| MadSci Network: Physics |
Carbon putty apparently does contain carbon. At this site a carbon putty is described which has alumina-carbon in it, which seems to be used in sealing high-temperature joints. It's possible that that fits with the fact that carbon putty seems to be used by railmen, since it is one of the things that can be cleaned from a railman's hands using this cleaner. As a purely wild guess I would suggest that carbon putty is (or was?) used to seal joints in steam locomotives' boilers.
What's puzzling to me, though, is that at this site is described the use of carbon putty in an attempt (by Edison's lab!) to make an insulator for transatlantic cables!!! Carbon putty has been studied for its conductive properties, though, as you can see here.
I admit that I know very little about carbon putty. I have done an exhaustive search on the Internet for information about it and have obtained only those references I have given in the preceding paragraphs. If you know more about it than this, please contact me with the information so that I can update this answer!!
John Link, MadSci Physicist
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Physics.