The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-02-28

tensions on ton of the locomotive
which look like the humps on a cam
els back? They look alike, but they
are used for very different purposes.
One is the steam dome. the other is
the sand box The latter is filled with
sand, which is used to sprinkle on
the tracks when they become too slip
perry Cor the wheels to take hold of
them. The sand allows the driving
wheels a good purchase on the rails.
and the strain of pulling a train is
reduced.
But this very sand which so helps
the locomotive would hinder the pro-
gress of the car wheels which should
have as smooth track as possible
So steam blower is placed just be-
hind the driving wheels in order that
the SAID may be blown to one side.
During locust or grasshopper plaques
1 in the west the insects lay so Tricky
on the tracks that the moisture from
their crushed bodies often stopped
trains. a blower was placed in front
of the locomotive by the cowcatcher
so as to clear the tracks of the in
Sects.
Now the steam dome is an equally
interesting contrivance You may
have noticed at times great Duffs of
white vapor coming from the smoke
stack of q. locomotive. That was a
sign that she was carrying too. rauch
water in her boilers. The steam which
lies down near the water in IL boiler is
very wet; in fact it is almost water in
consistency. The further UP you go
from the surface of the boiling water
the more vaporized does the steam be-
come, and consequently the better for
use as motive power.
"If, however, water rises too high. it
is apt to slop over and run down what
is known as the dry pipe into the cy-
finders. Then when the piston rods en-
counter the incompressible water in
stead of the very compressible steam,
the heads of the cylinders are apt to
be knocked out. This would disable a
train. A remarkable instance when
such condition once saved the lives
of some convicts happened years ago
near Sing Sing, New York.
Several convicts escaped from the
penitentiary and waited on a nearby
bridge until q train came along. AS 1t
passed under the bridge they dropped
down from above and at the point of
the revolver compelled the engineer
and fireman to leave the locomotive
and go into the cars. Then the con-
victs uncoupled the engine from the
train and the machine forged ahead.
News of the theft of the engine was
sent to headquarters and the superin-
tendent of the road Immediately tele-
graphed to a station master at a point
of the road past which the engine
must go, to open west switch and
throw first down train into the river
1T was an extraordinary order, to be
sure but a wild engine on a much used
line might wreak irreparable damage.
The station master opened the switch
which led to the river siding and
- 49,
ness appeared to be approaching a
dense cloud of steam Not a vestige
of the locomotive could be seen. The
steam entirely developed her. She
turned into the siding and rushed
down to the river, and the station mas
ter's amaZement at the turn of events
was completed when with a report and
jolt and much splitting of steam she
stopped almost on the brink. while sew
eral men in striped clothes rushed out
of the rising volume of vapor and
made for the woods.
1T seems that when the convictS or
dered the engineer out of the locomo-
tive cab he had surreDtitiously turned
or the 1azy-cock,' which causes water
TO flow into the boiler. The water kept
rising and rising as the engine went
forward. and by the time it reached
the siding il had slipped over the dome
into the dry pipe and leaked down
into the cylinders. Then at the critical
moment the cylinder heads had blown
off. Undoubtedly that engineer saved
not only his engine. but also the lives
of the convicts, for they all would
have gone into the Hudson river to-
gether.
Locomotives foam. not exactly at
the mouth. but inside. 1t is caused
by oil being dropped into the boiler by
accident. Boiling water and oil is soon
converted into suds which interfere
with the working Of the engine. l once
knew d repairer who dropped his lamp
into a locomotive boiler while it was
being overhauled. He recovered his
lamp, but meantime all of the oil in
it had run out. The way that engine
foamed was remarkable. 1t had to be
completely renovated Foaming is very
dangerous, for it deceives the engineer
into thinking there is more water in
his boiler than there really is and an
explosion is ant 20 result.
Very curious objects sometimes work
their way into locomotives. 1 saw a
chisel which lay in a locomotive for
months before it was discovered. 1t
had been dropped into the steam chest
by u careless workman and the cor
roding action of the steam and its con-
slant movement backward and forward
with the throbbing Of the engine finally
reduced il in size and shape until ii
looked like an old oyster knife. Why
it did not happen to jam in between
the parts of the engine is hard to ex
plain. The men become very practiced
in these sounds which one not in the
business would never notice. Strange
sounds are known as pounds The
humping noises may be anywhere on
the machine and are often hard to
locate.
did you know that locomotives
sometimes get tired? Well, they do,
just like human beings. 1 have known
days when my engine would not work
well at all. 1t would lag along and al
most refuse to work. / suppose 1t was
of that nature, but it acted tired
What is known as the fatigue of
metal also is apt to change the con-
duct of an engine in time.
"A locomotive naturally becomes
heated with its work and its fire. The
heat expands the metal but as the
engine rushes forward the wind ere
ated by its motion coolS off the front
end of the machine and contracts 1t.
Thus the front of the locomotive re-
mains normal while the rear end is al
ways expanded. After years of this
the expanded metal refuses to con-
tract when allowed to cool. 1t has
become, as we say, fatigued.
This is in a measure a change due
to the influence of the climate or state
of the atmosphere in which the engine
is travelling. But there are some CHI
mates which make railroading very
queer business indeed. While working
in Manitoba l remember we were not
allowed to blow the whistle when near
a signal light. If we did every light in
the neighborhood would go out prompt
". The mercury there drops many de-