The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210Oliver, Smith Hempstone
History
The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210
Oliver, Smith Hempstone
Locomotives -- History
It was Warner’s opinion, however, that if it had originally been a
Philadelphia and Reading engine, it was more likely to have been either
the _Boston_ or the _J. E. Thayer_ of Eastwick and Harrison rather than
a locomotive built by another firm, of which the Lowell-built
_Conestoga_ of 1842 had been considered by some to be the chief
possibility.
At first glance the _No. 3_ appears much more modern than its actual
age, but this is mainly because it has the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement with
which people today are more familiar. The cab, not original, is of a
design similar to that used on the _Pawnee_ class of engines first built
at the Reading shops in 1852. Also not original are the headlight, the
sandboxes, and the truck wheels. Sandboxes worked from the cab were not
used in this country prior to 1846; the truck wheels, 30 inches in
diameter, are of cast iron, manufactured by A. Whitney & Sons of
Philadelphia, whose wheel foundry was established in 1846. The
smokestack has obviously been altered, if not replaced entirely.
The _No. 3_, now an anthracite-burning locomotive, is thought to have
been originally a wood burner. The firebox is of the Bury type, which
was in common use up to 1850.
The four driving wheels of the _No. 3_ are 42½ inches in diameter, the
extreme wheelbase is 178 inches, and the distance between the two
driving axles is 55½ inches. The inclined cylinders are connected by
long rods to the rear drivers. The exact cylinder bore, which had not
been known for many years, was measured in October 1954 by
representatives of the Reading Co. and found to be 12¾ inches. The
stroke is 18 inches.
The type of reversing mechanism designed by Andrew M. Eastwick in 1835
is thought to have been originally applied, and it is also thought that
the original steam chests are still on the locomotive. The old valve
gear has been replaced by a double-eccentric motion, the two eccentric
rods being respectively attached to the top and bottom of a straight
link. When the new motion was applied, the old reversing blocks were
removed from the steam chests and discarded, the new valves being placed
directly on the valve seats. This made it necessary to use only the
lower stuffing boxes for the valve rods, and so the upper openings were
permanently closed by suitable fittings. There are but two positions for
the reverse lever, as was the case with the original valve gear, and the
valves are always worked full stroke.
The absence of definitive facts concerning the early history of the _No.
3_ is challenging, and it would add much to railroad history if in the
near future the complete story could be developed as a result of further
study of the locomotive itself, and of the written records.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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