London's Killing Fog, FIDO, '... the American people get completely fed up ...'

Since the turn of the century, we have burned half of all the coal ever burned. 

... In the last 25 years, the world has burned as much coal as it did in the preceding 200 years. 

However, as the Third Industrial Revolution began, people became adamant that 'First World' cities should not have to deal with coal smoke. 

But it had all started out so well ...

Cheap, energy-dense, portable coal provided the power to lift even more coal from the mines, and to transport this coal to factories and mills for industrial use. Near the city, coal was split into 'town gas' for lighting, cooking and heating ... and coke for portable smokeless heat. In the city, coal generated the first electricity ... and pumped municipal water to enhance public health, sanitation and fire protection.

... Today, a brief whiff of coal's sulphurous combustion products brings back nostalgic childhood memories of Canadian railway steam excursions - for some of the people reading this blog. 

The 'lost smells connoisseur' enjoys only that brief whiff of coal smoke because great efforts were made over decades to make cities healthier for people to live in. 

... For the sake of everyone's health, coal had to go. 

*  *  *

A visitor to this blog was kind enough to write to me to mention that the visit of the 'Smoke Committee' of the Ontario Legislature to Montreal in 1956 in the previous post ...

CNR 1942 Smoke at Turcot; 1956 Smoke Committee Visits Montreal

... was likely influenced by the London fog disaster of 1952 which resulted in 4000 deaths and the Clean Air Act (UK) of 1956. In particular, he mentioned that the now-familiar PM 2.5 and sulphur dioxide in the polluted fog were the key villains of that story. 

*  *  *

After a week of wondering, I finally broke down and checked ...

The London Fog brand name was first used in 1954. 

It was created by the Londontown Manufacturing Company of Baltimore, Maryland.

*  *  *

The Montreal Gazette published this short item on the third day of the London disaster.

from: Montreal Gazette; 8 December 1952; Google Newspapers.

*  *  *

This account from 1976 is concise and explains the role weather played.

from: British Weather Disasters; Ingrid Holford; 1976; David & Charles. archive.org

By chance, the map shows the weather pattern on the same date as the story in the Gazette above.

The combination of smoke and fog describes London's atmosphere precisely. I think the term must have been coined in Britain. 

However, you'll soon see that Los Angeles was already using the term smog for its own particular brand of photochemical soup - held in place by mountains and temperature inversions - back in 1949.

*  *  *

1952

It sounded as if there was a recurrence of the phenomenon in late December as this British MP was seeking international help to make his case about the pollution. As the story suggests, cheap, portable coal was used widely for home heating. Households were significant contributors to the poisonous fog.

from: Evening Citizen (Ottawa); 29 December 1952; Google newspapers.

In Donora, Pennsylvania it was local industrial sources of hydrogen fluoride, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide - combined with an inversion - which killed 20 and contributed to the death of 50 others in the month which followed. 

The industries admitted no responsibility, stating that it was a freak weather condition or an Act of God which caused the disaster.

*  *  *

Trying to give you a break from too much reading, it took some time for me to find a good photograph to illustrate a concentration of coal smoke with whatever was generating it. Who wants to take and promote photos clouded by smoke and fog? Couldn't you get there on a clear day? 

from: Great Western Engine Sheds 1947; ET Lyons; 1972; Oxford Publishing.

Severn Tunnel Junction, circa 1947.

The building to the left is a 'coal stage'. 

There seem to be two chutes for loading coal into tenders on this side.

Fires are probably cleaned into that space between the engines and that nearby line of cars.

The ashes are then shovelled by hand into the cars.

Today, I think this site is a parking lot.

*  *  *

January 1953 ...

from: Calgary Herald; 23 January 1953; Google Newspapers. 

In the AP wire copy above, the tragic fatality statistics are followed by compassion for airlines' corporate finances. From reading quite a few clippings, I believe the London 'pea-soup fogs' term described both their opaqueness and their sickening colouring. 

