The Case for the AMERICAN Steam Locomotive
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
• raIns. AUGUST 1967 • 60, T .. ... ----------------- ' f!,' lIelllelllh~'1' jhis al'jkle ill IIl'cf'lIIh~'1' I!'f;f; TIC,\INS? Xow "'I ('xllel'j ('Ollles THE CASE fOR THE fRENCH STEAM"' LOCOMOTIVE iOl'jh with •.. The case for the AMERICAN steam locomotive 21 Avgus! 1967 - VERNON l. SMITH illVllrolion AUTHOR'S COllECTION OR AS NOTED 1 IN htl ''The Case lor the F~nch trains to be bandied - In America background r($ultcd In fine, ('COnomi- Steam Loc:omoltv(''' in Decem· th~ arc !ugh and harsh. 1::al handhna; of compound engines, her 1966 TRAINS, author R. K. E ... tVl!> (3) MllK:ellancous conditIons - thc Many of the later (our-cylindcI' en_ stated, ", .. The fact ,'emains unques labol' market, the workIng clearances gines have the two r(l8ch I'ods cvn ti oned that nowhere in the world W3$ (loading gau,ge), the maIntenance ncctcd or 11ll1ned togcther to avoid the art of Sl~ locomotivt' design praclLcH, and the 1~'omoIlH: availa ImpI'opcr dIvision of the work by the developed as far and 1.$ clOSt' to per_ bility and utilization required. englneman b<>tween the hil1;h- and ft.oction as In France," MI'. Evans in his arucle Jit>okl> of lov.·-plcssul·c syste.ns, This suggeslS I question the claim put forth by compounding and mamtenance, draw that the labol market may be chonging Mr. Evans, because It 111 not supported bu horsepow(>r, fuel et.'(lnomy, valve Il\ France and that less refined loco by data and performance records gears. improved (ront ends, enlarged mouve dnving is taking place, And It gother(X{ during !.he high Iide of tteam and exhaust pa...sages, riding means that some of the original ('C;'01l- American locomolh,c design qualities and speed, and bOIler blow_ 01111(-'$ ar1! not beint, obtained. To se Comparing locomollYcs used In dif down practIces All of these will be cure an acceptable stanchrd of per ferent countries and under different conSidered - In thc IIsht of the factono fOlmance WIth any drivel, and to conditIOns is not always easy. Therl!' pre\'lously mcntloned and With dlrcct reduce excCMlve maintenance costs on fore, to aVOid any possibility of unfair_ ,cfcl'1:nce to the four Amencan loco the madunery, the ml!.::hanlcal officer ness, 1 will try to expiQre carefully the motIVes mentioned - with the l'xcep_ selects the best point to cvlnbine the factors which controlled the desiJm or bon of compounding. Multiple expan_ work of both S4!'ts by sacrificing some method of operation of stcam l0<:0mo .!lion will 1>0: touched upon only bl'leny, of thl! perrormance withhl the power liVes in the two countr;e.'l. since (lxcept (01' Mallet pwhel'l> and rangcs. Since Pcnnsyl... anla'~ Tl 4-4-4-4 was the Delaware & Hudson eXp(':l'imen_ Some of the European compounds singled out for criticism on page 30 of tals, compounds hu\'c h«-n obsolcte Ul spl'-nt eoMiderablc time in the shed (or Mr. Evans' article (the power oulput America for many years. work after I'elati\'ely short tdps. This figures quoted are Incorrect, Inciden Compounding In the U. S. can be s!tuUliOn would not be 10lcI'ated In tally), I have Sl.'lected this pal1lculal' bcit exprflSK'<! by aayillS thlll it was the United States In view of the wage class of engine, along With Pennsy's the most important and f.'COnomic link ~81es paid IUld the capJt81 tied up, rebuiJt K4s 4-6-2 No, 5399, and Santa for ptodoein~ fuel savings in the peri_ One rCll.!K)n the French might be Fe', 4-8-4 2900 clus built new and the od b<>t ..... een the. sinale-expanslon r;atu mO\'lng IowaI'd OUI' methods as their road's 4-8-4 No, 3752 as rebuilt, to rated steam locomotive or 1880 and the COSts inc.. ellSe Is the fact thnt the illustrate the position of locomoti~'e supt'rheatl'r locomotive of. SAy. 1910 American-built .inglc-cxpansion engineering In the United Stales near Norfolk" Western and Chesapeake" Class 141R's, which " thrive on hard Lhe end of the stcam era. Ohio Mallets used ill the slow-speed wOl'k and poor fucl," afe slill In serv Using thcse examplcs for compari coal traffic W('I"e modest excepUons to Ice in quantit)·, whel'(!a.s the equivalent son is quite suitable. The two ncw the general practice, 01' more complicated French dasscs locomotivH. PRR's Tl and Santa Fe', The Santa Fe