Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 1890-1899
Volume 41 (1890)
Proceedings (other than 1890-99)
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Urquhart, Thomas
On the compounding of locomotives burning petroleum refuse in Russia. 47-73.
Disc.: 74-111. + plates 1-31. 13 tables
Author was Locomotive Superintendent, Grazai and Tsaritsirn Railway
in South East Russia.
Stephens. Michael
On the burning of Colonial coal in the locomotives on the Cape Government
Railways. 112-16. Disc.: 117-30 + plates 32-34
Author was Chief Locomotive Superintendent. The Cape Colony coalfields
had not long been found, and much was given to the analysis of the coal and
its steam raising qualities.
Tomlinson, Joseph
Address by the President. 181-202.
Some recollections of early locomotives, His earliest memories reached
back to 1837 when his father was passenger superintendent of the Stockton
& Darlington Railway and Timothy Hackworth gave him the "run of the shops"
at Shildon (Tomlinson's inverted commas). Comments on Locomotion No. 1:
when first put to work it would not steam, and the fire tube had to be taken
out and replaced by a return tube (similar in type used in north-country
class of tug boats). In the modified state it was capable of hauling sixteen
empty chaldron wagons (approx. 22 tons) up the hill from Middlesbrough "up
the hill" to Shildon. Coming down about 64 tons of coal could be conveyed.
Estimated coal consumption was about 50 lb/engine mile (mostly consumed on
the climb to Shildon). There were only two eccentrics, which had to be changed
in position for back and forward gear, and the engine had to be started by
hand-gearing. There was no brake on either engine or tenders. The steam pressure
was from 30 to 35 Ibs. The engine lackd springs; the axles ran in cast-iron
plummer blocks; the pistons were packed with a spun-yarn gasket plaited square,
(tightened by a piece of wood and a hammer whenever required); there was
no gauge-glass, no whistle (a bell being the signal of warning); no hand-lamps
or head or tail-lamps.
The Royal George had six 4 feet diameter coupled wheels. It had vertical
cylinders, of about 11 inches diameter and 18 inches stroke, steam pressure
about 40 psi. The boiler was of the return-flue type, the fire-door and chimney
being at the same end. It had two four-wheeled tenders, with ordinary
chilled-face wagon wheels keyed on their axles with wooden and iron wedges.
One tender carried the water in one or two large barrels, the driver being
on a foot-board at the front end, near the gearing and cylinders; the other
tender behind the engine carried coal, from which the firing was done at
the back end.. Like the first engine, this also had only two eccentrics.
The leading axle, to which were connected the cylinders, had no springs;
but there were springs to the two other pairs of wheels. The engine was carried,
like its predecessor, in cast-iron plummer blocks. The heating surface was
about 120 ft2, not counting the underside of the grate. The load
up the hill from Middlesbrough to Shildon was 24 chaldron wagons empty, or
about 33 tons ; and down the hill the same number of wagons loaded, or 96
tons. The speed both up and down was about 7 to 8 mile/hour.
The "next type" was, like the earlier engines, built with vertical cylinders,
but with a new type of boiler which consisted partly of tubes and partly
a flue: half the length of the boiler having a flue, and then the tubes carried
on to the end into a smoke-box, bringing the chimney to the cylinder end.
These engines were not popular, and the load was limited to 24 chaldron wagons.
Instead of ordinary cast-iron wheels some had wheels made with a cast-iron
boss and wooden spokes. The tyres were of iron, and of the same size, namely
4 feet. The engine was much modified: the cylinders were still vertical,
but worked on to an independent shaft fitted with cranks, and from thence
the power was carried to the wheels by three coupling-rods on each side.
The cylinders were about 14 inches diameter and 16 inches stroke. This engine
lacked slide-bars, the piston-rod being guided by a parallel motion. The
principal defect was that, due to the low centre of gravity low, very short
connecting-rods had to be used, not more than three lengths of the crank.
The Wilberforce type (Plate 45) was also a departure from the old
type: the boiler was greatly improved, and went by the name of the Napier
boiler; it had one straight flue for containing thc grate, about 9 feet long;
at the end was a combustion chamber, from which about 100 tubes came back
by the sides of the main flue to the chimney. The steam pressure was increased
to 60 psi., and the haulage capacity increased to 32 wagons, or 44 tons up
hill, and 128 tons down. This engine (Plate 45) lacked slide-bars, the piston-rod
being guided by a parallel motion. Very short connecting-rods had also to
be used. Nevertheless this class of engine was always used to run the passenger
trains when any accident or shortness of power rendered it necessary. This
engine also had two tenders, and only two eccentrics.
The next type of engine was made with inclined cylinders of somewhat larger
diameter and stroke (Plate 50), but with the same size wheels; this enabled
springs to be used, and many engines of this class were added subsequently.