In addition to being expensive ... the wartime FIDO system mentioned in the article would have added to the pollution ...

from back cover of: Flying Through Fire; Geoffrey Williams; 1995; Grange.  

FIDO stood for Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation. In the photo above, an operator can be seen at the valve system which controlled the flow of gasoline through the perforated piping installed along the runways. Starting these burners was often achieved by a serviceman on a bicycle holding a burning torch down into the gasoline streams as he rode. 

The tempo of night bombing operations in the second half of the war was very demanding on aircraft and aircrew. Often a 'Maximum Effort' was demanded by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris. Canadian RCAF bomber personnel were distributed in mixed-nationality crews and all were under the orders of RAF Bomber Command. In order to staff the force quickly, RAF bomber aircraft only had a single pilot and control yoke, with a flight engineer nearby to assist him. 

The difficulty in predicting the future weather conditions for the bombers (returning from 8 hour missions, give or take a few hours) initially resulted in needless loss of life and aircraft. Generally, weather conditions over the target area were always the main focus - not the future weather at the many originating airfields.

Before FIDO, if the entire coast was found to be fogbound when returning, or aircraft were damaged and short of fuel and could not find an alternate fogless field ... the procedure was to have the crew bail out and to abandon the aircraft to crash. As crew members onboard were often injured, or crew could be killed or drowned when parachuting blind into the fog, an alternative to save these valuable and scarce wartime resources was necessary. 

Although runway-length troughs of coal and coke were tried, gasoline - often pumped from the airfield's existing refueling tanks - worked best to 'burn off' fog from an airfield. FIDO was eventually installed at 14 RAF stations (airfields) near the English Channel. 

... When approaching a fogbound FIDO-equipped runway ... an orange glow would be seen through the clouds. Closer to landing, a strange tunnel would appear through the fog - with low walls of flame on both sides. Turbulence from the fires added to the challenge of the landing made by a fatigued pilot. 

*  *  *

From London, back in 1893 ...

The conditions experienced in 1952 were understood 

while Queen Victoria was still on the throne.

from: Lewiston [Maine, USA] Journal; 15 May 1893; Google Newspapers.

*  *  *

Los Angeles uses the term 'smog' in 1949 ...

from: Toledo Blade; 27 December 1949; Google Newspapers.

Beyond most of our imaginations, with our significant quantities of plastic garbage and modern municipal services, backyard household incinerators were common in Los Angeles. I am guessing that only private junk and garbage hauling services were available back then. 

Just as London eventually eliminated urban household heating by coal, Los Angeles moved decisively to eliminate these backyard incinerators. 

*  *  *

1947 in Pittsburgh ...

from: Pittsburgh Press; 26 September 1947. Google Newspapers.

The last sentence reads: The Smoky City is on its way to becoming the Smokeless City.

end

CNR 1942 Smoke at Turcot; 1956 Smoke Committee Visits Montreal

In the mid-1960s there was a refinery fire in eastern Montreal and an AM radio host commented that it looked like the area had 'received a megaton', i.e. the massive cloud of black smoke suggested a nuclear attack. 

Formal awareness of "pollution" in school began circa 1970 in a Grade 7 Science class and water pollution in the Great Lakes was our first focus.

Each era has its own priorities and zeitgeist. The Second World War had cast its own shadow over the future existence of its schoolchildren, too.

I found this transcript of an Ontario legislative committee during a routine search on the GTR/CNR's "Turcot Yard" - my own lost world of wonderful pre-school childhood memories. 

I was surprised to see the term 'Air Pollution' used before the 1960s. Probably, professional civil servants on the cutting edge of industrial hygiene were already looking at the broader environment and how we were altering it.

... Certainly, the longstanding nuisance of finding soot particulates on laundry hung out to dry (see Page 3568, search: "clothes" or "fallout" [!] ) had been a longstanding problem caused by smoke. 