Rath.. ·.y had extcnsl"'C arc largely stored 01' retired, 2900 class..... "ere of the same tracbve experience with neal'ly all forms of effort and were roughl)' in the same compounds. Including the cross-com A~D ~ow on to the Ott\(!I' muttel'S to horsepower ca~gory. yct one repre pound, t.ondem, Mallet, Vauclain, and be d iSc l.IlI.!Ied.. sents the divided_drive plannml and the (our_cylinder balancl'd types. The DRAW BAR HORSEPOWER the other the concept of stTaight cou end came when the compounds could pling of eight drive wheels lhrough no longer meet the t.l'luJic demands 01' Flr6l of all, It is timc to Il('t right the tandem rods. The two rebuilt locomo justify Ih(l hll,lh malntcmlnce costs, record on the drawba.. hOrscpowcr liVes, PRR No, 5399 and Santa Fc No. It ill t1'UC, as Mr. Evans pointed out, output of a TL The g.-aph t)" page 2-1 3;52, dearly illustrate tlun the French that th(> French h;l\'e diligently de shows a cUlve prepaJ'ed fl'Om the Al_ had no eXclusive talent in the Improv "eloped the three- and four_c),hndel' toona Test Plant data showing thl! ing of old locomotives. And finally, I compound" Many of these locolllo_ high drawbar horscpowt!l'S thi:4 duplcx knew these four engines well, tlves., as he not~, were tlJ'ranged with would produce, It Is plain that the ~pa.rate reach rods and rc~rse m~h Tl's drawbar hOl'lK:power or 6000 at SoME of the elcmenu which mold ani!tlllS for the rugh_prcssw'c find thc the .speed of 62 mph greatly exc~t'd the arrangement Rnd constl'uctJon of 10w-prcuul'e engines to permit the thc 4000-d"awbal'-hol'5epower capac locomotlvcs for difIerMt parts of the driver to adjust the cutoff on each en Ity quoti!d by r.-tr, Evans, FI'1!nch 4-8-4 world art": gine Independently o( the othel' for No. 242 A 1 developed a maximum of (I) Natur("- the t.errain to be optimum pc.l'folm:l.nee, It should be 4200 h.p, (nOI 5000, as stated by MJ', crossed. the dlstanc(!S to be run, thc repeated that the French enJ(illcman Evans) 1\1 5G mph while rwming Oil a rigors of dimate, and lhc quantity and from the lurn of the eentUl'y to the srade of L1 i.n 1000, 8tto"dmg to a quality of fuel and water available. 1930's was highly trained after serving reporl furnished by Andre Chapc (2:) The demands of the Traffic De II thorough shop apprenticeship before Ion and published In 19018. The report partment for s~ and tonnages of going out on the road, This technical dO\.~ not state whether this Is indi- Tra ins 23 "O~E-"nllln ... OI •.,_",an ~ tonrf'pl "r """,NlII" n In U. S, •.:,~ 10. I I ~ 1... lII t hl ... h!:" Ihh . 1,11' 0/ • hhrh·mllt")(t-lJ<ttwMn_shoppln!:-s AT&Sf four_tyUndC'r b .. h."n,'d !:Ulnp.!un,j ...... ",a<l ... PE S~.s\" "'i ~ \" Rnai ",odifitd (II"" " ,111 rtolll_.. 1II1 IlIr(>IIIC'. imprll,'C'd oI r .. fthl jl. a"d ,\ S \\' ~ 11 1 !<' rh l';lIH "nits ~ 1 1' "lb " II Iht AIIOI"'" TO',I rl;,,11 in "", S",:. II JI;pt. ~ til. It "dlu/: oUI of \OIok('''ox s-am"I('t\ CO: IVn I ..n i of Ihe 1...... IIIO lh .. 's .. x h:.UM «liSt., DHAW8AR 1I0HSt:POWER !:un .. for Pc"" ,y's dupl"",-drh'c TI-('I_» I - ~-~'" o,hM'.-, .. " " I"tulll hIp of ('ur" t O,'U Iht wid .. "'''I:t of spud IIi whlrh hll: h hO'K PU"H p~""IIC'd . 11I\ 1. f -"ECT IOS Ihro uth Ml' ok .. h •." of $<I n _ til r (' I",,,pet-..,.he ~-S-l 3.:>: ,'.. \ ' e~h )( real 1""lIlh of , 1;I('k "blain.. .. b)' 10 " nan ~ nd VER\' frff _",,,,,,i,,,, Simi.. t't' 1_8_1",1 prool"rtU IIt ..rI) · WOOO h"lInt",1 hll n.<·p.... n ' ....I ~ lIdln g ~ I;l ck ,,)(, .. ,,<.1011. Wllh ~:otck U '· ('Qutd _II,,,1 did_run,)_h COIII,",lIlio" r.. r ~ 'M hI'. "i.."tl ~ tlut tI( I\ ... ~ nt l u c , "'ans. Itnd .. d. 3a~ " IOCMI 18 rtd Sl~ In~hu hl,;l1 . 24 AU 9 u~1 1967 ABOUT THE AUTHOR VERNON L. SMITH conu-ac:uxt locomoth-e lev... r ... tldy In hiS Me H~ wu born U1 Ihe Il'On rnr\lle country In Vir. Mln'a,'Mlnn .• lu 1911. At '.I! 16 he WiU qradUlllcd from high achoot and ~'enl lirU18 coal.bummg ftetlm ICICOmo · 1I11't!S; AI 19 he went on th\' cultra board u an englnl'er_ 01\ the I't'COmmendatlon of I'll' rNI!h!r mechanic and through Ih ... kindnesa of an M A. Hanna Company vice pruldenl, Smith wItS "bl" 10 C'Ombme II mec:hanic:al en· gin«>ring edue;).1,on Wlth drawing-room employment pI tlw Dlffe~nl'a1 Sleel Car Company and Ihe Lima Loco motive Work" worluna under 5Uch notabl~ as F.