Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth CenturyRoutledge, Robert
History
Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century
Routledge, Robert
Inventions -- History -- 19th century
fire-box with the smoke-box. The frame, and indeed most parts of the
engine, are also made of steel. The driving-wheels, which here are a
single pair, have a diameter of 7 ft. 7¼ in. The total “wheel-base” is
nearly 21 ft., and it will be observed that the forepart of the engine
is supported on a four-wheeled _bogie_. The _bogie_ is capable of a
certain amount of horizontal motion by turning round a swivel, but this
movement is controlled by springs, so that, notwithstanding the length
of the frame, the engine is enabled to take curves with great facility,
while its motion is perfectly steady even at the highest speeds. The
working pressure of the steam in the boiler is 170 lbs. on the square
inch. The steam which leaves the high-pressure cylinder is conveyed to
the low-pressure cylinder by a pipe that is led round the inside of the
smoke-box, and thus enters the larger cylinder after taking up heat that
would otherwise be wasted, so that its elastic force is fully
maintained. This circumstance, no doubt, contributes to the very marked
economy of fuel that has been effected by the compound engines. How
great the economy is found in the working will be seen by the following
results, which are taken from the actual records. The same train was
taken over the same rails in ordinary quick passenger traffic for
several journeys which, as performed in the same time by the compound
engine and by another otherwise similar non-compound engine, required
for the compound, 25,254 lbs. of coal; for the non-compound, 32,104
lbs.; or, the consumption of coal by the former was 28 lbs. per mile; by
the latter, 36 lbs. per mile. This represents a saving of about 21 per
cent. of the fuel. As the steam enters the high-pressure cylinder first,
it would not be possible to start the engine if it had stopped at one of
the “dead-points” on that side, without a special arrangement for
admitting the steam directly to the other cylinder in such cases. This,
of course, is required only for the first stroke, and Mr. Worsdell and
M. von Borries have contrived for this purpose an ingenious valve,
brought into operation when required by a touch from the engineer, and
then immediately adjusting itself automatically, so as to restore the
steam connections to their normal condition.
[Illustration:
PLATE II.
NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 10_a_.—_G.N.R. Express Passenger Locomotive._
]
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