Saltley firemen needed to have their Weetabix.

[Merle Haggard]

I read somewhere that the Stanier Pacifics carried enough for an out and back run to Scotland, as suitable quality coal wasn't available there. Said to cause problems if the loco was then "borrowed" for a local service and had to be topped up

You may well be right, but...

In the Book of the Princess Royal Pacifics, the following comment appears, 'The (1936) tenders at first were also of a nominal 9 ton capacity. Pacifics, of course, were running longer distances than had been customary and, even at nine tons, the capacity was found to be limited. They were uprated in late 1937 to 10 tonners. Of course, that doesn't negate the point you made.

I remember B.R. produced 'Research Bulletins' of loco. performance, and these include lbs of coal consumed per mile, which would give some indication. Admittedly, this would be in near-perfect conditions, and Furnessvale points out what sometimes happened; in the case of a former Wellingborough fireman I knew well, one of his drivers blasted along on long cut-off (with an 8F), with the clear intention of making him work very hard, and sneered when he complained.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Weather conditions played a part also - headwinds in particular. Tuplin - that commentator on footplate runs in a journalistic sense , made a comment once that certain drivers would turn the steam heat off on certain runs to get a few more pounds of pressure to use !

Coal was another factor - a tender of mixed dross would be a liability (sometimes covered up by better stuff put on top) , and the % of large lumps that would need breaking up. My only direct experience was a couple of runs driving and firing on the Woltzyn experience in Poland , where the tender contained about a foot of wet slack and large boulders of coal on top. I ignored the former and broke up the latter (very hard work at 0430 in the morning) , and at Poznan - once out in yard and away from OLE , I was sent up the tender to shovel forward and break up some of these lumps for my relief fireman. You can imagine what state I was in by the end of the run.

 

[Saltleyman]

You appear to have missed a very important factor. How heavy handed the driver was.

From first hand info from my brother, a lifetime footplateman steam, diesel and electric, a heavy handed driver could almost reduce a young fireman to tears as his fire went up the chimney.

I certainly forgot that aspect I had a few "heavy handed" drivers in my short time firing steamers on the mainline!