The boiler was longer, of the return-flue type. This engine took an increased
load of 32 chaldron wagons. Like the earlier engines, it had two tenders,
one for water and the other for coal, but no brake. The identical engine
Middlesbro shown in Plate 50 was not the first engine built with inclined
cylinders ; the first two were named Whig and Tory, and one
of them blew out its flue within a few days of beginning to run.
The class of passenger engines in use when Tommlinson was a lad were next
described: several were somewhat similar to engines of the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway: (Plates 48 and 49). These ran on four wheels; one pair
of drivers, with 11 to 12-inch cylinders by 16 to 18 inches stroke, and about
4 feet 6 inches to 5 feet wheels. There was one engine, built I believe by
Kitching of Darlington (George Graham of the North Eastern Railway stated
engine was by Hawthorns of Newcastle)., which doubtless was never seen by
most of the engineers now living. It was called the Swift and was
of small power, about 10-inch cylinders by 18 inches stroke, with 4 feet
wheels coupled, and steam about 50 psi. The cylinders were vertical between
the two pairs of coupled drivers, and worked on to an independent shaft.
When Tomlinson knew it, the trains between Middlesbrough and Stockton were
worked with it. It seemed to me subsequently to have been the model from
which Crampton, took the idea for his engines of the Lablache class,
which were put by him in later years on the Great Northern, the South Eastern,
and the London Chatham and Dover Railways, though he used a crank-shaft and
large wheels and greater power ; but the idea of the designer of the
Swift had doubtless been to take the shocks of working away from the
power shaft.
The Arrow, designed by Timothy Hackworth, was the first built at Shildon
with what may now be taken as a locomotive boiler, that is, with a fire-box
and tubes. The peculiarities of its construction were that it had cylinders
of 17 inches diameter by 9 inches stroke, and 5 feet driving wheels. It was
a six-wheeled engine with single drivers. It was supplied with a cross-shaft,
on which were hung two solid cast-iron wheels. To each end of this shaft
a lever was attached, by which the driver and fireman could pull down the
solid or friction wheels between the periphery of the driving and trailing
wheels, thus temporarily connecting by friction the large drivers and the
small trailing wheels: in other words, converting a single engine into a
coupled one, when needed by greasy rails. The engine was a bad starter, and
never did any good service. Many years after it was built the author happened
to be in the North, and enquiring about his old friends was informed that
the Arrow was still at work, but that the short crank had been taken
out, and a 9-inch put in, and this had been done while still retaining the
saine cylinders. It was effccted by putting in a lever, the top end of which
was fixed on the boiler bottom ; the piston-rod took hold of the middle of
its length, and from the bottom end the small end of the connecting-rod was
worked. Arrow was. the only one of its class made for England, buta
somewhat larger one was made and sent to Russia.
All engines up to 1840, including the Swift which was built circa
1836, had only two eccentrics, which required hand-working to start in either
direction, and demanded a practised hand. There was no brake on engine or
tender: the only way to control trains down the banks was to put the engine
out of gear, or for the fireman to drop off the engine, and let down as many
wagon brakes as he thought necessary; and when they had to be taken off,
he had to repeat the operation of getting off and lifting them, he himself
then getting on the last wagon of which the brake had been down, and walking
along the top of the coals back to his engine. In Tomlinson's early days
the engines were worked by contract by the driver, who found coal, oil, and
was paid per ton of coal moved. The “driver” had two men in his
pay, one a “driver-fireman” and the other a
‘‘fireman” Steam was got up on Sunday night by the fireman
; and the driver and he ran the first train on Monday morning (as early as
coal was there to take) from Shildon to Middlesbrough, the then port of shipment.
On the return to Shildon in about eight or nine hours, the fireman went home,
and the driver with his ‘‘driver-fireman” ran the second trip
; and on the completion of the second trip the “driver” went home,
and the ‘ driver-fireman” took charge as driver, and the
“fireman” who had been resting resumed duty as fireman, and this
system was followed day after clay. The other duties of these men was somewhat
as follows:on the return after a trip the engine was taken to the coal depot,
and coaled with a shovel by the men themselves ready for the next trip. If
traffic was plentiful the stay was short, and after a meal the engine was
off again. After going about a mile from Shildon all the wagons had to be
oiled, as there were no grease boxes; the engine was slowed down on the level
to about three or four niiles an hour, and the two men got down, one on each
side, with his oil-can and a hazel stick about three feet long, at the end
of which a piece of oakum was tied ; and with this the underside of each
journal running in a cast-iron plummer-block was carefully oiled.
About the time Tomlinson began to work, a stir was being macle in the matter
of railways. and several were almost simultaneously openecl in England:—the
Manchester and Leeds, the Great Western, the London and South Western the
London and Birmingham, the Derby and Birmingham, the Birmingham and Gloucester,
the Gloucester and Bristol, the North Midland, the Grand Junction, the Midland
Counties, the Eastern Counties, the York and North Midland, the Greenwich,
the Croydon (atmospheric), the B1ackwall (rope), etc.
