Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1897-10-07
GOLIATHS OF THE RAIL.
Largest and Most Powerful Locomotives
in the World nearly COmpleted-To be
Used in the South.

Largest and Most Powerful Locomotive
in the World nearly Completed-To b'
Used in the South.
The three biggest and strongest passen
ger locomotives in the whole world viii
be placed in service this fall by the South
ern Railway, the leading transportation
system of the South, which taps every
State south of Mason and Dixon's line
except Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana
Some idea of their strength may be gath.
cred from the fact that each is fully
twice as strong as the celebrated 1899, :
which belongs to the New York Central
Railway and hauls the Empire State Ex-
press, nearly three times as strong as the
engine which hauls the Flying Scotchman
from London to Edinburgh, and more
than three times as strong as the engine
which brings the mails from London to
Holyhead. To put the matter in another
way, one of these engines could haul as
much as ten ordinary elevated railway
engines, OF four of the average passenger
locomotives used in this country.
Coupled with their extraordinary
strength these engines have remarkable
capacity for high speed. One Of them
could pull at the rate of sixty miles an
hour on piece of level straight track no
less than 33 Pullman cars weighing forty
tons each. Such train would be more
than two-fifths Of mile long.
The six coupled driving wheels of these
engines are each feet in diameter, and
the working steam pressure is 200 pounds
to the square inch. The cylinders are of
the ordinary simple type, each q inches
in diameter, with piston stroke of %
inches. This gives tractive force, OF
draw bar pull, of 27 ,460 pounds, sufficient
to haul train load of 4,279 tons, equal
toiabout S5 OF the largest loaded freight
cars, at slow speed on level track. No
locomotives now running have so large
combined cylinder area and steam pres
sure as these new Goliaths.
You may make the moving parts OF a
locomotive as powerful as you please, but
unless there is a fire box and a boiler big
enough to match the running gear your
engine will soon be short of steam, with
a probable showdown between stations.
This catastrophe is not likely to happen
to one of these engines-as long as the
coal holds out-for the fire box is 10 feet
long and 81 feet wide, with total heat
lug surface of 1874 square feet, while the
boiler is 5 feet 2 inches in diameter, with
tubes which give heating surface of no
less than 2,298 square feet. Soft coal, of
which about eight tons will be put on the
tender at starting, will be the fuel.
An engine may also have great power
and yet be unable to utilize it, owing to
insufficient weight on the driving wheels.
The total weight of one of these locomo-
tives will be IS tons, of whicn So tons
will rest on the six driving wheels, the
remaining II tons being carried by the
4-wheel truck in front. Reckoning the
UltC VI Sllp vi UuC AoA1 dU OAC-AOuAUA UA oAO
weight on the drivers we get an adhesion
of 141 tons, or 10000 pounds, which is
l $40 pounds more than the tractive
force of the engine. thus leaving good
margin for wet weather and slippery
rails. The weight of 10 1-3 tons on each
pair Of drivers is also unparalleled in the
history of railroads. To carry this
weight with safety and without heating,
the journals of each axle are 81 inches in
diameter by II inches in length. Fancy
locomotive journals feet and II inches
in circumference!
The tenders attached to these engines
will be worthy of them. Each will carry
4 800 gallons of water. and when loaded
to its full capacity will weigh 42a tons.
This will bring the total weight of engine
and tender to 117a tons.
The object of having such powerful en-
gines is not so much to make speed on
the level as to maintain it on the grades.
The maximum grades, of which there are
several from 2 to miles long, vary from
70 to 50 feet to the mile (roughly speak
ing from II to II per cent? and the curves
on these from 8 to degrees.