Meanings
- uncountableThe burning of oil in a furnace to provide heat, or in a firebox to generate steam in a boiler.
Oil-firing was now becoming more expensive than coal and no more "Claud Hamiltons" were so fitted after No 1859; the apparatus was gradually removed from the engines so equipped, [...].
1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Salute to the "Claud Hamiltons" & "Directors"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 1151 more example
Another solution of the problem, shortly to be the subject of extensive experiments on the G.W.R., is oil-firing. This was abandoned on the G.E.R. forty years and more ago because the rising price of oil made it too expensive a method to continue; but the boot is now on the other leg, and the high cost and poor quality of present-day locomotive coal add considerably to the attractiveness of oil as a substitute. Other conditions being equal, oil-firing has much to commend it on long runs, and the firebox equipment needed is of a relatively simple construction.
1945 November and December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 330
Cite this entry
oil firing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oil%20firing
“oil firing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oil%20firing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oil firing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oil%20firing.
Source: oil firing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.