The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-08-11
The possibilities Of the locomotive.

THE London En9inee,. devotes lead
ing article to the discussion of the loco
motive, of the future. But why the To-
comotive of the future?
OF all the products of modern me-
ehanical engineering, the most COM
plete, beautiful and perfect Is the rail-
way locomotive. Yet it is now, in its
developed state, the same in principle
as it was when first introduced. There
is therefore no reason toaanticipate that
the locomotive of the future will be diff
ferent from the locomotive of the pres
ent day, except, perhaps, as to size and
the arrangement of new details of con-
struction to better adapt it to the ne
cessities of the increasing railway traffic.
1t is already one of those machines
which best display the splendid posi-
bilities of inventive genius.
At the celebrated competitive trial of
locomotives at Rainhill, ,on the Liverpool
& Manchester Railway, in 1925, when
Stephenson and Ericsson contended for
the prize offered, their engines were dis
tinguished by the same features which
appear now IN every locomotive con-
structed. Powerful combustion of the
fuel in the fireibox, caused by the ex-
haust draught, and multitubular boilers,
which give great heating surface in a
small space, have always been the char
acteristic features of the locomotive It
has been made larger during the half
century since the competition in 1929,
its details have been vastly improved be-
cause of the increasing perfection of ma
chimes and tools, and the more durable
steel has been substituted for wrought
iron, for instance, in the making of tires
for the driving wheels and in the con-
struction of the fre-boxes. But these
are only improvements. In principle
the machine is the same now as it was
in 1929. !-i.l5 sIlt - u ~ bas ..5 +
The most important change in the 10
connective made in the half century since
the trial at Rainhill was the contrivance
of American engineers. 1t is the bogie
truck, a sort of frame which carries the
forward wheels, and enables the loco
motive to pass easily around sharp
curves, which would be dangerous if the
entire wheel base of the engine was
rigid. The bogie truck was contempo-
rary with the very beginning of Ameri-
can railway practice, and was devised
to meet the exigencies of our railroads,
which were distinguished by sharper
curves than those in use IN Europe. 1t
is now, however, largely used abroad,
and its adoption is becoming more and
more general there, while in the United
States it is universally employed on the
roads Gaic .iIs, I'M al N
The main question to which the LON
don Engineer addresses itself is that of
the feasibility and the means of con-
structing locomotives which shall draw
trains at higher continuous rte of
speed than is now customary. But the
question can readily be answered by any
locomotive builder. That our railroads
can get such locomotives if they want
them is indisputable. The only ques-
ton is whether it would pay to buy
them. Greater speed requires more
perfect roads, better rails, and straighter
lines, all very costly. 3a y--e1s11 7-lr
We, already have on the Pennsylvania
Railroad, between New York and Phila-
delphia, the most powerful passenger
engines in the world. They carry their
heavy trains between the two cities, q
distance Of ninety miles, in less than two
hours, making a single stop at Trenton.
They could easily make the "trip at the
rate of more than sixty miles an hour.
They could, moreover, run 150 miles at
this speed without a stop, 50 great is
their boiler and cylinder capacity, and
the troughs from which locomotives on
fast trains now, scoop up their water
furnishing them with material for steam.
The Engineer considers the question
whether trains,7 for instance, could be
run from York or Leeds to London with
out q stop, and at the rate of fifty-five
miles an hour. This would bring Leeds
within 1-2 hours of London, while
the time from York would be little
more Certainly that can be done with
the aid of troughs, from which the loco
motives can draw water while they are
| in motion. When it pays the compa-
| mics to run such trains and there is q
! public demand for them they will be
provided. And so we shall get similar
trains here when they can be made prof
| table.
The locomotive of the present is en-
tirely equal to its work, provided it has
steel rails to run over, and q track in
perfect condition But the roads do not
see their profit in making the necessary
preparations for such continuous speed
as customary matter, and in subject
| ing their roads TO the additional wear
ind tear it would involve. When you
| ialk of fifty five miles an hour for three
| or four hours running, there is no need
of looking forward to the locomotive of
the future. The beautiful machines we
have now can do the work.-Neto York
/ sam