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The water being found or made right, the next consideration is the grates. Before throwing in the wood, all loose clinkers left upon the grates should be cleaned off: care should be taken, to see that the grates are in good condition, and connected with the shaker levers. This is also the time to see that no accumulation of cinders is left on the brick arch, the water-table, or in the combustion chamber, should the engine be provided with either of these appliances. In starting the fire, it is considered the best plan to put enough wood in the fire-box to raise sufficient steam to operate the blower before the fire needs replenishing. To do the job in a clean, workman-like manner, the fire should be started from below: otherwise every part of the cab will be veneered with soot and dust, and the bright work tarnished.

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On most roads, the engineer and fireman are required to be at their engine from fifteen minutes to half an hour before train-time. A good fireman will reach the engine in time to perform his preliminary duties deliberately and well. He will have the dust brushed off from the cab-furnishing, and from the conspicuous parts of the engine, the deck swept clean, the coal watered, and the oil-cans ready for the engineer. His fire is attended to, and its make-up regulated,—the kind of coal used, the train to be pulled, and the character of the road on the start. With an easy or down grade, for a mile or two on the start, the fire does not need to be so well made up as when the start is made on a heavy pull. But every intelligent fireman gets to understand in a few weeks just what kind of a fire is needed. It is the capability of perceiving this and other matters promptly, that distinguishes a good from an indifferent fireman. When a young fireman possesses these “true workman” perceptions, and is of an industrious, aspiring disposition, anxious to become master of his calling, he will prove a reliable help to the engineer; and his careful attention to the work will insure comfort and success on every trip. There must be a certain amount of work done on the engine, to get a train along; and, if the fireman can not do his part efficiently, it will fall upon the engineer, who must get it done somehow.