Steam & Excursion > Some Railroads Believed In Smoke Lifters-But This Is Just Crazy!

Smoke lifting devices were used on various railroads to aid int he lifting of a locomotives exhaust up and over the train especially at high speeds.  These were often found on passenger engines so that the passengers did not have to deal with smoke coming into the vents of the passenger cars.

While that is the usual reason for normal smoke lifters, we see this principal carried to an extreme in the case of Manitoba Paper 2-6-0 #30 seen here at Pine Falls, Manitoba Canada on October 6, 1959.  The shops at MPC seem to have gone to the extreme in designing and installing what has to be the most radical smoke-lifting "ears" ever seen on a steam locomotive.

As #30 worked for a paper company it is doubtful that she had any passenger cars to worry about or even any high speed running for that manner.  Perhaps it was decided that the paper products that she hauled on a daily basis could be smudged by the smoke exhaust of #30.  It was likely not done for fire hazard as we see no spark arrestor on her.

What ever the reason, #30 surely holds the prize for the most radical smoke-lifters ever installed on a steam locomotive.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/17 03:07 by LoggerHogger.

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Could this also be the only 2-6-0 with an all-weather cab?

Gordon

This engine has everything!

It could be possible that this engine was built this way, as the intended customer was in China.

Maybe someone stole parts of the streamline skirting off one of Espee's GS-Class 4-8-4s, but failed to attach it correctly!

I wonder what "high speed" might be for this little guy.  How big are the drivers?  50+ inches?

gbmott Wrote:
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> Could this also be the only 2-6-0 with an
> all-weather cab?
>
> Gordon

Cab looks like it was "liberated" from a Canadian Pacific engine!

This isn't the craziest 2-6-2 I have seen. The Chicago Great Western rebuilt several 2-6-0s with boxpock drivers and other modern conveniences. I think the Wabash rebuilt a 2-6-0 with a Commonwealth cast pilot with the swing coupler (think Big Boy). 

I have absolutely no training or credibility in designing smoke lifters, but that arrangement, witht the sheet metal bent over at the top, looks to me like the opposite of a smoke lifter.  More like a wind tunnel to deliver smoke directy to the cab.

Was there an ongoing feud between the operating department and the mechanical department?  A little revenge, maybe??  ;))

Strange little bird.  All-weather cab, Elesco feedwater heater, smoke lifters, and a bay window for the engineer!