The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-02-25
A GREAT LOCOMOTIVE.
THE RICHMOND COMPOUND BEATS
an RECORDS.
Its Work 10 Marvellous and Uses Forty
Per Cent. Less Coal Than Simple
Locomotives.

| lNtl mas the IOUOWlUb 10 say dbOub ohc
of our homemade locomotives.
Engine No. Az. of the Big -Four rail-
road. built by the Richmond Locomotive
and Machine Works. IL making record
that is creating sensation among rail-
road men. In charge OF T. IL. Syming-
ton. representative Of the Richmond
Locomotive Works. this engine is going
through three-days' service test OH the
day and when the results are made up
1t Is believed the performant will be SUI
perior TO that of any other engine in
points OF excellence.
superintendent OF motive power and
master mechanics from several OF the
roads running into Chicago have been
interested spectators OF the tests. As
the passenger capacity OF an engine cab
Is limited these railroad men have seen
| the tests In relays. Thursday John
Player, superintendent OF motive power
of the Atchison. Topeka and Santa Re.
Topeka, Kan; William Smith. superin-
tendent Of motive power Of the Chicago
and Northwestern railroad at Chicago:
q. +. Wilson, superintendent OF motive
power OF the Chicago, Rock Island and
Pacific at Chicago. and Mr.. Roesng, me-
chanical engineer of the Illinois Central.
rode on No. Az from Chicago to Kan
kakee to see what IL could do Yesterday
T. II. Peck, master mechanic Of the
Chicago and Western Indiana; +. Ii.
Symngton, and a reporter r the Tri-
bune made the trip from Fordham 10
Kankakee in the cab.
Made "a Remarkable Ran
Taking train No. 50 the party left Ford
ham at 1920. just twenty minutes late.
The train was made up of hfty-nve emp
ties, which Is five cars more than a full
train for a simple engine of the same
size as No. Az. or distance OF thirty
four miles from Chicago there is an as
cending grade. For four miles of thls
distance, on the "Homewood Hni." the
grade is forty-eight feet TO the mile
There was strong wind. estimated at
forty-hve miles an hour, blowing OBJ
liquely against the train. Fine snow
sifted over the rails in places. making
the going little slippery and constitute
ing what Is known TO railroad men as
bad rail" In spite Of the wind. the
bad rail-" and the five extra cars
No. 427 rolled into Kankakee AT 49, two
minutes ahead of time, having made up
the twenty minutes lost in getting out |
Of Chicago and two minutes more Two
stops were made; once for a railroad |
crossing and the other to take water |
The engine blew off frequently while |
going up the heaviest grade on the divi- |
sion, cutting off at three-quarters stroke |
while the injector was working. show
ing remarkable steaming qualities If il
mad not been fired 50 wastefully the
run could have been made with a large
saving in fuel. AS it was. the fireman
was laying Of" as he termed It: I'm
other words, he was not working nearly
so nard as he was accustomed 10 when
handling full train with a simple en-
CINE. To-day a large party of railroad
officials viii see the engine haul "A maxi
mum train from Kankakee 10 Chicago
over the heaviest grades ON the division.
Description of the Locomotive.
Engine No. AZ Is a tcn-wheel, two
cylinder, compound. with cylinders 70
and 5OX2l The weight Of the engine alone
is siXty-eight tons. The six drivers are
nfty-siX inches in diameter. a steam
pressure Of $50 pounds is carried The
driving wheel base is eleven feet ten
inches; the truck wheel base is seventy
nine inches; the total wheel base is TWEEN
ty-three feet and one-half inch. The
length over oil with the tender IS fifty
eight feet two inches The weight on
the drivers is lOI,lO pounds; the weight
OF the tender running with coal and water
/
Bepaire type and is nfty-eight inches
In diameter with a shell nine-sixteenths
Of an inch thick. The fire box is w inches
long by fOrty-one and seven-eighths in
ches wide. The CRATE area is thirty-one
square feet. The Ere box has Il heating /
surface of l72 square feet; the fue heat
ing surface is 1,750 square feet IL
has 2n two-inch fucs. The engine
journals measure eight by nine and one
half inches. The diameter of the truck
wheels is twenty-eight inches. The truck
journals are i've and three-quarters by
ten inches and the valve travel is five
and one-half inches.
The valve was designed by &. j. Nellin,
The designer Of the engines and machn-
aiy of the United States battleship Texas.
The compound feature IS extremely
simple, consisting Of two pieces only.
In starting the low pressure cylinder
lakes steam direct from the boiler. thus
making it a simple engine until 10 has
made two revolutions, when it changes
TO compound engine. The
my other extra piece Is an emergency
appliance by which the engineer. by OPEN ]
itl three way-cOck, can change 10 a
simple engine Y hen needed in going up
. heavy grade. Engine No. az has an ,
draft arrangement TO which
o per cent. Of the sev':g I'm fuel il at
'AR'ti1s 4Hf N1AA &. VI illt COIL u uNflNU | .
r. kept .ecret. q
Great Saving I'm Fuel.
The enPine has been luilt three months. s.
4 this time two months December and
uuary have been passed la freight SER b
Ice on the Cincinnati division Of the
'iS -Four road. Its performance sheet =
or December showed Il saving Of 40 u
er cent. in fuel over sixteen simple en-
Ines Of the same class IN the same SER o
Ice. This so astonished even the max oi
rs that permission was secured by them s,
} take the engine anu make a. series OF III
'rvice tests TO more thoroughly satisfy NJ
icnseives as to It's good points. :,
February Sd engine No. AZ made the q,
an from MatoOn TO Paris H. thiriv- q
sht miles, with twcnty-six loaded ears {
maximum train for engines of tho n
anne class, I'm one hour and five min d
es, sidetracking twice at meetint, -
oints and stopping twice FOR crossings. nj
y compound engine Of the same tvpe in
as been IN continuous service for four T
ZEN months on the Philadelphia Divi-
on OF the Chesapeake and Ohio rail.
'ad and has made a record of saving
per cent. I'm fuel over twentv-two
mpie engines OF the same class II
lS not cost any more for repairs than CO