looking at a steam engine - the "nose" - "front" - "snout" - is painted a different color from the remainder of the engine
My Question: is there a name for this painting scheme? AND What is the origin of this practice? Do rules exist for this?
thanks - rdeal
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You would see the smoke box area, front of boiler, painted. The rest of the boiler is insulated and has a second layer of metal over the insulation. Smoke box, lower temperature, only required paint to inhibit rust. IMO. Mike CT
Correct. Back "in the steam days" it was a mixture of powered graphite and Linseed oil or valve oil.
looking at a steam engine - the "nose" - "front" - "snout" - is painted a different color from the remainder of the engine
My Question: is there a name for this painting scheme? AND What is the origin of this practice? Do rules exist for this? ...
although the boiler tends to get hot even surrounded by lagging under the shell, it is nothing compared to the heat a smokebox will see. many were not even painted but rubbed down with an oil/ graphite mixture to darken and provide rust protection. the SP apparently used a mixture of cylinder oil and graphite.
today high heat paints are readily available and what most live steamers use. SantaFe 3751 reportedly uses a 50/50 mixture of Rustoleum High Heat Aluminum & Barbecue Black.
cheers...gary
The smokebox doesn't have internal parts surrounded by water like the rest of the jacketed locomotive boiler. It's subjected to the tail-end of the combustion gases, which are then drawn out of the stack by the cylinder exhaust, creating the draft. Not much point in insulating it either, so any high-heat compatible coating like those above was the norm.
Maybe the same mixtures were used on outside firebox surfaces too. Our friend Hot Water can answer that better than me.
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