Could I have a delightful fireplace in my train?

October 1, 2014 6:59 PM

Daydreaming about what I'd do if I were American CEO-level rich, I wondered: Are there any laws against a wood-burning fireplace in a private train car?
posted by Monochrome to Law & Government (4 answers total)

Best answer: According to the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, the 1914 Pullman car Francis L Suter has a wood-burning fireplace.
posted by gyusan at 7:08 PM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

I would expect wood stoves would be more likely

Caboose Stoves!
posted by leahwrenn at 7:45 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Mostly, you wouldn't want to. Aside from the risk of fire (personally, I suspect the appropriate agencies would forbid it outside of an historic recreation), the standard fireplace setup is very inefficient and usually draws your warm air up its chimney faster than it heats the room. The cast-iron (pot-belly, Franklin, etc.) stove is much more efficient at converting the fire energy into heat that is radiated into the living space. These, however, were also more efficient at holding carbon monoxide and dioxide fumes (particularly when passing through tunnels), thus shifting the problem to another problem. This is an issue faced by propane-fueled equipment in modern RVs, for example.
posted by dhartung at 12:21 AM on October 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

My in laws have this tiny wood stove in their little sail boat and it is, I have to admit, pretty neat. You throw a 4"x4" chunk of whatever wood you have handy (they usually use small pieces of 2x4's) and it burns for hours heating up the small inside space quite nicely. I'd imagine a wealthy person with their own train car would be able to do something much fancier.
posted by Poldo at 4:52 AM on October 2, 2014 [4 favorites]