White and Black Smoke

[NW Mailing List]

Black smoke is sometimes seen when an engine is starting a heavy load or
pulling a bit of a grade. The proper color for smoke, when running under
normal conditions, is light grey or white looking smoke. This means that
coal is not being wasted. The tenders of most engines had 'Black smoke is
waste' printed on them. Railroads employed men called smoke watchers who
would watch the trains and report any crews that made excessive smoke. Some
railroads had a light mounted behind the smokestack so the fireman could
check the color of his smoke at night. 

Photo run-bys are the main reason you see a thick cloud of black smoke in
some photos and videos. They really stoke it up and let the smoke fly! Part
of the agreement between the company and OWL was that he not show engines
producing excessive smoke in his photos. Railroads unofficially competed
amongst themselves by showing how little smoke their engines produced.

Larry Stanley
N&W Ry (or NS as THEY call it)


>    3. White and Black Smoke (NW Mailing List)

> The purpose of my post this morning is to inquire as to why on many of

the programs that I watch on RFD TV (Trains and Locomotives) some of the
smoke is black and some is white.  What is the cause of this? Have a great
weekend and thank you in advance for any responses