Train smoke

[BladeMeister]

Looking at many pictures of steam engine smoke I have realized that the smoke in IL2 GBS is almost completely unrealistic. I am just bringing this to your attention, I am not complaining. Most smoke from steam engines is either light gray, dark gray or almost black. Simply Google  Railroad Steam Engine smoke and click on images to see a good example of the norm. There is white steam that escapes around the piston cylinder boxes down low by the front of the boiler, but the main stack smoke from burning coal, wood or oil would be at the very least a medium to dark grey if not black under heavy load. Just an FYI, again, I AM NOT COMPLAINING.

 

S!Blade<><

[[DBS]Browning]

It can be very white. Depends on many factors such as fuel, speed and engine capacity.

Typically, the faster it's moving, the more steam there is and the whiter the exhausted gases are.

Edited March 7, 2021 by [DBS]Browning

[[DBS]Browning]

Googling " Railroad Steam Engine Smoke" will get much darker results as "railroad" is an American term and American engines tend to burn wood, not coal like european trains.

Edit: just to be clear, some American engines from some time periods burn coal. It depends on availability. However, all European trains burn coal. Wood burns much, much darker.

Edited March 8, 2021 by [DBS]Browning

[Diggun]

7 minutes ago, [DBS]Browning said:

American engines tend to burn wood

I was today years old...

[LukeFF]

8 hours ago, [DBS]Browning said:

Googling " Railroad Steam Engine Smoke" will get much darker results as "railroad" is an American term and American engines tend to burn wood, not coal like european trains.

Edit: just to be clear, some American engines from some time periods burn coal. It depends on availability. However, all European trains burn coal. Wood burns much, much darker.

 

Wood-burning locomotives in America are far more associated with the 1800s. Coal was the fuel of choice by the turn of the century.

[migmadmarine]

Yea, wood was the main fuel pre-1900, coal or oil was the main fuel after that. The thing that has long struck me as strange is that our engines always have their cylinder cocks open, which usually only done when starting out to my understanding.