Train Car Stove?

Welcome E.M. Taylor


Scotty Overkill , do you know?

 

Might be an old airplane, or Zeppelin, stove....?

 

He works on the other end of the train.

 

Yeah, I've been looking at that stove for a couple days. I worked at Steamtown and saw a lot of equipment used to heat strange stuff, but not designed quite like that.
It looks too light weight to be railroad. (unless narrow gauge used something like that, but I doubt it) They had stoves in railway snowplow cars, but were normally heavy duty cast iron.
On a caboose, one attribute for a stove is normally at least one removable eye to make coffee or tea quick by removing the eye to get flames directly to kettle bottom. If it has no openings on top, it's not much of a cook stove. Plus it would have rails around the top if RR or marine for cooking. Looks strictly for heating. Everything just simmers on a solid stove top if no openings......... Notice the green piece that replaced something across the front too. Is there mining, like open strip mining in the area? It was definitely built for use in a moving vehicle with the double latch, and what appears to be a screwed down cover at the ash pan / intake. The "house" on large steam shovels and "skimmers" sometimes had a stove and that looks very industrial, not railroad. The green piece across the front has an extra hole in it, like it was from something else and made to repair this stove. Does it go completely through?
Not old enough to be a "Chuck wagon stove", or for covered wagon, but the doors are. Gypsy Wagon stoves were built very similar (light weight sheet steel) with that shape too. Top size or footprint will rule that out.
Can't figure out what the two clips are on the side near bottom either. Are there two on the other side? Lots of close ups may help.
The "RAN" is a foundry mark, possibly initials of caster? Strange initials for a company since most end in F for foundry or have a C for Casting..... Here's a website I use for foundry marks that didn't help with this one. Foundry Database - The Cast Iron Collector: Information for The Vintage Cookware Enthusiast It's geared toward cast pans but many foundries made stove parts as well as their own stoves. That site comes in handy.
From a standpoint of fuels, it certainly has a coal grate but no secondary air inlet above fire. The loose fitting door would allow plenty of secondary air for coal gas combustion, so it's not necessary to have a secondary inlet with a loose fitting door. It would burn wood or soft coal the best. The corrosion around the front door suggests it has had coal in it.
The grate is strange that it doesn't have a square, hex or 5 sided shaft, even half round, for a handle to fit easily. It looks like a double grate that gets a gear on it (the flat side locks set screw) so you normally have a shaft with square drive between the two grates geared to each other. Notice the air holes are offset like it is the left side of a pair too. These are not round gears, but more like half moon cast gears to only rock so far. I'll look around, I may have some grates like that.
What are the dimensions of the top and vent outlet?
The doors look antiquated for the rest of the construction like they were from something else?? No sign of paint on them, but the paint on sheet metal shows no wear. It would be best to remove those zinc plated stove bolts and replace with mild steel. Your setting that frame up for corrosion. Notice the cast protrusion that looks like a poker holder on front at top left now has the top lip over it, making it almost unusable. Any idea what that is for? Better pics of it?
I assume this has a cast iron liner?
Removable ash pan? Look in the bottom real close for remnants of small coal pieces.
The hardware has certainly been worked over with a mix of square and hex. Notice the hex bolt through the air adjustment knob. That entire knob doesn't match the time period of those doors.
If those door frames remove easily there may be a patent number or foundry mark on the rear side of it? Another place to find coal remnants like black powder.
One more question; does the grate only rock, or does it turn completely over? "Reverseable" grates are flat like that with holes for coal on one side and will have an L shape on one side so when rotated 90* they are solid for wood.
Did you try asking at nepacrossroads coal burning website?