Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Early coal fired steamers had an Induced Draft fan installed between the boiler and stack exit. This provided uptake draft for the boilers to properly burn the coal, plus pull the exhaust smoke up through the stack. If the fireman had their furnaces tuned with enough air and coal the color of the smoke would be just a haze. At time mixtures were off and heavy black smoke was the usual results. “Blowing the Flues” were never allowed within restricted waters unless a problem arose that it was necessary. Many a smoke tickets were sent to main offices for a vessel that was the offender usually in a river transist or sitting in a lock.

[quote=rcrvrp post_id=273207 time=1746553447]
The boat at the beginning is emitting such a lot of black smoke even though I assume she is at low power going through the lock.
Why is that? Is that normal or some sort of poor boiler fire management in the engine room?
I assume this is a coal burning steamship.
[/quote]

Nearly all vessels built before 1950 were coal-fired, and a handful of ships built in the 1950s were coal-fired (Ernest T. Weir, Edmund Fitzgerald and Herbert J. Jackson). Coal-firing gradually fell out of favour during the 1950s, and accelerated into the 1970s due to the number of national coal strikes that occurred in the US at that time, cities passing ordinances against smoke being produced within their boundaries. Many cities would issue fines for ships smoking beyond a set standard that were based on the Ringlemann Smoke Chart. The vessels you mentioned could be blowing the flues of carbon buildup.

The boat at the beginning is emitting such a lot of black smoke even though I assume she is at low power going through the lock.
Why is that? Is that normal or some sort of poor boiler fire management in the engine room?
I assume this is a coal burning steamship.

My suspicion is the film was taken on different intervals. Brittania and Menihek Lake were on the Welland about the same time when the yacht was unbound, 1 July 1959. That is definitely the R. O. Petman with, I believe, Brookdale, but they were only on the canal twelve days later with Brittania when it left the lakes. The transport is obviously USS Ogelethorpe AKA 100, on its was with a cargo of marines for war game exercises.

[quote="Oneota Guest" post_id=273203 time=1746509326]
0:01 - CSL self-unloader shown might be R. O. Petman

3:20 - ship entering the lock up-bound might be Menihek Lake
[/quote]

I believe you are right about the Menihek Lake. I remember seeing that vessel several times in the early 1980s and it was a really good looking vessel. I was such a shame to see it being an early victim of the scrapping frenzy during the second half of that same decade after a very brief, by lakes standards, career.

0:01 - CSL self-unloader shown might be R. O. Petman

3:20 - ship entering the lock up-bound might be Menihek Lake

A film conversion of the Welland Canal from the late 1950s, maybe early 1960s as well. Included is the Royal Yacht Britannia from the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Can anyone identify the other ships in this clip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldMOdoX24o4&t=37s