Reminiscing about smoke rings.

[professorbob09]

Hello from Lavonia Ga.USA

While looking for help with an Onan Microlite, I found the boards about antique engines and such. It brought back memories of my youth in the 1950s. Along the railroad here in town, we had an ice plant just two blocks from my home that uses a salt water freezing pool cooled by a chlorine compressor and coils. The compressor was driven by a single cylinder engine of some type. Prior to building a cork insulated freezing room there was an under grown sawdust filled pit for keeping the ice block inventory. But I digress.

I can remember as vividly as yesterday the starting of that old engine. I guess the flywheel must have been several feet in diameter. One day as I rode my bike along the road parallel to the rail toward the ice plant, they kicked off that old engine. On each stroke there was a very large tire size smoke ring exiting the stack. First one then a second and then a third. Very slowly each would rise until the engine exhaust warmed up and the engine was up and running full speed.

I do not remember, but full speed did not seem very fast and it had a very throaty sound. I would watch as each ring would drift up 25 or 30 feet as perfect as a newly minted auto tire.

My uncle Marshalp use to do the same thing when flamed off his post dinner Cigar, just not as big though..

Really enjoying reading some of the stuff on this site.
Robert Willbanks

[farmsc]

See if this brings back some memories...on this side of the river, these were very popular for what you describe...there was one just like this in Walhalla pulling an ice plant. This one came from a cotton gin in Due West, but originally pulled an electric dynamo in some small town in Georgia, but we never could find out which town. There were 2 60 hp Fairbanks like this just across Knox bridge in Fairplay as well. One at what is now Yoders Building Supply (Fairplay Gin) and another down Old Dobbins Bridge Rd at another gin.
Kevin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYvab...eature=channel

[Tom G. Downing]

Nice video. One of our oldtimers had a 16-30 Oil pull that he loved to run on Pa. Crude oil to make better smoke rings. Tom D.

[Virgil Wright]

Good video,
I had a 3hp Z FM that blew real nice rings,what a sight watching them roll across the yard a couple feet off the ground.One of my Maytags blows rings too,just a lot smaller.
Virg