All the various locomotive superintendents of that day having had the experienoe
to study of the three parent lines—the Stockton and Darlington, the
Clarence, and the Liverpool and Manchester —it was not strange
that many variations should be introduced, which it would be impossible to
describe in detail in such an addless as this. Sufficient to say that some,
like Bury, adopted. four-wheeled engines with inside cylinders; some, like
Alexander Al1an, John V. Gooch, and Francis Trevithick, adopted. outside
cylinders; some had small. drivers and some had large; but all of them adopted,
like Allan, single drivers for passenger trains, and for many years all adoptecl
four wheels coupled for goods.
We have now arrived at 1841 to 1842, when. railways had assumed proportions
never dreamt of by the early pioneers and engineers, and the work was done
by different types of engine according to the ideas of the different men.
who had the control The various designs, and who were the designers, and
which was best, formed the subject of constant letter-writing and paper war.
An especially notable case was between. the firm of Bury and Co. and those
who advocated six-wheeled engines; but to go into this is no part of my task,
neither is it to write about the discussions between George Stephenson and
Timothy Hackworth as to the invention of the blast-pipe and between George
Stephenson and William Hedley as to who invented the locomotive....
One of the greatest moves in a progressive direction was made about
the year 1845, when the battle of the gauges was fought and when gigantic
efforts were made by all to outvie one another— Stephenson, Hawthorns,
Bury Curtis and Kennedy, Sharp Roberts & Co., Fairbairn, Fenton Murray
and Jackson, E.B. Wilson, and others. Of those in charge of locomotive
departments, like James Edward McConnell, Daniel Gooch, James Cudworth, John
Viret Gooch, Alexander Allan, Francis Trevithick, Matthew Kirtley, Thomas
Russell Crampton, and many more, most had now [died:. notable exceptions
alive at that time were Edward Woods and Alexander Allan].
The revolution in size of engine was then begun, with great diversity of
design. and against all sorts of difficulties, chiefly those arising from
want of endurance of material in rails and tires; and was carried on at all
costs till the age of Sir Henry Bessemer, followed by Sir William Siemens,
who [invented mrthods to produce steel on a large scale cheaply]... The creations
of today [i.e 1890] are the work of many engineers, including Matthew Kirtley,
Daniel Gooch, Alexander Allan, Francis Trevithick, James Edward McConnell,
John Viret Gooch, Edward Fletcher, John Ramsbottom, Joseph Armstrong, Charles
F. Beyer, Henry Dubs. Walter Neilson, Samuel W. Johnson, Patrick Stirling,
Charles Sacré William Adams, Francis W. Webb, William Kirtley.
William Stroudley, Dugald Drummond, and many others who are well known.
...
Tomlinson then listed some key developments:
The bogie. Every modern engineer I think would say that this part
of an engine, in its most simple form, was first adopted by Mr. Daniel Gooch
in the engines built about the year 1848 for the South Devon Railway, as
detailed in Mr. D. K. Clark's volume on Railway Machinery; and this plan
was afterwards adopted by Mr. Pearaon for his ten-wheeled express engines
[4-2-4] on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, and by others. That is not so
however; for the earliest bogie, in this country at least was on an engine
built by Carmichael of Dundee in 1833 for the Dundee and Newtyle Railway,
of which a photograph is shown, Plate 46. The old engine was found by Mr.
Alexander Allan when he was locomotive superintendent of the Scottish Central
Railway about 1855 and before it was broken up it was photographed.
Next we come to the radial axle-box as used by Mr. Webb, Mr. Worsdell,
and others. This was invented without doubt by the late Mr. William Bridges
Adams, and was applied by Mr. Cross on the St. Helen's Railway in an exactly
similar way to what Mr. Webb and others are now doing. The engine was called
the White Raven, and was on eight wheels like Mr. Webb's, the two
end pairs of small wheels being free to move radially. I need not say it
was by no means so perfect as it has been made at Crewe and copied by others.
The fact of the modern engine having inside bearings has facilitated improvement
and the making of a compact and useful design.
To the use of an intermediate shaft for the first power in the old
Swift he had already alluded.
The position of the frames had also passed through many changes, beginning
with inside and then to outside, and then backwards and forwards from one
plan to the other;until at last it had become almost universal that they
should be inside, although in his last design of single engine Mr. S. W.
Jolmson had once more come to the outside and inside frame combined, Plate
85, as was for so long genenerally adopted. The double frame has
undoubtedly the merit of enabling less weight to be carried by each square
inch of bearing sur£ace of the journrnals.
Now to come to design of engine. In 1851 Mr. McConnell put on the London and. North Western Railway a class of engine called Bloomer, Plate 61, which was without doubt exactly similar in general design to those made by Mr. Stroudley and known as the Grosvenor cIass, the only difference being that the latter designer wu not hampered as Mr. McConnell had been by the necessity for keeping down the weight. Some of these engines were still, after thirty years doing useful duty on the North. Western Railway.
