Why, those would be static discharge spheres. They are used to create a massive corona effect to break down water vapor in a foggy area. (picture the scenes from a Frankenstein movie) They never worked well on main line locomotives because they were moving too fast. However in slow moving switching operations, they could build up enough of a charge to break up the fog where the crew was working.
:tb-biggrin:I understand the question is What is this: I believe that in today's EPA minded world, They are exhaust filters so that NO exhaust is allowed out. You know how the Govt. works. Control, control, control. :tb-biggrin:
I understand spark arrestors on steam engines with the embers and hot ash flying out of the stack. But what is the danger from a diesel?
Carbon builds up in diesel exhaust systems too and have been the cause of tunnel fires in the past as well as grass fires.
Older diesels sometimes had lots of soot build up in their stacks, which occasionally would burst into flame and go as high as 20 into the air depending on throttle setting and load. Older GEs were famous for this, but other locos could experience it also. A few years back, there was a fairly long thread on TB with lots of photos. IIRC, many of the posters were active engineers, some of whom admitted to setting fires when their locos "burped". EDIT - Bill, sorry about duplicating your post, but I was typing as you were posting...:tb-embarrassed:
If you've missed it, it's quite a show- At the enginehouse when they'd service a diesel and run it up to burn out that carbon. At night it looked like the Fourth of July. That same can happen to a diesel along the r-o-w, when under load. Or even when idling. Of course it also depends upon the wear and tear on that power plant. So, when a piece of burning carbon lands in a forest or nice crispy dry grassland... Boxcab E50
Wait, Popcorn Makers? Umm I have 4 of those on top of my house. How am I supposed to get the popcorn out? Regarding Diesel operation I was going to ask how soot was ignited, but then I wiki'ed.
Here is a shot that Jerry [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Georgia, Verdana]OC Engineer JD[/FONT] took showing how a diesel can throw sparks.
My, that is an impressive photo. Doesn't one of the prototype locomotives have a (perjorative) nickname of "Toaster" or something like that due to its propensity for starting those sorts of fires?
"Toaster" is a railfan term for GE engines that have fires. But for a different reason. The photo above illustrates exactly what I outlined in my earlier post. Boxcab E50
Aah. I missed your other post, but that's what I thought the cause was. I just mixed in the Toaster thing from bad memory of *that* root cause. Thanks for clearing it up!
