The National tribune., 1886-10-14
LOCOMOTIVES.
an English Mechanic Compares English and
American Engines.

chanical one, and rs such requires a purely
mechanical treatment. In the Grst place, what
IS the main point in which American lOeomo-
tives depart from the English type, or more
correctly, in what feature has English locomo-
tive practice departed from the earlier features
which formed the basis of the practice OF both
England and America Clearly the framing is
this feature. Early English engines had the
bar frame, and il is but quite recently that
some old engines Of Bury's make were to be
seen at work on the Lancashire & Yorkshire
Railway. They had only four wheels, all
coupled, bar frames and huge eopper-covered
fre-box castings. From this original type Eng
lish practice has departed, and We now have
thin but deep frames of plate which admit of
the widest possible fire box between the frames.
American practice adheres TO the bar Frame
though IL Is sometimes modified by lattening
alongside the hre-box, and in the WoOtten en-
gine the tre-box is made to extend over and
beyond the frames.
For years past the track Of nearly every Eng
lish railway has been SO good that engines
have been built TO suit such first-rate tracks,
and such engines, as a consequence, are scarcely
suited 10 run bad road. Many-most
American tracks are very far from frst-class,
aud though many hundreds OF miles of track
IN the States ara perhaps as good rs any track
IN England, there are still thousands Of miles
when 10 is considered that the line is often laid
unballasted over the almost natural surface of
the ground. On this account, therefore, the
design of American engines has developed ac-
cordlngly, aud they are so constructed as 10 be
safely capable of trayersing a track which
would derail an English engine. Such de-
sign, however, does not prevent the engine from
running well over a good road, aud American
engines have developed speeds rs high as any
other build. As a piece of machinery there is
much about an American engine which will
appear rough and i'll finished % the eye of an
English workman. BY this we do not mean
Ill made but the finish is rather rough and does
not compare with that of English frst-rate
work.
There is a superfluity Of molding about the
dome and sand-box which hardly adds to good
appearance. The wheels of an American ex-
press engine are cast iron. This only proves
tho excellent quality of American east iron. and
asa detail of construction is one which is bound
to give way, as is also the English forged-iron
wheel, before many years 10 the wheel of cast
steel, such as may now be seen at the Liverpool
Exhibition. Cast steel will prove superior TO
both other materials and far cheaper than
forged iron.
Several other details Of construction are weak
in appearance, but we are assured by an English
Engineer, 10 whom we referred the matter and
who has had l3 years experience on American
railways, that such is not the case. There is
one point upon which we must touch in Justice
TO American builders; we refer to the exceed
ingly free running qualities of their machines.
Other things being equal, the American locOmo-
tive Is freer running than is the English. This
we can only attribute TO the greater freedom Of
various parts the free use of cOmpensating
beams, the absolute horizontally of the outside
cylinders reducing rocking to a minimum, and
10 the arrangement Of the valve mechanism.
ay nd ba facfi nf
a goodly number of drivers, who have been ac-
customed TO handle both types of engines, is in
favor of this statement.
A point aimed at by American designers is
evidently accessibility of parts, and we think
no one will quarrel with us when we state that
the very opposite effect has been attained by
the designers of inside cylinder engines with
valves between the cylinders Nothing could
well be worse than this. AT the same time,
with all the conyenences TO be found on the
modern railway, the awkwardness is much di-
minished. Such a construction would, how
ever be quite iuadmssble on an engine which
might require repairs 500 miles from any
station.
To what conclusion are we forced by all these
considerations, backed up as they are by the
fact that England supplies no engines TO Canada,
for exampleg We cannot for a moment admit
that we are unable 10 compete, for such an
idea is absurd on the face of il. England can
compete successfully with any other Nation if
she cares TO do so. and if English locomotive
builders would do SO they could produce loco
motives having all the accessibility Of parts
seen in the American engine; they could use
cast-steel wheels, produced as cheaply as the
cast-iron wheel of America; they could make
their treboxes of steel, for it is sheer nonsense
10 say we have no steel suitable for boilers, and
nothing but ignorance could support such a
statement in the face Of the testimony of all
I..sI. Il.
CARDS the bar frame, this is too simple 10 re-
quire comment. If called for let il be made.
Quite apart from the question of whether one
engine Is better worse than another, our
Constructive Engineers would be wise il they
laid themselves out 10 supply a demand, not to
force a sale.
New countries require many articles which
diher from the articles required for similar
purposes IN older countries. America, rs a new
country, has made locomotives TO suit its pecu-
liar requirements and thus we find her supply
ing other new countries 10 a very large extent.
Probably, If tried on some Of the older lines in
America, such as the Philadelphia IL Reading,
one Of Mr.. Strings outside cylinder eight feet
engines would give immense satisfaction TO
both the road officials aud the passengers, but
If this engine were 10 run towards the West il
would tone gradually down in estimation as the
roads became more uneven.
We have personally known firms Of high
reputation refuse To make little alterations in
their engines which they have been requested
10 make 10y their own agents-for climatic
reasons, too. No; this part runs well at home
why not, then, with you-with you being per-
haps 20 degrees nearer the equator? All this
may seem trivial il is, however. very impor-
tant. We have repeatedly called attention TO
such facts as a matter of duty. We have heard
hard swears in warm climates at many a close
I'll in detail which should have been a free fit
aud we have seen men, who have occupied good
positions where they might have learned some
thing If they would, leave colony as pigheaded
as when they entered it; and trade keeps slip
| ping away from US, who are better fixed for
carrying il on than any other nation, and all
because of our willful blindness. The American
tarI1 Is a proof that We cannot be touched in
| fair competition, and we 20 on handcapping
ourselves by using copper for fre-boxes when
steel would suffice, brass for tubes which are
received from America in iron, aud so on We
do not uphold work when cheapened by bad
execution, but when cheapened by the known
Substitution OF cheap for a dearer-and, to
some minds, an infefiOr-material, we can see
no objection 10 it, so long as il is sol for what
! IL is. An American engine is said by one writer
10 be G4O0 cheaper in material, etc. than an
English engine, and though We cannot indorse
this writer's figures, as he has scarcely the ex-
| perience upon which 10 form reliable opinions,
the statement is substantially in the right di-
rection. Now, f400, or half this sum, is big
discount from the present cost of locomotive,
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