The battle of the gauges brought to the front various types of enpea. Every engine builder and locomotive superintendent made the greatest possible efforts to do something, and sometimes with conspicuous snccess. In 1846 Mr. Daniel Gooch producecl his Great Britain, of the same type as the Lord. of the Isles/ shown in the photograph, Plate 56; and this class of engine he thought may be regarded as one of the most successful, for it continues to this day in its original form down to the minutest detail, and now working all the broad-gauge expresses between London and Bristol. New boilers these engines have had, and a higher pressure of steam has been the only change. The express is run now, though of much greater weight than in 1846. at precisely the same speed, namely 53¼ miles per hour between London and Swindon.
Stephenson and Co. also came to the fore wth the long-boiler type and outside cylinders; the drivers of the single engine being placed in front of the fire-box, and two pairs of carrying-wheels leading.
Mr. Crampton too added his contribution in the shape of the London and Liverpool, both of them with the driving wheels behind the fire-box and the carrying wheels in front, and with outside eylinclera placed labout midway along the barrel of the boiler. This class of engine was largely used on the Western of France and the Northern of France, and some surrive today. A photograph of a drawing is given in Plate 54.
Mr. Francis Trevithick produced at Crewe the Cornwall with 8 feet single drivers, 18-inch cylinders and 24 inches stroke. To keep the centre of gravity down, the boiler was plaoecl wholly under the driving axle: which plan necessitated that the axle of the trailing wheels should pass through the fire-box. It was not a good engine for steam and about 1863 was supplied with a new boiler above the driving axle. Plate 68; and it was thus working at the present time. It is now forty-three years old, and is kept up, I suppose. for sentiment, as it cannot do main-line work.
Mr. John Viret Gooch too had a special engine made for the London and South Western line with outside oylinders and 7 leet drivers, which did useful work for years; but he was tied in weight by the lightness of the road.
Sharp Stewart and Co. constructed engines of large power for those days which went by the name of "Jenny Sharp." They had 16 x 22-inch cylinders, with 5 feet 6 inches single drivers, and inside and outside flames and were very successful engines. They were from the design of the late Mr. Charles Beyer.
E.B. Wilson and Co. of Leeds produced an engine which was called "Jenny Lind," Plate 60. Of this class many scores were built they had 15 x 20-inch cylinders with. 6 feet driving wheels. The drivers had inside bearings only, and the leading and trailing were 4 feet wheels with outside bearings. They were largely used in the north, and as far south as Rugby on the Midland. These engines were principally designed by the late Mr. James Fenton.
I oould go on to almost any extent; but I think, as I have now got to a period when many others can give their experiences. I shall desist. I have done my best to render my address interesting at any rate to those of our members who are not old enough to know of what our early times consisted. Today all is smooth sailing; a good road and a strong good material to work with, and plenty of information to guide those who shall come after us; and therefore I shall here bid good-bye to the locomotive engine, with the hope that the pleasure I have derived from its study, its erection, and its working, may be enjoyed by all those who love their work as I have done through life. I cannot close however without acknowledging with all sincerity the assistance that the writings of my old friend Mr. D.K. Clark have been to me; and I will add that students of railway locomotion will not find among all who have written on this subject a more faithful guide. I oall Mr. Clark my old friend because I did my best to assist his investigations more than forty years ago when from lack of age and experience I was unable to realize the ultimate value of his reaearch. From Zerah Colburn too I must confess to having learned muoh.
The railway itself' as a road. like the engine of which I have treated, has undergone in the course of years a considerable alteration and improvement; but the change cannot be called so radical as in the engine.
Jefferds, M.R.
On tube-frame goods wagons of light weight and large capacity, and their
effect upon the working expenses of railways. 475-90. Disc.: 490-527. + plates
137-146.
Goodfellow and Cushman wagons designed and constructed in the
USA.
Volume 43 (1893)
Davey, Henry
Second Report of the Research Committee on the Value of the Steam-jacket.
418-79. Disc.: 480-513 + Plates 69-87.
The President asked Aspinall (page 501) whether he had had any experience
of steam-jacketed locomotive cylinders, who replied that he had not; but
would be happy to make some steam-jacket experiments on locomotives, as he
considered it highly desirable for the Institution to have records of such
trials, for showing whether the advantages resulting from the use of
steam-jackets in the other classes of engines dealt with in the Committee’s
report, and in the reports of the marine-engine trials, could be realized
also in locomotive practice.
Dean, William
Tensile tests and chemical analyses of copper plates from fire-boxes of
locomotives on the Great Western Railway. 139-44. Disc.: 164-98.
