Every-day Science: Volume 6. The Conquest of NatureWilliams, Henry Smith
Science
Every-day Science: Volume 6. The Conquest of Nature
Williams, Henry Smith
Industrial arts; Machinery
In the ordinary types the motorman sits in front, controlling the
locomotive with levers and mechanical brakes placed within easy reach,
but sunk as low as possible. As a rule, the motors are geared to the
truck axles, either inside or outside the locomotive frame. An overhead
copper wire supplies the current by contact with a grooved trolley
wheel mounted on the end of the regulation trolley pole. An electric
headlight is used, and the ordinary speed attained by the compact
motors is from six to ten miles an hour.
The amount of work that can be performed by one of these little,
flat, box-like locomotives is entirely out of proportion to its size.
A 10-ton locomotive in a Pennsylvania mine hauled about 150,000
tons of coal in a year at a cost of less than one-tenth of a cent per
ton for repairs. The usual train was made up of thirty-five cars,
each loaded with about 3,700 pounds of coal, which was hauled up a
three-per-cent grade. The cost of such haulage was only about 2.76
cents per ton, as against 7.15 cents when hauled by mule-power. These
figures may be considered representative, as other mines show similar
results.
[Illustration: THE LOCOMOTIVE "PUFFING BILLY" AND A MODERN COLLIERY
TROLLEY.
This locomotive was constructed in 1813 at Wylam Colliery, England,
by William Hedley. It was entirely successful, and was in operation
for almost half a century, up to the time of its removal in 1862 to
the South Kensington Museum. The vertical cylinders and arrangement of
walking beams for transmitting power are particularly interesting. The
power was transmitted through cogged wheels to the rear axle, as is
done with modern automobiles.]
A particular advantage has been gained by the use of electric
locomotives over older methods in the process of "gathering" the cars.
In many coal mines, even when the main hauling is done by electricity,
the gathering or collecting of cars from the working faces of the rooms
was formerly done either by mule-power or by hand. In some low-veined
mines, hand power alone was used, on account of the low roof.
In such places, low, compressed-air locomotives were sometimes used;
but these were very expensive. These have now been very generally
replaced by "turtle-back" electric locomotives, operated at a distance
from the main trolley wire by means of long, flexible cables, so geared
that they can be paid out or coiled as desired.
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