# Steam Locomotive Construction and Maintenance

Part of Pitman’s Technical Primers series
STEAM LOCOMOTIVE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
describing workshop equipment and practice in the construction of modern steam railway locomotives, with notes on inspection, testing, maintenance and repairs
by
E. L. AHRONS M.I.Mech.E., M.I.Loco.E.
LONDON SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD. PARKER STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2 BATH, MELBOURNE, TORONTO, NEW YORK 1921
Printed by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd Bath, England
CONTENTS :
| chap. | | page |
| | Preface | v |
| I. | General considerations affecting methods of construction | 1 |
| II. | boiler shop | 8 |
| III. | Foundries | 27 |
| IV. | Forgings, springs, etc. | 35 |
| V. | Machine shops—frames and cylinders | 46 |
| VI. | Machine shops—axles and wheels | 56 |
| VII. | General machine shop | 70 |
| VIII. | Erecting shop | 80 |
| IX. | Setting the valves | 96 |
| X. | Inspection and testing | 107 |
| XI. | Locomotive maintenance and repairs | 116 |
| | Index | 133 |
ILLUSTRATIONS :
| fig. | | | page |
| 1. | | Diagram illustrating the manufacture of locomotive engine and tender | 2, 3 |
| 2. | | Sections through locomotive boiler | 10 |
| 3. | | Radial drilling machine for boiler plates | 12 |
| 4. | | Diagram of plate-bending rolls | 13 |
| 5. | | Boiler shell drilling machine | 14 |
| 6. | | Hydraulic flanging press | 16 |
| 7. | | Completed locomotive boiler | 25 |
| 8. | | Axlebox moulding machines and moulds, G.W.R. Iron Foundry, Swindon | 30 |
| 9. | | Iron foundry, Swindon Locomotive works | 33 |
| 10. | | Blocks for forging straight axles | 36 |
| 11. | | Stages in forging a crank axle | 38 |
| 12. | | Buffer forging | 40 |
| 13. | | Forged buffer casing | 42 |
| 14. | | Pieces for forging buffer casing | 42 |
| 15. | | Stamping shop with drop hammers | 43 |
| 16. | | Underhung laminated spring | 44 |
| 17. | | Frame plate | 46 |
| 18. | | Punching the outline of the frame plate | 47 |
| 19. | | Marking-off cylinders | 49 |
| 20. | | Marking-off cylinder port faces | 50 |
| 21. | | Double cylinder-boring machine | 51 |
| 22. | | Horizontal drilling and facing machine for cylinders | 53 |
| 23. | | Straight axle | 56 |
| 24. | | Centre driven axle lathe | 57 |
| 25. | | Crank sweep milling machine | 59 |
| 26. | | Horizontal turning and boring mill for wheel centres and tyres | 61 ​ |
| 27. | | Boring tyres on horizontal boring mill | 62 |
| 28. 29. | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | Tyre fastenings | 63 |
| 30. | | Locomotive wheel lathe | 65 |
| 31 to 34. | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | Tyre gauges | 66 |
| 35. | | Wheel balancing machine, Great Western Railway, Swindon | 68 |
| 36. | | Cast iron cylinder for piston rings | 72 |
| 37. | | Tools in turret for machining piston rings | 72 |
| 38. | | Grinding a piston rod | 74 |
| 39. | | Crosshead and slide blocks | 75 |
| 40. | | Milling connecting rods | 77 |
| 41. | | Trammelling the frames | 81 |
| 42. | | Erecting locomotive frames and cylinders | 83 |
| 43. | | Marking the valve spindle for valve setting | 100 |
| 44. | | Finding the dead centres | 102 |
| 45. | | Locomotive testing plant, Great Western Railway, Swindon | 114 |
| 46. | | Oval tube holes and cracked tube plate | 119 |
| 47. | | Patch on firebox plate | 121 |
| 48. | | Bushed tube holes in tube plate | 122 |
| 49. | | Cracked and broken stays, with heads wasted away inside firebox | 123 |
| 50. | | Tread of tyre showing wear and section after re-turning | 127 |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1925, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 98 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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