White Smoke from a Steam Engine?

[cefinkjr]

I'm just old enough to remember working (not excursion) steam engines and the only time I ever saw one making white smoke like our models was in the dead of winter when the exhaust steam condensed immediately.  White smoke just doesn't look realistic to me.  Consequently, I turn smoke units off as soon as I get an engine with that feature.

I'm really getting tired of claiming that my firemen are super efficient experts at not making smoke.  Isn't there a smoke fluid out there that will produce black or at least dark gray smoke?

[7j43k]

Chuck.

My man.

NO!  Don't go there.

Or.  If you do, put it on Youtube.

It is my strong impression that "smoke" emitted from model steam locomotives is a PITA.  I expect, if it is darkly colored, it will be MORE PITA.  I, personally, don't know.

 

I do like your spunk, though.  And I'd like to be wrong in my opinion.

 

 

Ed

[doctorwayne]

The one thing that really bugs me about heritage steam locomotive operation is that everybody seems to want a big show of smoke, and the crew is generally very obliging. 
I remember steam, too, and while it could sometimes be pretty smoky, that wasn't usually what I saw in our neighbourhood.
 
The only time I really enjoyed seeing a big display of smoke was in August of 2012.  I was with friends, chasing the 765 in Pennsylvania.  As the train was entering New Brighton, on a sweeping curve of multiple tracks, railfans began to really crowd the right-of-way, with many right on the tracks adjacent to the one on which the train was running.
We were located a little farther along the line, in a small trackside park, and well off the RoW, as a couple of us worked with- or for railroads, and were well aware of safe practices.
The train was moving at a decent clip, and the engineer was really exercising the whistle, with the usual display of smoke and fury.  Many of the foamers on the tracks didn't budge.
As the locomotive reached the crowd, all of a sudden, the smoke, rather than blasting upward, began to settle rapidly, and in much greater volume than a moment before.  We guess that perhaps the fireman had "sanded the flues", but I'm not sure how he got the smoke to settle so quickly.  We were laughing so hard that it was surprising that we got any photos at that spot.

Here's what I captured...

...and you can see, just behind the diesel, what the morons got, while the stack has cleaned-up considerably.

I'm certain that the crew knew exactly what they were doing, and they also showed, as seen in the photo, that they knew how to run efficiently, too.

As for smoke with model trains, it's, in my opinion, just as toy-like as a giraffe car.

Wayne

[gmpullman]

doctorwayne

As for smoke with model trains, it's, in my opinion, just as toy-like as a giraffe car.

Agree — 100% ! Here is my Broadway Limited smoke unit which "smoked" itself to death and took the decoder with it, even with the manual switch turned off and the locomotive parked on a siding it decided to fry... like toast!

IMG_8102_fix by Edmund, on Flickr

I'm in the process of physically removing all these gadgets before they destroy any more sound decoders!

Apparently there is enough demand for them that the "market-driven" consumers are in the majority. 

Wasted technology in my opinion—

Good Luck, Ed

[BRAKIE]

cefinkjr

I'm really getting tired of claiming that my firemen are super efficient experts at not making smoke.

Firemen didn't want to make smoke because of the smoke inspectors enforcing the railroad's no smoke policy. Anybody trackside with camera was suspect.

To compound this problem the railroads used cheap coal that contained slate that caused excessive smoke..

White smoke was a sign of a clean fire.

[Medina1128]

doctorwayne

As for smoke with model trains, it's, in my opinion, just as toy-like as a giraffe car.