Considerable differences had been found in the durability of copper
fire-boxes in locomotives on the Great Western Railway: these could not be
traced to differences in working conditions. It was decided to test and analyze
samples of copper from fire-boxes which had run long mileages, and from others
which had run short mileages only. Up to March 1893 eighteen samples have
been selected; and the resuIts of the tensile tests and chemical analyses
are tabulated. The gap betwwen the end of the paper and the beginning of
the discussion was occupied by the activities of the Alloys Research
Group..
Aspinall, John Frederick Audley
Experiments on the draught produced in different parts of a locomotive boiler
when running. 199-202. + Plates 38-40.
Experiments were made to establish the varying conditions under which
a locomotive boiler was called upon to work during different portions of
a journey. They were made on a four-wheel coupled bogie express passenger
engine on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, taking a passenger train
from Victoria Station, Manchester, to Chapel Street Station, Southport, and
back, a distance of 35 miles each way, with an intermediate stop about midway
at Wigan. The train was made up of engine, tender, and ten coaches.
The results of the observations are tabulated and plotted as a diagram in
Plates 39 and 40, to which was added a profile of the line, showing the nature
of the gradients. It will be seen that the vacuum produced in the chimney
varied from 7 to 18 inches of water column; in the smokebox from 3 to 7 inches;
and over the brick arch in the fire-box from 1 to 3 inches. In the ashpan
the pressure varied from 2 to 2 inch column of water. The boiler pressure
varied from 140 to 160 psi. On the outward journey the greatest speed was
60 mile/hour, and the average was 48.4 mile/hour including the stop at Wigan.
On the return journey the greatest specd was 55 mile/hour, and the average
40 mile/hour, including the stop. The speeds were taken by a Boycr
speed recorder. These experiments illustrated the conditions under which
locomotive boilers worked upon railways, and show that these conditions are
if anything more severe than those to which the boilers were subjected in
torpedo boats, where much trouble had been experienced through leaky tubes.
As locomotive boilers under these conditions are seldom troubled with leaky
tubes, this fact seems to indicate that, if induced draught were used instead
of the forced draught in torpedo boats, some of the troubles met might be
got rid of.
Kennedy, Alexander B.W.
Address by the President. 174-212 + Plates 41-3.
Predominantly an examination of electric lighting and the generation
of electricity, but also considers electric traction on the City and South
London Railway and on the Liverpool Overhead Railway as well as on street
tramways.
Anderson, Edward M.
Description of the Grafton high-speed steam-engine. 213-28. Disc.: 218-51
+ Plates 44-55.
Enclosed engine invented by Henry Grafton designed to work vertically
and drive onto an internal-combustion engine type of crank shaft immersed
within an oil bath. On page 232 (footnote) Sir Frederick Bramwell noted the
double-piston arrangement which he had seen applied to a locomotive on a
plan designed in 1834 by Bodmer, by whom the plan was adapted in 1841 for
marine propulsion. Arthur Rigg (page 236-8) considered the Grafton engine
to be analogous to all other high-speed reciprocating engines ; but it had
the exceptional advantage in that one piston served as a counter-balance
to the other. In most high-speed engines the piston was practically a
steam-hammer, and as it came near the end of its stroke it had to be brought
to rest by some means or other. In most high-speed engines it was brought
to rest by compressing the exhaust steam ; and in the Willans engine by
compressing air in an external air-compressor. Also mentioned Corliss
engines.
Joy, David
Description of a fluid-pressure reversing gear for locomotive engines. 252-7.
Disc.: 258-75 + Plates 56-66.
Advantages claimed were simplicity and reduced number of parts, hence
reduced liability to failure, because with fewer parts there are fewer to
breakdown, and the parts retained may be made stronger; the fewer joints
to be looked after and lubricated may also be better attended to. If any
part of the fluid-pressure gear should fail, the only result was that the
eccentrics gradually slipped into full gear for whichever direction the engine
was running. Thus the engine was still capable of hauling its train.. Secondly,
truer distribution of steam: the distribution was almost mathematically correct,
both for the front and back ends of the cylinder, and for forward and backward
gear. This was prominently shown by the exactly equal beat of the engine
at all grades of expansion and when running in either direction. Thirdly,
reduced cost of repairs due both to the reduced number of parts, but also
to the parts retained having much larger wearing surfaces and a smaller amount
of motion. Fourthly, considerably reduced first cost: there were no costly
forgings, involving expensive tooling. Nearly all parts were castings, calling
chiefly for boring and turning. For every mechanical detaiI in the construction
of the gear there were numerous and satisfactory precedents. Furthermore,
the gear could be adapted to every position where link gear was used, without
any alteration of the engine and for compounds it could be arranged to give
varied cut-off for the high and low-pressure cylinders. After it had originally
been set in the workshop there was nothing left for the driver to adjust.
It was not liable to the objection sometimes raised against the radial gear,
that the drivers knew the link gear but cannot be got to understand the
radial.
