Railway Construction — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Railway Construction
John Stuart Mill · en
For carriage or waggon stock with an independent bogie truck at each
end, the central pivot and swivelling motion supply all the freedom
that is requisite; but for locomotives it is necessary to provide for
lateral as well as for swivelling movement. The driving and trailing
wheels--and sometimes one or two other pairs of wheels--work rigidly
in the frames, and as the normal position of the centre of the bogie
truck must be in the centre line of the engine for the straight line,
it is evident that some appliance must be introduced to allow the
truck to move laterally when the engine has to traverse the curves.
Figs. 43, 44, and 45 give sketch elevation, plan, and transverse
section of a swing-link bogie truck as applied to an ordinary American
locomotive. Its recommendations are its simplicity, its efficiency,
and its accessibility for inspection and lubrication. The swing-links,
which provide for the lateral movement, are direct acting, and do not
require any side springs of steel or indiarubber. All the principal
parts of the bogie are visible and not mysteriously cased in with
plate-iron boxwork.
In the sketches several minor details are purposely omitted and only
sufficient particulars shown to explain the method of working. The
under side of the upper centre plate which carries the cylinder
castings and smoke-box end of boiler is cup-shaped, and fits into an
annular groove or channel in the lower centre plate, which is
suspended from the framework of the truck by the four swinging links.
Practically the entire carrying and swivelling work of the bogie truck
is effected by the annular-groove casting moving round the cup-shaped
casting, and the centre pin is merely passed down through each to
guard against the risk of the one lifting out of the other from sudden
shock or derailment.
[Illustration: Fig. 43, 44, 45, 46]
The lateral movement of the truck is obtained by means of the four
swing-links. When the engine is on the straight road the centre line
of the bogie is on the centre line of the engine, and the links hang
in the positions shown on the sketch, inclined towards the centre; but 58
upon entering a curve they come into play, and allow the truck to move
out sideways to the right or left, according to the direction of the
curve, the one pair of links assuming a flatter angle, while the other
pair approach nearer to the vertical, the extent of side movement
depending on the amount of the curvature. When the engine enters the
straight line again, the bogie truck resumes its central position.