N&W in 1903 -- Bad Water

[NW Mailing List]

In the time frame, filters were avbailable to the 150 micron range.  Not as good as today but like most of the water filters for your house.

Kurt S. Kramke


>From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>Date: 2008/02/23 Sat PM 11:25:49 CST

>To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>Subject: Re: RE: N&W in 1903 -- Bad Water



>I thought about precipitate too, Kurt, since that is the orange stuff you 

>see in stream beds, metallic sulfides, I believe.  But it would seem that if 

>it were stirred up it would still be too fine to filter.

>

>Sam Putney

>

>----- Original Message ----- 

>From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 10:45 PM

>Subject: Re: RE: N&W in 1903 -- Bad Water

>

>

>> Reading the article, I noticed that this only occured when the water level 

>> dropped.  It is possible that the sulfur and other minerals that are 

>> dissolved in the water, became concentrated enough to participate out as 

>> solids, which could be solved by filtering.  It is probably not pure 

>> sulfur but a salt of it that is causing the problem. This is speculation 

>> and since I can not run a current analysis of the water it will have to 

>> do.

>>

>> Kurt S. Kramke

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>>From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>>>Date: 2008/02/23 Sat PM 01:32:14 CST

>>>To: 'NW Mailing List' <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>>>Subject: RE: N&W in 1903 -- Bad Water

>>

>>>

>>>Guys: Yes, removing dissolved sulfurwould require chemical treatment- ion 

>>>grabbers would be necessary. Gary R

>>>

>>>

>>>From: 

>>>nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] 

>>>OnBehalf Of NW Mailing List

>>>Sent: Saturday, February 23, 200811:08 AM

>>>To: NW Mailing List

>>>Subject: Re: N&W in 1903 --Bad Water

>>>

>>>Sam,

>>>

>>>I suspect that you are right about the loose use of the word"filter." This 

>>>points up how newspaper articles sometimes haveto be taken with a grain of 

>>>salt. Small town reporters had to beversatile. Back in 1903 a reporter 

>>>might be writing one hour onfeatures of a new hospital, the next hour on 

>>>the results of a policeinvestigation, the next hour on the latest 

>>>locomotives and the next hour on theproblem of cows roaming the streets.

>>>

>>>Gordon Hamilton

>>>----- Original Message ----- 

>>>From: NWMailing List

>>>To: NWMailing List

>>>Sent: Friday, February22, 2008 9:20 PM

>>>Subject: Re: N&W in1903 -- Bad Water

>>>

>>>Thinking back to my high school chemistry, I'm not sure any"filter" would 

>>>remove dissolved sulfur from water. I knowthe railroad did resort to 

>>>chemical treatment of the water, which may be whatthe writer is referring 

>>>to. There's a bit of irony here in that thereason sulfur became such a 

>>>problem is because it leached out of coal minesthat provided the railroad 

>>>with its economic life blood and from theattendant slag heaps.

>>>

>>>Sam Putney

>>>

>>>----- Original Message ----- 

>>>From: NWMailing List

>>>To: N&WMailing 1List

>>>Sent: Thursday, February21, 2008 9:23 PM

>>>Subject: N&W in 1903 --Bad Water

>>>

>>>PREPARING TOSPEND $200,000 FOR FILTERS

>>>------

>>>BAD WATERRUINS MANY ENGINES

>>>------

>>>New ReasonAssigned for Shortage of Motive Power

>>>-----

>>>Norfolk andWestern Will Erect Filter Plants at Tanks Where Water is Taken 

>>>From MountainStreams

>>>------

>>> The Norfolkand Western Railroad Company is preparing to expend $200,000 

>>> in the erection offilters along its line through the coal fields as a 

>>> result of an experience ithas just passed through. The Norfolkand Western 

>>> is one of the best equipped coal roads in the country, and for morethan a 

>>> month the men who get coal over it could not understand the delay in 

>>> theshipment of coal.

>>> It was owing to a lack of motive power,but what has caused the shortage 

>>> of engines puzzled the officers of the roadfor a time.

>>> The motive power hadbeen increased, and to their surprise engines that 

>>> had been in service for butsixty and ninety days were turned into the 

>>> repair shops with their boilerscompletely wrecked. The investigation 

>>> started showed a state of affairsnever before encountered in railroading.

>>> The water supply for the engines in thecoal district of the Norfolkand 

>>> Western is secured from the mountain streams and is pumped into 

>>> watertanks. The water contains sulphur [sic] and mineralsubstances which 

>>> sink to the bottom of the streams.

>>> When the streams are high none of thesesubstances are gathered up when 

>>> the water is pumped into the tanks, butrecently the country has 

>>> experienced a drought and the streams became very low. The result was 

>>> that the sulphur and mineral substances were pumped into thetanks. The 

>>> sulphur had a terrible effect on the boilers of the engines,and within a 

>>> short time many were in the shops for repairs. It is saidthat in many 

>>> cases the boilers were nearly eaten out by the water. It isthis that has 

>>> caused the shortage of motive power on the Norfolk and Western recently, 

>>> and has broughtup a most interesting question among railroad men.

>>> The work of putting up the filters is nowin progress, and the engineers 

>>> say that the water can be filtered so that itwill not in any way injure 

>>> an engine boiler.

>>> Within the past week there has been atime in the streams from which the 

>>> Norfolk and Western draws its supply ofwater, and no difficulty is being 

>>> experienced, but it is feared that the samedifficulty will occur if they 

>>> fall, and for that reason the work of erectingthe filters is being pushed 

>>> energetically [Apparently something was omitted about the streamsbeing 

>>> full within the past week.]

>>>

>>>Bluefield Daily Telegraph

>>>December 13, 1903

>>>

>>>Gordon Hamilton

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