blastpipe

See also: blast-pipe and blast pipe

English

WOTD – 30 December 2022

Etymology

Two red blastpipes of a Kylchap exhaust system can be seen in this cutaway of the smokebox of a steam locomotive on display at the Railway Museum in Madrid, Spain.

In the above diagram, the blastpipe (a) directs exhaust steam into the smokebox (b). The steam draws smoke from the firebox (c), increasing the draught through the firebox which helps to speed up the release of smoke through the chimney (d).

From blast (“forcible stream of gas, etc., from an orifice; exhaust steam from an engine”) +‎ pipe.[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈblɑːstpaɪp/, /ˈblæst-/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈblæstˌpaɪp/
Hyphenation: blast‧pipe

Noun

blastpipe (plural blastpipes)

(mechanical engineering, rail transport) A pipe forming part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders up into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the firebox; this speeds up the release of smoke through the chimney.
- 1944 November–December, “Modified G.W.R. ‘Hall’ Class Locomotives”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, ISSN 0033-8923, OCLC 1256058197, page 350:
  [W]ith this arrangement the cylinders are cast separately from the saddle, and bolted to the frames on each side with a fabricated stiffener between the frames. This stiffener is carried up to form the saddle for the smokebox, and within it is fitted the exhaust pipes from the cylinders to the blast pipe.
- 1963 September, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, ISSN 0026-8356, OCLC 884584817, page 186:
  By this time the "King" had been fitted with four-row superheater, double blastpipe and chimney, and all the later modifications effected by Swindon in these engines, to which they responded so well with the poorer quality of fuel of their last years.

Alternative forms

blast-pipe, blast pipe

Translations

pipe forming part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders up into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the firebox

Czech: dyšna
Finnish: vetopuhallin
German: Blasrohr (de) n
Russian: ко́нус (ru) m (kónus), ко́нусное устро́йство n (kónusnoje ustrójstvo)
Spanish: tiro del escape de vapor m
Swedish: ångbläster

References

“blast-pipe, n.” under “blast, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.