When 1522 is just starting up, steam shoots out to the sides under the cylinders. Whats with that?
When first starting out, 1522’s cylinders are relatively cold. In addition, some steam may have leaked in and cooled back into water and some crud might have found its way into the cylinder. The cold cylinder will cause the steam to condense back into water. If this water is not removed, enough of it could build up to damage the cylinder and piston in a hydraulic lock. To prevent this, the engineer opens the cylinder cocks under the cylinder to shoot some steam, and the water/crud with it, out of the bottom of the cylinder. You will note how first one end of the cylinder and then the other will have steam exhausting as the piston moves back and forth. After a few revolutions, the cylinder wall is sufficiently warmed and the accumulated water is cleared, so the engineer shuts off the cylinder cocks. If the engine has only been sitting a short time, the engineer will often not bother with the cylinder cocks.
