White and Black Smoke

[NW Mailing List]

My recollection from five summers of working on, under and around N&W steam engines is that at least some of the tenders were paint stenciled on the front behind the engineer's position:

Safety
First

Save
Fuel

And on the fireman's side of the tender front:

Black
Smoke
Is 
Waste

I do not remember whether the letters were all upper case (probably) or mixed case as depicted above or what the size of the letters may have been.  Also, the arrangement of words may have had two words on each line instead of only one word on each line as depicted above.

Gordon Hamilton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:52 AM
  Subject: RE: White and Black Smoke


  Black Smoke would have been bad for both reasons; pollution and more important  to a railway because of the fuel cost impact, it was a waste of fuel.  I'm at work this morning as I read this note.  I may not have the wording exact ally correct, but in a MicoScale N&W steam locomotive decal sets that I've used on my models there's is a decal that is placed on the tender facing the locomotive cab for the engineer and fireman to read that states, "Black Smoke Means Waste". 

   

  Ed Painter - A Virginian from Narrows living in Russellville, AR.  

   

  From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
  Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 5:43 AM
  To: NW Mailing List
  Subject: RE: White and Black Smoke

   

  (Writing from Scotland) I recently watched a 1947 training film made by one of the "Big Four" British railway companies, the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS).  It was called "Little and Often" and was made to instruct firemen in the art of firing a steam locomotive.  It was detailed in the scientific explanation of combustion: such as exhaust gases being fed back on to the fire to fully consume the combustible materials.  So the answer to the question (I think!) is that black smoke indicates poor stoking: it means that the fuel is not being completely turned in to energy and the wasted carbon and gasses are being exhausted through the chimney instead.  White or thin, gray smoke indicates efficient firing.
   
  In fact did I not read that the N&W authorities gave O Winston Link permission to take his superb photos....but on the proviso that he did not take pictures of locos belching out black smoke???
   
  Best regards to all my friends on your side of the pond from a fan of the N&W in the UK.
   
  Phil Taylor
  Stirlingshire
  Scotland




------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
  Subject: RE: White and Black Smoke
  Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:54:17 -0400
  From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org

  I remember reading somewhere that the railroads could be fined if they produced excessive black smoke in populated areas; a "smoke density" chart was used to gauge the extent of the violation. Does anybody know more about how that worked or any stories of "repeat offenders"? I remember reading somewhere that you never wanted to leave Roanoke past the N&W office buildings with black smoke because you might get spotted by the president of the N&W and really catch an earful.

   

  Mike Weeks

  Charlotte, NC

   

  -----Original Message-----
  From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
  Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 8:27 AM
  To: NW Mailing List
  Subject: White and Black Smoke

   

  Good morning.

   

  I am not worried about my Arrow not arriving yet and will not be posting when it arrives.

   

  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.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  ________________________________________
  NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
  To change your subscription go to
  http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
  Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
  http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/ 


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  No virus found in this incoming message.
  Checked by AVG. 
  Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1350 - Release Date: 3/30/2008 12:32 PM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20080331/450db87b/attachment.html>