While I am emphasizing only the railway-related testimony, other industrial operations are also considered. As we know from historical hindsight, 1956 was very late in the Canadian history of railway steam locomotives to be worried about their smoke.

The excerpts I have reproduced below came from an excursion taken by this Ontario committee to Montreal. In the course of their sessions, they discuss current operations at Turcot and explore the projections of change from dieselization. 

Accessible by a URL at the end of this post, the CPR President's testimony accurately predicts the end of steam - about five years in the future. 

The entire document (633 pages):

https://archive.org/details/31761114665508/page/n6/mode/1up

*  *  *

Turcot Yard roundhouse, circa 1942.
Photo by LC Gagnon.

Some time around 1942, student LC Gagnon was avoiding being too obtrusive behind the late summer grass as he photographed a transportation asset which was among the many things which were not to be photographed during the war. 

There was a war to be won: With competition from local shipping and trans-Atlantic convoys for coal, and with shortages of spare parts and skilled labour, Turcot roundhouse was creating great clouds of coal smoke. 

Over on the Ready Track beside the heated water tank (with the globe high on the mast indicating it is full of water), the white plume of steam from a raised safety valve can be seen.

After each run, most engines required maintenance, or at least an inspection, in the roundhouse. A trip to the ashpit (beyond the right margin) was also necessary. After servicing, in preparation for the next trip, fresh coal would be thrown into the firebox of an engine. The resulting inefficient combustion of the developing fire caused unburned flammable gases to escape out of the smokestack, along with small particles of soot.

... With railways playing the most important land-based role in the transportation of troops, military equipment, food, civilian workers, and commodities ... the idea of reducing air pollution for the sake of the environment, or even for the sake of human health, was not a factor which would be considered. 

The vantage point is Upper Lachine Road and the St Lawrence River exists somewhere in the distance.

Coincidentally, the community newspaper of my father's childhood home put this piece of corporate boiler plate into the public record to fill out its usual column-inches of text. It provides a nice contemporary overview of the operations pictured above. The Axis spies don't read the local papers, so don't worry.

from: Westmount Examiner; 11 December 1941; BANQ.

*  *  *

Back to 1956 and ...

Proceedings of the Select Committee appointed by the Ontario Legislature 

to enquire into certain matters and legislation 

regarding smoke control and air pollution in Ontario.

The whole section discussing Turcot and local industries starts here:

https://archive.org/details/31761114665508/page/3556/mode/1up?q=%22Turcot+Yard%22

end of first selection

*  *  *

Turcot in 1908

from: Montreal Daily Witness; 15 October 1908; BANQ.

From another archival source, comes this nice newspaper space-filler from 1908. At this point, Turcot roundhouse was a modern wonder in Canada. The yard was planned and the roundhouse was built circa 1903 to 1905. The air is almost smokeless. 

The archived scanned image was almost black - very dark. In this lightened version, above, you'll notice the relatively small size of the locomotives. Their tenders bear the large Grand Trunk numbers. 

*  *  *

If you have been following Eric's ongoing chronicle of today's CNR lawyers dealing with VIA's implementation of the new Venture equipment, you will recognize the style of some of the practices used to protect the railway's operating preferences:

VIA Ventures in Service, Part 5

*  *  *

In this second section of 1956 testimony, below, my favourite railway lawyer response to a smoke complaint is:

"They would not admit that the locomotive was operating."

The attempts to reject the Ringelmann Chart (today, it is all over the internet) perhaps suggests buying time through feigned ignorance of 'the industrial standard'.  

Pertaining to the Ringelmann Chart 'document' used in measuring smoke darkness ...

(Everyone works from Upper Lachine Road!)

