Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
When I stop to think about it, I am not sure of the exact definition of the term, balloon stack.  Speaking very generally:  Wood burners were used in an era that preceded a adoption of coal to replace wood as fuel.  Wood burners had funnel shaped stacks.  The coal burners had diamond shaped stacks.  In both cases, the stacks contained a system of spark arresting screens and devices.  Early in the coal burning era (say around 1885), there was a widespread adoption of the concept of taking the screens out of the stacks and placing them in the smokebox, along with increasing the size of the smokebox.  This change eliminated the need for the diamond stack, so it was replaced with the shotgun stack.   <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> Many, many 4-4-0s of this era were built with diamond stacks and short smokeboxes, and then modified during their service lives to place the screens in an enlarged smokebox and replace the diamond stack with a shotgun stack.  This extension of the smokebox generally harmed the aesthetics of the original as-built locomotive design.  In my opinion, this genre of converted 4-4-0s wins the ugly duckling locomotive contest of any large class of types.  This appearance problem did not apply to later 4-4-0s originally built with screens in the smokebox and the shotgun stack. <o:p></o:p> There were many different designs for the diamond and funnel stacks, including popular subcategories.  One of these was the cabbage stack, which I assume is what Chuck referred to as a turnip stack.  I do not know what the point of the design was.  It does raise the question in my mind as to the purpose of choosing such a complex fabrication design needed to form its spherical curvature.  Can anybody explain the purpose of the shape?   The term, balloon stack, seems like it would apply exclusively to these cabbage stacks because a balloon is shaped with the spherical nature of the cabbage stack.  However, I was under the impression that the term balloon stack referred largely, if not exclusively, to the funnel stacks of the wood burning (and some coal burning) locomotives.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag