Balloon Smokestacks

[71318f]

Could someone please give me a brief reason/function  for the huge "balloon" smokestacks seen on

many mid-19th century steam locomotives?

 

Thanks

[JamesP]

They were used to capture or put out live sparks.  Most of the locomotives of that era were wood fired, and put out an amazing amount of sparks out the stack that could (and did) set fire to the surroundings.  There were many smokestack designs in that era, each trying to be effective at spark control while not hindering draft any more than necessary.  If you look at locomotives as coal and oil became the common fuels, you will see the stacks generally change to a form of the straight or shotgun stack.  However, funnel stacks were used even with some coal fired engines, especially in logging operations where the risk of fire was high and the consequences would be disasterous.

 - James

[tomikawaTT]

There were locomotives built with turnip stacks as late as the late 1920s.

One such, Baldwin class of 1927, is preserved at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento.  When the turnip stack rusted out, it was replaced by an industrial cyclone!  That little 0-4-2T operated that way until the end of steam on the Kiso Rintetsu in the late 1950s.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

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. 

 

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.

 

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.   

[richg1998]

There were a wide variety of stacks for wood burning locos. Some people mistakenly apply a different name to a stack. Some look quite similar. There was a large variety of sizes of diamond stacks, Congdon, Radley & Hunter, Balloon, Cabbage, Mushroom, Onion/Cabbage, Gerlinger Coos Bay #11 stack. The reference I used is the Precision Scale Company  locomotive parts catalog.

Rich

[wjstix]

It seems like the big change came in the 1880's or thereabouts, when railroads changed to coal and hence changed stacks. For example, here is Duluth and Iron Range No.3 built in 1883:

...and here is D&IR 4-8-0 "Mastadon" type, No.74 built in 1893:

(Both pics from Missabe Road Historical Society website, www.missabe.com.)

[Kootenay Central]

.

[dldance]

I have had the privilage of firing a funnel stacked wood burner at night.  Under load, it produces an amazing amount of cinders and sparks - even with the spark arresting screens.  It is no wonder that we started a grass fire last summer.

dd