Unwin, W. Cawthorne
The determination of the dryness of steam. 31-47. Disc.: 47-89 + Plates
1-8.
Generally the wire-drawing calorimeter without separator is the most
convenient and accurate for steam with less than about 2 per cent. of moisture.
For steam containing more moisture, the separating calorimeter without
wire-drawing apparatus is accurate enough and convenient. The use of the
separator and wire-drawing calorimeter combined is more troublesome, especially
if, as is desirable, a condenser is also used to determine the amount of
steam passing through the separator. In cases where there is much priming,
it would seem best to take the whole of the steam through an ordinary
steam-separator, measuring the amount of water trapped and then to test by
a wire-drawing or separating calorimeter the dryness of the steam after passing
the separator. In priming, much of the water probably flows along the bottom
of the pipe, and it appears impossible that a sample can be obtained containing
an average proportion of steam and water. It is recommended by Carpenter
that the sample of steam to be tested should always be taken from a vertical
not from a horizontal steam-pipe. No doubt there is rather more tendency
for water to flow along the bottom of a horizontal pipe than down the sides
of a vertical pipe; but merely taking steam from a vertical pipe does not
ensure freedom from error, especially if the amount of moisture in the steam
is considerable. Variations in tests for wetness are doubtless often due
to the difficulty of getting a true average sample of steam; and it would
seem that errors are generally in the direction of under-estimating the amount
of moisture. Bryan Donkin (Page 53) As an addition to the history of the
subject, mention might be made of the large number of experiments carried
out with fixed locomotive boilers by the late M. Henry on the Paris Lyons
and Mediterranean Railway, of which an elaborate description was given in
the Annales des Mines,” 1894, 6, 119-234. A continuous
condensing calorimeter was employed for determining the priming water ; and
it appeared that in M. Henry’s opinion this was the only reliable method,
because in the other instruments hitherto used the steam was mechanically
separated from the water, and hence it could not be known with certainty
whether it was perfectly dry. Druitt Halpin (page 55) stated that a great
deal of trouble had been taken with the experiments made on boilers for the
Paris Lyons and Mediterranean Railway, referred to by Mr. Donkin, which formed
one of the most elaborate series of experiments that had been carried out
with locomotive boilers in modern times.
Trevithick, Richard F.
Locomotive building in Japan. 298-307 + plates 48-56.
The first locomotive built in Japan, No. 221, was also the first compound
locomotive employed in that country where the gauge was 3ft 6in. It was a
two-cyclinder (both outside) 2-4-2T using Webb radial trucks. It was quite
a small locomotive with a grate area of only 12.4 ft2 asnd 150
psi boiler. The high pressure cyclinder was 15 x 20in and the low pressure
22½ x 20in. The valves were operated by Joy's radial valve gear. Its
general appearance and construction are shown in Plates 48 to 56 (illus.,
side, front elevations, cross-sections and plans). It was turned out of the
Kobe shop on 26 May 1893, and has worked continuously ever since without
giving trouble in any way, and with a mileage of a little over 33,700 during
fifteen months to 31 August 1894. In respect of efficiency, it takes its
turn with any other main-line engine, and has always done the work with a
smaller consumption of coal, as shown by the comparative statement in Table
1 appended of the working of this engine and of an imported non-compound
locomotive No. 88 during eight months running in competition with each other.
It had not been found to require more steam-shed repairs than the non-compound
engines, and had caused delay to traffic; and it had not been necessary to
send it to the shops for general repairs gave rcason to believe that its
mileages between general overhauls would not be inferior to those of any
other class of main-line engines. In first cost it is by far thc cheapest
main-line engine on the Imperial Government Railways of Japan, having cost
£1,350 ; and the particulars of the first cost of this and other engines
are shown in Table 2.
Beare, Thomas Hudson, Bryan Donkin , Research
Committee on the Value of the Steam Jacket. Experiment on a locomotive
engine. 466-82. Disc.: 483-500. + Plates 102-116.
The experiment was made on a 4-4-0 passenger locomotive, No. 1093,
during its regular work of taking the 07.30 express train from Manchester
to York, a distance of 76½ miles, and returning with the 15.00 express
from York to Manchestsr. Both engine and tender were the ordinary standard
pattern. As illustrated in Plates 107 to 110, the engine was a four wheel
coupled with bogie truck, the driving wheels being 7 ft. 1 in. diameter.
