Indelible soot

Trains Magazine Steam & Preservation
1

Recently, as a steam fan chasing coal burning Lima Berkshire 765 in Michigan, I was inundated with a shower of foul, wet soot which I was unable to remove from any of my clothing. This incident came only after many other encounters, which left me only with a dry, grainy soot to dust off. On this particular occasion however, the stuff was wet, filthy, and indelible reminding me of some type of lampblack.

Could it have been possible that the fireman threw some sand into the firebox to clean out the flues which ruined all my clothes?

And if so, did he not realize the consequences of his actions? Or maybe he did because of the fact that the 765’s home stable is in Indiana and most of the railfans were Michiganders!

2

NKP 765 is a coal burner and sanding the flues is something that is required with oil burners. It appears that the fireman’s technique left something to be desired.

3

The hogger can do some damage by opening the throttle wide suddenly, or allowing the drivers to spin. When these things take place, it can rip sizable holes in the fire bed, and if the intake through the firebox floor can rip apart a 6" thick bed of hot coals, it can probably dislodge accumulations anywhere else along the way. It could even have been an occasional event related solely to the passage of time and the build-up of the material in a flue, the firebox, in the peticoat pipe…

To paraphrase, soot happens.

Crandell

4

That frequently happens when the blower is cracked to check your fire while stopped.

5

You have to think of this as a “free souvenir” of the event. “This is the shirt I wore when I went to see the 765 in action! Ain’t it neat how it has all these black spots?”

You should be glad it is modern enough to be a coal burner and not a wood burner.

My son and I went to the Nowthen, MN “Threshers Show” last August. Nice show with several operating Steam farm tractors, one of which was running a permanent sawmill installation on the show grounds. While we were inspect the operating engine… YOUCH! I felt something “Sting” me on the back of my left hand!

I knew better than to just swat at it as that might inject more than just venom into me, so I raised my hand to inspect what it was that was causing the hurt. It was a small black thing of some sort that actually looked somewhat like a miniature Lightning Bug.

Wait a sec here… Lightning Bugs don’t “sting”! Besides, it is STILL biting! What is going on here?

Of course, all those thoughts took just microseconds and my other hand took matters into its own, so to speak, “hands” and brushed the back of my left hand where this “Bug” was “stinging” me.

WHEW! Thanks right hand! That feels lots better!

The “Bug” fell to the ground and I lost sight of it amidst the grass, dirt and sawdust.

Just as I was about to vocalize my displeasure, in something other than the yips of pain, my son suddenly began to dance around plucking at his shirt over his left shoulder.

“OUCH! Something is stinging me!” he yelled.

My concern for my son caused (and my pain being gone now, allowed) me to inspect his shoulder for what the culprit was that was making him do an Irish Jig. Hmmm… A small black “insect” of some sort that looks for all the world like a miniature Lightning Bug. I brushed it off and he settled down.

He began to pull his shirt collar out, trying to inspect his shoulder for where he was stung, and

6

You should have to start a consist of diesels after they have been shut down before a heavy rain. Just another one of those things in life that we all have to deal with.