Platonov question for someone with some knowledge of technical and engineering matters!

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Robert Chandler wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> What does the verb ‘sifonit’’ mean?  I had imagined that it can have
> the meaning of ‘let off steam’.
> 
> In Platonov’s HAPPY MOSCOW we translated Лишь вдалеке ... слышалось,
> как сифонили трубы МОГЭСа (slyshalos’, kak sifonili truby MOGESa) as
> ‘there was only ... The sound of steam being let off from the Central
> Power Station.’
> 
> In the story ‘Fro’, however, I have come across the following:
> некоторые машины мощно сифонили, подымая пар для поездки, другие
> спускали пар, остужаясь под промывку (nekotorye mashini moshchno
> sifonili, podymaya par dlya poezdki, drugie spuskali par, ostuzhayas
> pod promyvku).
> 
> It seems from the above that ‘sifonili’ and ‘spuskali par’ are
> opposites, at least more or less.  I am now in a fog of confusion.

Yes, they should be opposites. Some of the locos were building up steam 
pressure as they prepared for a trip, the others were venting and 
cooling down in preparation for purging (of lines to clear out sediment, 
debris, etc.).

I would imagine that any flow of steam or hot water might be expected to 
produce a sound, so for purposes of the /Happy Moscow/ translation it 
probably didn't matter which way it was going and you need not concern 
yourself terribly.

The above remarks are based simply on general technical knowledge and 
not on specific expertise with steam locomotives, so take them with a 
grain of salt. One of my general dictionaries defines сифон as "прибор 
для увеличения тяги в топке паровоза"; this may be relevant.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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