*  *  *

If you've ever wondered what CPR President Norris R 'Buck' Crump (1904-1989) was like, 

the Committee questions him at Toronto, starting at the link below.

https://archive.org/details/31761114665508/page/3489/mode/1up?q=Crump

He talks about: 

Dieselization at length, mentioning the 'DCs' (I assume Rail Diesel Cars: CPR 'Dayliners'), 

Pool Trains, Lambton roundhouse smoke, his personal experiences as a railroader, 

the smoke he sees from the 16th storey of the Royal York, 

and he also discusses other railway systems he has visited. 

In the record, he is referred to as The Witness or 'A.' (answer).

Later, the Commission took him out to lunch.

*  *  *

end

CPR 1953 History of Canadian Pacific Scenic Dome Cars

From the CPR Spanner employee magazine comes this article with no byline. However, when you get to the diagram of Car 515, many will instantly know the author. This article was clipped by 26-year-old CPR employee LC Gagnon.

I tried several 'treatments' of the photographs of older rolling stock which I enlarged to hopefully provide more detail. The best outcomes came from minimal adjustments. Some of the originals are light enough that the under-car detail can be seen.

LC Gagnon had just travelled on his third vacation - partially paid for by an employee pass - to the west coast. He ended up waiting a few decades before he finally had the opportunity to ride in NR Crump's stainless steel dome cars. 

His 'hard luck' late-summer open-air exposure to creosote, Rocky Mountain brake smoke, locomotive smoke, steam whistles, stack noise and bolted rail is partially documented at the link below. 

CPR 1950 Banff to Field

Additional trip segments are available for viewing on the Short Subjects 02 index page (click the 'radio button' on the title bar). Just look under 'CPR 1950'.

Considering the full period of time since the CPR last spike until today ... 

The survivors of the CPR Budd stainless-steel purchase have been in continuous service on Canadian rails for more than half of that period.

end

CPR 1964 Bar Service in the Club Car, Mural Lounge

If your experiences are similar to mine, you have probably never been in a 'chair car' and you can't remember if you've ever walked through a club car. 

Certainly, regarding the optional aesthetic presentation of alcoholic beverages, VIA would have jettisoned this book of instructions in favour of a more practical 1970s set of procedures by the time I first ordered a beverage in any Park car lounge. 

  

The following images were published by the CPR in 1963.

The distinguished gentleman with the pipe probably had a couple of decades of service, on the outside looking in, with the CPR before he was finally granted retirement. Relatively few images were ever published in promotional material showing the interior of the Park car 'Mural Lounges'. 

An so, year after lonely year, our friend swayed with the acquired ease of a veteran passenger train conductor as he waited for that open seat in the lounge which always eluded him. 

Forever 'Mural Lounge Patron Thirteen'.

If the CPR had given up four accommodation spaces in the car (and the nine fares applicable to them) 

Mural Lounge Patron Thirteen could have found himself carousing happily in an enlarged bar area.

In the 1950s, it was probably only a small fraction of all transcontinental passengers who were interested in murals painted by members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Consequently, being 'snugly ensconsed' in the Mural Lounge was less appealing than seeing Canada from Main Lounge. 

The dome itself was probably not a licenced area,

but at least one VIA attendant used 'his understanding' of the liquor law

to shoo an aspiring signal reader from the dome after dark. 

from: The Canadian; James W Kerr; 1986; DPA-LTA Enterprises.

from: The Canadian; James W Kerr; 1986; DPA-LTA Enterprises.

In spite of the visual tricks played by an advertising artist's skill, or a convex camera lens (above), the Mural Lounge was a rather claustrophobic and smokey enclosure as shown in an ordinary documentation photo (below). 

from: Murals from a Great Canadian Train; Ian Thom; 1986; VIA Rail.

Pan Am 1950 Pan American World Airways, System Timetable

       The 1950 Aircraft

Probably the Constellation, the DC-3 and the Catalina would have been the best Pan Am aircraft to fly in. 

Between 16 December 1951 and 11 February 1952 a C-46, a Convair (CV-240) and a DC-6 crashed at/near the Newark Airport. None of these were Pan Am aircraft. I'd personally avoid flying on them, just the same.