The cylinders were inside and horizontal, with their valve-chests on the
top. The heating surface in the tubes was 1,108.73 ft2., and in
the fire-box 107.68 ft2; total 1,216.41 ft2. The fire-grate
area was 18.75 ft2., the ratio of heating surface to grate area
being 65 to 1. The fire-brick arch in the combustion chamber is about 2½
ft. long. The height of the chimney above the fire-grate level is 10ft. The
cylinders were originally of the normal pattern, 19 inches diameter and 26
inches stroke. For this experiment they had been bored out and fitted with
cast-iron liners, which reduced the internal diameter to 17½ inches,
thus providing a body jacket of 3/8ths inch space. The front cylinder covers
were fitted with external covers, the space between the two forming a
steam-jacket. The back covers however were imperfectly jacketed by fitting
over them, as close to the actual covers as possible, an annular wrought-iron
ring with an inner and an outer cover, the space between the two latter forming
a jacket space. The external surfaces of the end jackets were much exposed,
Discussion: Aspinall (483-5) made a long and
detailed contribution. David Joy (485) made brief reference to experiments
with steam jackets on marine engines. Samuel Johnson
(486): enquired whether, notwithstanding the admitted unreliability
of the trials recorded, the use of steam-jackets had so far commended itself
to Mr. Aspinall that he contemplated altering all his engines to it. No doubt
the difficulties of making such experiments were great ; and it seemed to
him that the results of those recorded in the paper must necessarily be
unreliable. The statement of steam and coal consumption in page 473 he thought
was rather misleading, because the differences in load and speed ancl other
conditions mould themselves be sufficient to make all the difference in
consumption. In trials of this kind on a railway the great difficulty lay
in getting the engine making the experiments to take a train under precisely
the same conditions in the successive trials. The value of the steam-jacket
on a locomotive engine he thought was perhaps small, compared with the ordinary
method of keeping the cylinders warm either by the hot-air of the smoke-box
or by a wood lagging, or by simply a lagging of sheet iron with a space of
air between.
English and Bryan Donkin
Transmission of heat from surface condensation through metal cylinders. 501-25.
Discussion: 526-35.
Volume 54 (1897)
Dawson, Philip
Mechanical features of electric traction. 43-123
Dalby, W.E.
Diagrams to facilitate the design of riveted joints for boiler work. 124-31.
Johnson, Samuel Waite
Address by the President. 149-208. + Plates 18-48.
A "short" review of British Railway progress, special reference being
made to the Midland Railway, with which he had been connected for nearly
twenty-five years, as typical, in great measure, of the progress on other
lines of railway in Britain. Statistics on both passenger and freight traffic
growth on the Midland Railway, and the cost of handling this traffic, including
that which could be attributed to locomotives, their operation, maintenance
and staffing. In 1873 the locomotive stock of the Midland Railway numbered
1,040, and in 1897 it had risen to 2,327. Joseph Tomlinson, in his Presidential
Address delivered before this Institution in May 1890, had described and
illustrated a large number of types of British locomotive engines as originally
constructed and as now existing in this country. the advances made on the
Midland Railway during the last forty or fifty years, in the size, power,
weight &, of main-line standard engines
Identified six types of locomotive:
Single-driving passenger tender express engine with leading bogie:
well suited for lines with gradients not exceeding 1 in 150. This class of
engine was a great favourite with drivers of express trains. The steam sanding
apparatus has been indispensable in bringing these engines back into favour.
One illustrated in Plate 39 featured large cylinders and piston-valves
Four-wheel-coupled passenger tender engine with leading bogie was
the most favoured by a general consensus of opinion, as shown by its adoption
in one form or another on nearly every line in the country. It is the most
useful engine that can be employed on ct railway, because it is suitable
for any line with varying gradients and curves, and was a safe and reliable
engine.
Six-wheel-coupled tender engine for goods and mineral traffic: adopted
almost universally. The diameter of the wheels was slightly greater for fast
goods than for heavy mineral trains. Plate 41 shows the Midland Railway standard
goods locomotive.
Suburban passenger traffic was generally worked by four-wheel-coupled
tank engines, the coupled wheels in many instances being placed beneath the
boiler, and a trailing bogie beneath the coal bunker and tanks.
Shunting locomotives: six or four-wheelcoupled tank engines, as
illustrated in Plate 40, were found to be most suitable.
Gauge:"My ideal gauge for a railway is 5 feet 3 inches. How many
of the difficulties experienced by locomotive superintendents and mechanical
engineers would have been avoided, had the 4 ft. 8½ ins. gauge been
superseded years ago by the 5 ft. 3 ins. gauge. The crowding of machinery
into the confined space between the frames limits the boiler diameter when
the wheels are large, cramps the firebox width, and unduly reduces the dimensions
of crank bearing surfaces and webs. All these obstacles would have disappeared,
and many things which are now so difficult would have been easy of
accomplishment, had the gauge been made somewhat broader". .
Includes a table (Table 10 p. 196) of Midland Railway locomotive crank axles
taken out during five years ending December 1896.
Robertson, Leslie S.
Narrow-gauge railways, of two feet gauge and under. 376-89. Disc.: 389-403
+ Plates 75-85..
