June 1999

Fireless Cooker at NARC

This is the "Fireless Cooker" used by the Bemberg and NARC rayon plants for years. This is also the first time I had seen it in person, and it was just sitting out in the parking lot at NARC. Wearing its "resplendent" Bi-Centennial paint job and looking rather forlorn, it sits hoping for a new owner, or at least a coat of black paint. Little did I know that it was soon to be cleaned and painted and moved to a new display place in Elizabethton.

For anyone who doesn't know what a fireless cooker is, let me explain. This engine has no firebox or any way of making steam even though it is a steam powered engine. The "boiler" is simply a large pressurized cylinder that is filled with compressed steam from an external steam source, and then run on that pressurized steam until it needs some more. And then it is refilled. Some folks call it the "Thermos." It was perfect for working around places where cinders from a coal-fired engine could ignite combustible solids or liquids. This engine was working here until after 1980, I believe. If someone knows when it was retired, let me know. This thing was readily accessible just sitting in the parking lot, unattended. It was not harmed in the late February, 2000 fire at the NARC plant. The engine had been moved prior to a resoration job. It will be put in the park in Elizabethton when completed. The color will most likely be a dark green, thank goodness.