The B-377 was a larger-fuselage derivative of the great Boeing B-29. It was designed to wring some post-war benefits from the expense and effort put into the B-29's development. I've included a postcard of one at the very end.

The Corporation: 1927 and 1991

In 1927, 'Hap' Arnold and Carl Spaatz wrote up a prospectus for Pan Am to prevent Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft - which was becoming established in Central America - from successfully bidding on US air mail contracts.

Pan Am filed for bankruptcy protection in 1991.

Why? 

... The oil price shocks of the 1970s caused a general decrease in travel. Operating an air carrier whose high-capacity long-haul fleet was geared for international operation became very unprofitable. Later, US air transport deregulation and the lack of a domestic feeder network impeded Pan Am's ability to compete with lower cost companies. The *1988 Lockerbie Bombing and the 1991 First Gulf War's impact on international travel finished off Pan Am.

*Towers Financial Corporation, run by Steven Hoffenberg (with his consultant Jeffrey Epstein) had attempted to purchase Pan Am in 1987. Between 1988 and 1993, Towers ran a Ponzi Scheme which resulted in Hoffenberg serving 18 years in prison. Two other corporate officers were also sent to prison. Epstein had left the company by 1989.

The map below is presented 'early' to give an overview of the system. So that you can read the place names, a larger version appears at Page 12.

Below: The tagline in the upper right corner probably alludes to the extremely well-known 1894 song The Sidewalks of New York.

East Side, West Side was also a 1949 film noir, set in New York, with Barbara Stanwyck and James Mason.

... The Ad Men perhaps thought the gritty film breathed new life into the old song lyrics as a tagline.

The influence of conventional railroad practices was apparent in this timetable ...

There was the familiar 'read down' [eastbound] 'read up' [westbound] set-up of tables for particular routes. Notes on using the timetable appear on Page 17 - along with a B-377 (B-29) illustration. 

Given the wide expanses of globe covered by Pan Am, a 24-hour clock format is used - probably hurting the heads of many North Americans. However, many WW2 veterans would be accustomed to 'military time'. 

On some of the longer routes, flying sleeping car berths are offered. When made up they looked like conventional sections in sleeping cars. You can see this service offered on Page 6, Table 10. See the El Presidente footnote for flights PA201 and PA202. "Bed-sized berth accommodations offered at extra charge."

Sleeperette service with reclining seats and curtained privacy appears in many tables - look for the red 'S'.

On Page 8 you can see 'cargo services'.

The domestic routes operated in Latin American countries often came from Pan Am buying existing local air carriers and integrating them into their network. 

Brasilia was not designated as Brazil's capital (it was Rio de Janeiro) until 1956, so it does not appear in the tables for Brazil on Pages 10-11.

Page 14 shows extensive Cuban services while Fulgencio Batista was still running the island and profiting from its vices. The latter attracted many tourists.

*  *  *

Page 18 begins the fare tables for the different routes. 

... A 1950 US dollar equals about US $13.50 in 2025

So:

• One-way, New York to London US $4725 in 2025 dollars.
• One-way, New York to Honolulu US $4279 in 2025 dollars.
• One-way, New York to Tokyo US $10,800 in 2025 dollars.

*  *  *

On Page 21, they list their city locations and transfer arrangements. 

They will provide a transfer from Newfoundland Airport, Gander, Newfoundland (Canada) to the railway station.

Multiply fares by 13.5 to compensate for USD inflation - to express in 2025 dollars.

 *  *  *

Below is a postcard from my collection which shows one of the B-377 (enlarged B-29) aircraft probably superimposed over a cityscape of San Francisco. 

According to the internet, the first-day issue stamp was conceived 

so people could have the convenience of putting a single stamp on a postcard so it could travel via Air Mail. 

Applying the same dollar inflation calculation ... one could send a postcard via Air Mail for 54 US cents in 2025 US dollars.