Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-09-10
THE BIG LOCOMOTIVES.

AS heretofore SIaGeu Gno Soubuorn
Railway Company has just had com
pleted at the Baldwin locomotive works
| in Philadelphia the three largest loco
motives in the world. These monsters
which will be run upon the main line
between Washington and Atlanta, and
which will soon be put into service
have, after careful test, developed q
speed of more than sixty miles an hour
while drawing train equal to thirty.
three loaded Pullman cars of forty-two
tons each.
Some idea of the strength of these en-.
gines may be formed when it is stated
that each is fully twice as strong as the
celebrated $685." which is owned by
the New York Central Railroad Com.
pany, and which hauls the Empire
State Express daily between New York
and Buffalo, maintaining steady run
of mile minute.
They are nearly three times as strong
as the locomotive which hauls the
"Flyipg Scotchman" between London
and Edinburgh, and more than three
times as strong as the engine which
draws the train from London to Holy
head. To put the matter more plainly,
each of these engines can pull load
equal to that drawn by four ordinary
passenger locomotives.
The following description of these
locomotives will be of interest:
"The six coupled driving wheels of
these engines are esch six feet in
diameter. and the working steam pres.
sure is 200 pounds to the square inch.
The cylinders are of the ordinary SIM
pie type, each 81 inches in diameter,
with piston stroke of % inches. This
gives tractive force or draw-bar pull
Of 81 ,460 pounds, sufficient to haul
trainload of 4 ,279 tons, equal to about
eighty.five 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 giants.
"The fire box is 10 feet long and 81
feet wide, with total heating surface
of 1874 square feet. The boiler is 5 feet
2 inches in diameter, with tubes which
give heating surface of no less than
1928 square feet. Soft coal, of which
about S tons will be put in the tender
at starting, will be the fuel.
1.-THE total weight of each of these
locomotives will be rs tons, Of which So
will rest on six driving wheels, the re-
naming seventeen tons being carried
by the four-wheel truck in front. Reck-
oning the bite or grip OH the rail at one
fourth the weight on the drivers we get
an adhesion of 144 tons, or $4,000
pounds, which is 1910 pounds more
than the tractive force of the engine,
thus leaving 8 good margin for wet
weather and slippery rails. The weight
of 1911 tons on each pair of drivers is
also unparalleled in the history of rail-
roads. To carry this weight with safety
and without heating, the journals of
each axle are 81 inches in diameter by
IL inches in length. Fancy locomotive
journals feet and Il inches in circum-
ference +!
1.-THE tenders attached to these en-.
gines will be worthy of them. Each
will carry 1850 gallons of water and,
loaded to its full capacity, will
weigh 42A tons. Thie will bring the to.
tai weight of engine and tender to III!
tons.
"The object Of having such powerful
engines is not 80 much to make speed
on the level as to maintain it OIL the
grades. The maximum grades, of
which there are several from 2 to 1
miles long, vary from 10 to go feet to
the mile roughly speaking from II to
II per cent?, and the curves on these
are from to degrees"