A History of the Growth of the Steam-EngineThurston, Robert Henry
History
A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine
Thurston, Robert Henry
Steam-engines -- History
In this engine, high-pressure steam was employed, and the condenser
was dispensed with. The boiler was of the form devised by Evans, and
was subsequently generally used in Cornwall, where it was called the
"Trevithick Boiler." The engine had but one cylinder, and the
piston-rod drove a "cross-tail," working in guides, which was
connected with a "cross-head" on the opposite side of the shaft by two
"side-rods." The connecting-rod was attached to the cross-head and the
crank, "returning" toward the cylinder as the shaft lay between the
latter and the cross-head. This was probably the first example of the
now common "return connecting-rod engine." The connection between the
crank-shaft and the wheels of the carriage was effected by gearing.
The valve-gear and the feed-pumps were worked from the engine-shaft.
The inventor proposed to secure his wheels against slipping by
projecting bolts, when necessary, through the rim of the wheel into
the ground. The first carriage of full size was built by Trevithick
and Vivian at Camborne, in 1803, and, after trial, was taken to
London, where it was exhibited to the public. _En route_, it was
driven by its own engines to Plymouth, 90 miles from Camborne, and
then shipped by water. It is not known whether the inventor lost faith
in his invention; but he very soon dismantled the machine, sold the
engine and carriage separately, and returned to Cornwall, where he
soon began work on a railroad-locomotive.
In 1821, Julius Griffiths, of Brompton, Middlesex, England, patented a
steam-carriage for the transportation of passengers on the highway.
His first road-locomotive was built in the same year by Joseph Bramah,
one of the ablest mechanics of his time. The frame of the carriage
carried a large double coach-body between the two axles, and the
machinery was mounted over and behind the rear axle. One man was
stationed on a rear platform, to manage the engine and to attend to
the fire, and another, stationed in front of the body of the coach,
handled the steering-wheel. The boiler was composed of horizontal
water-tubes and steam-tubes, the latter being so situated as to
receive heat from the furnace-gases _en route_ to the chimney, and
thus to act as a superheater. The wheels were driven, by means of
intermediate gearing, by two steam-engines, which, with their
attachments, were suspended on helical springs, to prevent injury by
jars and shocks. An air-surface condenser was used, consisting of
flattened thin metal tubes, cooled by the contact of the external air,
and discharging the water of condensation, as it accumulated within
them, into a feed-pump, which, in turn, forced it into the lowest row
of tubes in the boiler.
The boiler did not prove large enough for continuous work; but the
carriage was used experimentally, now and then, for a number of years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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