The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1897-04-30
.CREAY locomotives
The Enterprising Northern Pacific
Railway Has Them at Work
OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Four Now III Use as Helpers to Carr,
Trains Over the Main Range.
Twelve Ordered.

A great deal of interest has been ex-
hibited by railroad men and others |
lately over the four immense locomo- |
tives that are being used as helpers
across the Rocky moutains between
Philipsburg and Helena. From what
The Mail can learn they are undoubt
eldy the largest and most powerful in
the world and naturally cause ID great
deal of comments and curiosity. This
set of great mountain locomotives have
recently been built for the Northern
Pacific railway b. the well known
Scheoctady Locomotive Works, accord
ing to the Scicn if American. In re-
spect of boilc. and cylinder power they
are undo 1bte .ly the most powerful To-
comotives ever constructed in this or
any other country 1t is true there is
a freight engine on the New York,
Lake Erie and Western railroad which
weighs 1872, 900 pound; and has 40, 600
pounds on the drivers, but it has only
?, 443 square feet of heating surface,
against nearly 5000 square feet in the
Northern Pacific compounds
-Four enisnes of this tpye arc already
at work and Twelve have been ordered.
They are to be used as "helpers' in
hauling trains across the summit of the
Rocky mountains between Helena and
Missoula, Montana. The grade is ex-
cessive, 1l6 feet to the mile, and II
miles III length, aud, as the overland
freight and passenger trains on the
Northern Pacific road are very heavy,
there Is every economy to be realized
in the use of extremely powerful ell
gines
AS we look at this giant end on, it
really appears as though the limit of
possible dimensions had been reached
at least with the present gage of track.
The boiler is II inche; in diameter and
the low pressure cylinder is "a inches
in diameter, the latter dimension be-
ing not far short of the boiler diameter
Of some locomotives Of forty years ago.
The conpounding is carried out on the
Schenectady two-cylinder system. and
it is arranged with the intercepting
valve which is in common use on all
the later compounds turned out from
| bulS NOEkS.
The boiler is of the EXTENDED wagon
top type. There are 332 tabes, pa
inches in diameter and IA feet long,
their total heating surface being 2,721
square feet. The firebox is 10 feet
long, AZ inches wide and n inches
deep at the front and 1879 inches at
the back. 1t is built of carbon steel,
with . inch tube sheet, % inch crown
| r - L.
plate for the first ring of the boiler is
11-16 inch thick and measures III
inches by 224 inches. The heating sur
face in the fireboX is 2G. 5 square feet,
and the CRATE surface is 30 square feet,
the rocking CRATE being used
The high-pressure cylinder is 23 inches
in diameter and the low pressure, as
stated, "a inches, the latter being by
locomotive. The stroke is thirty
inches. The high pressure cylinder is
| pushed to % inches, so that it may be
possible to investigate the question of
the best relative proportions for high
and low pressure pistons. Both pis-
tons have their rods carried through
the Cylinder heads. The steam ports
of the high pressure Cylinder measure
2Ox2l8 inches. and of the low pressure
cylinder, 23x2l8 inches The exhaust
ports are respectively 2Ox3 inches and
23x3 inches. Allen Richardson slide
valves are used the greatest travel is
61a inches, and the outside lap IA
inches. The boiler pressure is 2OC
pounds to the square inch.
There are eight coupled driving
wheels. 55 inches diameter, and the
main driving wheel journals are 8 by
10 inches, and the intermediate front
and back driving journals are S1a by l(
inches. The main crank pin journals
for side rod are inches diameter by
5I inches long, and for main rod 81
inches diameter by 6 inches long.
The total weight Of the engine in
working order is 1856, 900 pounds, anG
the weight on the drivers $50, 0O(
pounds. The fuel used is bituminous
coal. The tender weighs 36, 300 pounds
empty. 1t has capacity of 1000 gal
Ions of water and ~ tons of coal. The
total length of the engine and tender
over all is G2 feet.
1t can readily be believed that these
giant machines have enormous hauling
power. They are credited with
drawbar pull of from $4,000 to 0.O0t
pounds. We are informed that Duild
ers' trial of their hauling power wa
made on the New York Central ant
Hudson River railroad, at Schenectady
where one of these engines hauled 81
loaded cars up grade 60 feet to thu
mile for distance Of three miles
The united efforts of a switch engin
| and a mogul freight engine had prev
iously failed to pull the same load.
, FISHING TACKLE.
5 The lovers of the piscatorial art will