 10 buckets full from the railroad's stockpile, so owner Scott Symans, of Dunkirk, N.Y., could get up enough steam to make the Fitzwater yard.
The Berkshire is from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. Volunteers there rescued the Lima, Ohio-built behemoth (engine and tender weigh in at 404 tons) from a city park, then spent five years in the late 1970s bringing it back to life. After 52,000 excursion miles, they rebuilt it again between 2000 and 2005, to turn out the gleaming black dinosaur that will stalk the Cuyahoga Valley in the coming weeks.
Porter will focus on "keeping its fire hot, the steam pressure up and water in the boiler -- so we don't blow up," he said, articulating the duties of a railroad fireman. At speed, an augur beneath the floor plate carries coal from the tender into the locomotive's firebox. At a standstill, a fireman must stoke the engine by hand.
The work is second nature to Porter, of Akron. His regular job is running coal-fired power plants. He is a member of the Fort Wayne society.
He popped open the Berkshire's firebox for visitors, spreading two doors that hinge apart like the blades of fat scissors, to reveal an even carpet of flame. "Not hot at all," Porter said, noting that at full speed, the scene would be white-hot, and unbearable.
Kelly Lynch, spokesman for the Fort Wayne group, said its Berkshire was built in 1944 as a dual-purpose engine for the Nickel Plate Railroad, capable of hauling passenger cars but preferred for freight because of its raw power. It ran between Chicago and Bellevue, Ohio, until 1958, Lynch said.
By the 1950s, most railroads were swapping out their steam locomotives for diesel-electric engines.
Lucky steamers got retired to static display. The rest went to scrap yards, which is where Symans found his 1925 Baldwin six years ago. He restored it, returning it to service in 2007.
For a full schedule of the steam excursions (they begin today), go to cvsr.com or call 1-800-468-4070.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jewinger@plaind.com, 216-999-3905