All;

Back on old forum, we have a conversation about smoke in steam locomotive photographs. Some understandably thought it gave locomotives a bad image in terms of pollution; others like myself stated that smoke (or "clag", as the British call it) was considered a good thing in steam locomotive pictures because it helped to create a mood. What's more, smoke was not considered a bad thing during the Age of Steam, but rather a sign of prosperity.

Two things brought this topic back to my mind. One was this nameplate, which I rescued and restored from a condemned boilerhouse at the place I work at:



Dating from 1919, the center of the plate depicts two smokestacks wrapping the world in smoke. Definitely not PC these days, but a vivid example of a different way of viewing smoke.

And while smoke from steam and diesel locomotives idling at stations makes neighbors unhappy (as some railroads have found), the beautiful glint shots of N&W 475 are a classic example of the art of photographing steam locomotives. I have one of them as wallpaper on my desktops at home and work, and several folks with little or no interest in trains have commented how pretty it is.

Thank you John Craft and those who were a part of his group for sharing your pictures with us. One of these days, I hope to join you at trackside to see and photograph it for myself.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

Are you sure that this isn't steam that is depicted on the boiler plaque? The steam coming out at angles to the globe looks like a representation of a steam generator that had two outlets and spun the entire piece. I can not for the life of me remember when and by who that steam engine was made.

Remember the plaques on some steamers that said "Make no black smoke". Remember that O Winston Link was told pix with black
smoke did not portray the railroad in a positive way. By
the later 1930's municipalites would fine railroads for smoke. I
think the images we see of factories belching smoke are really
a 19th C rather than a 20th C image.
Today, I'm afraid black smoke is unacceptable. Lots of
fellows like it when a Alco spools up but it is the same problem.
Bad engineering and bad publicity for the historical train movement.

Wasn't it Archimedes or one of those ancient Greeks who used a globe with two outlets with an open fire beneath to demonstrate the power of boiling water?

And on the subject of smoke, the newspaper in the town of Gordon, in Pennsylvania's anthracite region, had as its slogan "We cover the town like engine smoke."

I believe that's Hero's engine depicted on the B&W nameplate with steam issuing from the pipes .

You are thinking of an "aelopile", invented by a Greek named Hero in 200 BC:



Sure enough, a closer scan of it shows you are right:



Thank you for pointing that out.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

Mr Laepple - being a Pittsburgher from before the outsourcing of our steel industry I concur with the slogan. I still have trouble trusting air I can't see and snow of an unhealthy pale tint.

dave

Where would our country be now if it weren't for the smoke from all of those steam locomotives (and diesel Alco's) and smokestacks of all of the steel and other mills that built this place? Now it's a sin to smoke or allow smoke to be seen.

In the middle of October our coal dealer sent us a load of coal from a state I won't mention. It was the type of stuff that would make Phebe Snow blush. Smoky, dirty, and a not so great smell.

Several weeks ago as I heaped another shovel full of this stuff into the firebox, my engineer looked over at me and said "being raised in Pittsburg that's supposed to be the smell of progress..."

Progress or not I still like my Pochantas coal....


But I think James is right, look at every rendering of a factory (etching or otherwise) they all appear to be much larger than they really were. The smoke stacks are promonet and all producing large amounts of smoke.
Of course even today not every one likes progress and I imagine it was the same back then..

My pleasure, James - I look forward to the day you join us trackside.

All this tribute to particulate emission reminds me a bit of Robert LaMassena's paean to pollution in TRAINS back in the late 70s - the soil-amendment benefits of cinders, the introduction of water vapor to dry climates, etc.

But worry not - if you look closely just above the stack, you'll note that you can see right through the plume. It's all steam, which annoys some participants who deplore "The Gap" for dubious aesthetic reasons. So we just back up and do it again, for the Dave Lathrops of the world.

It can actually be quite difficult to get black smoke on a runby with a typical hand-fired engine. Working an engine hard, every pound of coal the fireman tosses in is matched by excess oxygen, and you end up lifting the safety valves before you get black smoke. It takes some practice, and occasionally a rake instead of a scoop, to get it.

Dave, apologies in advance for this carbon-free image, but do try and enjoy it anyway . . .

JAC

Yes, true that not all were enamored with the Clouds of Progress. In
fact, most of the Romantic school were quite against all this activity.
Not so different than now, except that the Neo-romantics are the
ones missing the Airborne Particals.
Funny how things change, eh?

I would just like to remind everyone what I have been told by steam-era fireman about making black smoke: it was against the rules. On the Milwaukee Road, the crew would get 2 or 3 "Brownies" every time they got caught making smoke unnecessarily: 25 Brownies and they would get 2 weeks off - with no pay! On the SP, a fireman who continually made black smoke would get informally blackballed by engineers: "Get that guy out of the cab! I am not going to work with him!"

Black smoke represented - to management - a completely unnecessary waste of money, in the form of fuel wasted. It also soots up the flues and tubes and inhibits heat transfer.

Margaret (SP fan)
Give me nice clouds of white water vapor on a cool day, or just a slight brownish haze above the stack - the SP's requirement for a properly-fired steam locomotive!

John - I always kept a couple pairs of my old gloves around to toss in whenever we needed black smoke. For really bad smoke, old overalls or sneakers.

dave

It's pretty obvious that the only folks who want black smoke are ignorant railfans.

I wasn't aware you could classify people as "ignorant" based simply on whether they ever asked for smoke in a runby. Doesn't match my experience--I've known some very interesting people, quite knowlegable about steam, who liked a touch of smoke in some of their images.