Maybe in the USA, but they were barely used in the UK. From these discussions, it seems the (much) larger American locomotives and lower quality of coal requir

Maybe in the USA, but they were barely used in the UK. From these discussions, it seems the (much) larger American locomotives and lower quality of coal required it. https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/mechanical-stokers.33744/ https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/mechanical-stokers.3374... https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/manually-shovelling-coal-on-a-steam-engine-is-there-another-way.142322/ https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/manually-shovelling-coa...