I just had a facebook quiz, one of whose questions was "if an electric locomotive was traveling south which way does the smoke go", and their desired answer was "nowhere".
My dad would give me a hard time on this when I was a kid. In high school I was a member of the rowing crew, we had a good view of Amtrak's approach to Philly's 30th St Station, I was able to act like my dad and point out the electric trains that had smoke. My teammates didn't appreciate my wisecracking railfannery.
I'll give you guys a couple of days to contribute your comments about why those electric locomotives smoked.
Patrick Boylan
Free yacht rides, 27' sailboat, zip code 19114 Delaware River, get great Delair bridge photos from the river. Send me a private message
Depends on Where the power plant is located. As far as in know the power came from Conwanago Dam in PA
The direction that the smoke went from oil fired steam generators on the GG1 would depend on which way the wind was blowing.
DS4-4-1000 yes that's pretty much what my dad taught me, but unfortunately I can't award you one free internet since you didn't explain to what purpose did they intend that generated steam.
Some of my rowing teammates, and other non-foamers that I tortured, either thought they were steam locomotives, or were very surprised when they saw the puffs of smoke coming from the GG1 locomotives.
Someplace in my files I have a picture I took of a big plume of smoke coming out the top of a GG1 at 30th St Station in Phillie.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Smoke, yes; puffs, no. Puffs characterstic of reciprocating steam becaus of cylinders' cycling of draft, but diesel and electric locomotives' steam generators don't have cycling.
Smoke steady.
gardendance you didn't explain to what purpose did they intend that generated steam
Why would I? The only reason a locomotive had a steam jenny installed was to provide heating and air conditioning to passenger and head end cars equipped for steam.
New York Central P-motors and T-motors were also equipped with steam generators for the same reason. I remember a picture in TRAINS showing a T-motor in suburban service with a good plume of smoke.
Additional question. In the July 1965 issue of TRAINS in an article on NYC's suburban service, it was mentioned that S-motors would occasionally work suburban schedules when power was tight. It further mentioned that no provision was made for steam to heat the cars en route and any heat came from the charge of steam provided at GCT. How did this work and how long did the one charge of steam keep the cars warm?
So why wasn't this thread posted on April 1st?
I thought that at least some S1s had boilers.
Thanks to everyone who gave interesting answers, and who helped expand my locomotive knowledge. Of course I have a Philadelphia-centric prejudice and never thought of how other cities' electric railroads kept passengers warm in the winter, but it makes sense that the New York commuter services' locomotives would have them.
CSSHEGEWISCH mentions that Trains magazine July 1965 said New York Central heated up their cars in Grand Central. Even then, how did they heat trains that started their runs at the other end of the line, or did suburban terminals have facilities to give trains a shot of steam heat?
How about Montreal? At least some of their trips sometimes had locomotives.
daveklepperSmoke, yes; puffs, no. Puffs characterstic of reciprocating steam becaus of cylinders' cycling of draft, but diesel and electric locomotives' steam generators don't have cycling. Smoke steady.
.
BigJimdaveklepperSmoke, yes; puffs, no. Puffs characterstic of reciprocating steam because of cylinders' cycling of draft, but diesel and electric locomotives' steam generators don't have cycling. Smoke steady. I beg your pardon. Go to the 2:23 mark of this video to see your steam puffs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfCoRQqY_K4
daveklepperSmoke, yes; puffs, no. Puffs characterstic of reciprocating steam because of cylinders' cycling of draft, but diesel and electric locomotives' steam generators don't have cycling. Smoke steady.
I beg your pardon. Go to the 2:23 mark of this video to see your steam puffs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfCoRQqY_K4
Those aren't puffs, those are pops. BIG difference. And the question was about smoke, not steam -- the steam generators on GG1s used a motor-driven fan for draft, so no 'puffing'.
You haven't been paying attention to the posts. Now, show me the smoke!
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.