When a light railway is under consideration, one of the most difficult
questions to be decided is gauge:. narrowing reduces the cost of construction,
but also reduces the carrying and earning capacity of the line. Widening
the gauge improves the carrying capacity and the passenger facilities of
the line, but increases the cost of construction. The selection of the most
euitable gauge must therefore be largely determined by financial considerations.
Again the gauge has a considerable influence on the speed: but in most instances
the circumstances which warrant the adoption of a narrow-gauge light line
are such that speed of transit is not of cardinal importance.
Duffield Bank Railway. The problem which Sir Arthur Heywood set himself
was to determine the narrowest gauge that could be adopted consistent with
efficiency, for dealing at the lowest cost with an annual traffic of about
5,000 tons. The Duffield Bank line is of 15-inch gauge, and was laid in the
first instance with 14-lb. rails ; but this weight has subsequently been
increased to 22 lbs. per yard,
Eaton Hall line, built by Sir Arthur Heywood for the Duke of Westminster,
is also of 15-inch gauge, and similar to the Duffield Bank railway. It is
4½ miles long, and cost, including rolling stock, £1,309 per
mile.
Darjeeling Railway: 1 foot 11½ inches gauge, 51 miles long, situated
in the Himalayas. Average gradients 1 in 29, with 70-foot curves. Rises 6,600
feet in 40 miles
Decauville lines. Pithiviers Railway: 60 cm gauge: a purely agricultural
line, constructed by the Decauville Company for the carriage of beet in France.
Caen, Dives, and Luc Railway. were other Decauville lines
Festiniog Railway, Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (then recvently completed)
and military and industrial railways are also considered. The narrow gaugue
railways of the Woolwich Arsenal were the subject of an Appendix which lists
locomotives (mainly steam), but also an Akroyd Hornsby internal combustion
machine..
Charles Wicksteed (392-3) noted the applicability of narrow-gauge railways
to tourist lines. It would generally be noticed that, the cheaper the line,
the prettier was the ride. The reason was not because it happened to be a
cheaper line, but because being a narrow-gauge railway it went round curves,
instead of going through cuttings and tunnels. Narrow-gauge railways wound
round the hills, and a beautiful view of the country was obtained everywhere.
A great deal more might in his opinion be done in that way. In all frequented
tourist districts there would be noticed dusty roads and troops of visitors
riding in carriages behind overworked horses. It would be a great improvement
he thought if those dusty roads and panting horses were replaced throughout
the country by convcnient little narrow-gauge railways and locomotives. The
valleys would not then be blocked with huge embankments, for there would
be no necessity for going to the expense of making any. Passengers who had
travelled on the Festiniog Railway and other light railways in Wales must
have admired the beautiful scenery, not because these lines went through
a more beautiful country than the larger and better lines, but because they
wound round about on the open hillsides, instead of going through cuttings
and tunnels.
Archbutt, Leonard
Water softening and purification by the Archbutt-Deeley process. 404-29.
Disc.: 429-54.
Author was Midland Railway's Chemist.
Langdon, W.E.
Electric installations for lighting and power on the Midland Railway, with
notes on power absorbed by shafting and belting. 553-604.
Smith, Walter M.
Results of recent practical experience with express locomotive engines. 605-69.
30 per cent of power absorbed in propelling locomotive iteself. Paper
also included a comparison between the three cylinder compound locomotive
and the standard M1 class 4-4-0s. Tennant 2-4-0 was also
tested..Ascertaining the pull curve of train resistance was
obtained from F W Webb of the London and North Western Railway. Standard
coal was employed.
Peet, W. Gadsby
Mechanical testing of materials at the locomotive works of the Midland Railway,
Derby. 670-95
The latter included a 50-ton Whitworth hydraulic testing machine and
a Deeley torsion testing machine. Methods of autographic recording and details
of test specimens...
Volume 57 (1899/1900)
Gibbons, T.H.
Railway viaducts in Cornwall, old and new. 355-63. Disc.: 364 + Plates 92-108.
Replacement of timber by masonry structures.
Bramwell, Sir Frederick
The South Devon Atmospheric Railway, preceded by certain remarks on the
transmission of energy by a partially rarefied atmosphere. 299-327.
In 1810 G. Medhurst proposed the propulsion of trains within a tube
of 30 feet area, 6 feet high by 5 feet wide, by a pressure (not rarefaction)
of about 16 psi. In 1824 John Vallance took out his patent, No. 4905, on
the transmission of energy by atmospheric pressure. Hague took out a patent,
No. 5546, 1827, wherein he proposed to have a proper number of exhausting
pumps, working continuously and maintaining continuously a partial vacuum:
a pipe was laid from the pumps to the place where the power was needed to
be used, and he placed there an engine of the character of a steam engine,
which engine was put to work by the pressure of the atmosphere upon the piston
of the engine, on the other side of which piston there was the partially
vacuous condition. This is followed by a description of atmospheric railways,
notably those at Croydon, Dublin and in South Devon.