Re: Short Stacks/Sand Domes

Robin, there is no such thing as a dumb question
if the definition I always heard is right "They"
always said a dumb question is just something you don't know the answer to. That's why I always envied the guys who bluntly asked, " What is that ?"
In the case of the stack question. The heighth of the stack was governed by what was left after you
got the wheels, frame and boiler designed. The
total of those dimensions subtracted from a
standard clearance height was what you could use for the stack.
This standard clearance profile was arrived at by
a survey of the line that established the maximum
distance the equipment, cars, locomotives, whatever, could extend from the top of the rail and from the center lineof the track. On railroads where there was interchange of equipment with other roads, the standard was the AAR Clearance Profile.
Incidentally, the safety appliances and coupler heights were also very closely regulated and had fall within the dimensions set by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
What I'm saying is that these dimensions were not willynilly they met prescribed standards.
Jim