The Inquiring Mind Wants To Know!

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Depends on the grade of coal being burned, too. The coal mined by the East Broad Top was advertised as "smokeless," and by many accounts lived up to its name. (Its ability to burn very cleanly was responsible for launching "Alan's Products" brand of dog food, today known as Alpo.)

Having said that, I was up on the Georgetown Loop a few weeks ago, and their oil-fired loco produced little to no visible smoke (until they sanded the flues).

Later,

K

Anthracite is said to burn cleaner than bituminous, I believe. Remember Phoebe Snow in her white dress riding "upon the road of anthracite"? 

I guess what prompted my question was that I noticed that "movie" old-timers, such as Sierra #3, always seem to put out a lot of black smoke, and I know #3 is an oil burner, with the wood on the tender being "just for show."

Of course, on Petticoat Junction they blamed the black smoke on Floyd burning old railroad ties. ... 

[ebtnut]

I suspect that in the Petticoat Junction filming, they purposly tried to make black smoke for the "scenic" effect.  Sand in the firebox, pumping in more oil than needed, other things that inhibit combustion and make smoke.  As for the UK, I suspect their restriction has a lot more to do with air pollution laws than the grade of steel being used.

[Doneldon]

Kevin-

Maybe I'm dense or something, but what does smokeless coal have to do with dog food?

                                                                                                     -- D

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I suspect that in the Petticoat Junction filming, they purposly tried to make black smoke for the "scenic" effect.  Sand in the firebox, pumping in more oil than needed, other things that inhibit combustion and make smoke.

No doubt. But it's more fun to think of Floyd burning old ties. 

[J R Barnes]

As a current fireman on the oil fired 2248 ten-wheeler on the Grapevine (TX)
Vintage RR, we sand the flues at least twice on each trip, once going to Ft. Worth and once coming back.  If it appears that fireing is getting harder, we first sand.  We burn re-refined or used motor oil.  We buy it from companies that pump out jiffy-lube type places.  We only use diesel fuel if we are having problems with the fuel oil, hard to light off.  Our atomizers are not set up to burn diesel.

The trick to being a fireman is control of the products of combustion in the firebox.  The mixture of air and fuel is the key.  Too much fuel and you can have burning fuel dripping out of the fire box because it can't be burned as fast as you are feeding it to the atomizer.  Too little steam and you burn too much fuel and create black smoke of unburned particles of oil which will coat your cars with small black dots of oil-a mess.

Being the fireman is the hardest job on a steam train, just ask one.

Jerry Barnes
GVRR
Plano, TX

[tac]

I am still wondering why you can sand a North American boiler but not a boiler in the UK.  Jim

It's a matter of engine-driving discipline, and the fact that if you did it in the UK somebody is bound to be offended as well as getting their washing dirtied up.

In wide-open Canada and the rest of North America there's a very good chance that nobody would notice.

tac
www.ovgrs.org
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund