Hi, I have a question concerning steam locomotives. Did some have a stack light so that the fireman could see the smoke at night so he could monitor the combustion? It looks like a PRR K-4 had such a light. Was there a light? If so, did other railroads use them too? Thanks for any info you can provide.
I've never seen a picture of a K4 with a stack light, however, I believe many oil burners had them. I seem to recall seeing photos of SP engines with such a light by the back of the smokestack rim.
Can you post the picture of the K4 with stack light?
I don't recall hearing of a stack light for anything that wasn't oil-fired, but there may have been conditions (for example, communities or municipalities with very strict smoke ordinances) where stack lights to monitor 'emissions' from coal firing might have made sense. A stack light was a very important accessory when adjusting oil-firing at night, though, and a number of roads used them.
Hi, This is not my picture. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=274205&nseq=69. On the fireman's side of the stack is a junction box that feeds power to the class lights and the headlights. On some K-4s I have seen in pix this is a smaller. squarer box. This one has a longer box that I have seen in most pix which makes me think it has a bulb in it. Anyway, whether the K-4 actually had one or not, my question "were there such things as attack lights has been answered." Thank you everyone for your input.
That is a very interesting shot. I've never noticed a junction box like that before on a K4s. Hopefully some pennsyphile can shed some light on the subject!
Example of a stack light on the link below. What we have on the K4 is an oversize junction box, which I suspect (the PRR experts can jump right in here) was due to the relocation of the turbo steam generator to the smoke box front.
Here is the link, cut & past to access, from RailPictures.Net:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=483081&nseq=5
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.