The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-26
BIG NEW ENGINES
CENTRAL PUTS ON FIVE OF THE
 LARGEST KIND.
They Weigh Nearly 100 Tons Each and Will Be on the Run Be-
 tween Columbus and Bir-
 mingham for Coal and Iron

The Central has recently added five engines to it's freight equipment. They are by far the largest locomotives in the Southeast, and probably the largest in the South. One of them can pull 50 per cent more loaded cars than the best of the engines heretofore used by the conn pany, and the Central has always used locomotives of average size and capacity. The five new engines will haul as many loaded cars as eight locomotives of the average type.
 The new engines were built at the Cooke Works of the American Locomo- tive Company. They are known as the illustrated, and they are all just alike, weighs in working order 1s6.0oO pounds, almost 100 tons. lightweight tons of this weight rests on the four drivers. The driving wheels are 55 inches in dia- meter, with nine by twelve journals. The tender, when loaded, weighs fifty tons more. It carries 5000 gallons of water and twelve tons of coal-enough to last many 8 family all winter. The total wheel base of the engine and tender, that is, the length from center of front wheel The cylinders are 21 inches diameter and 8 inches stroke.
 The boiler is a straight top, sustaining a working pressure of 200 pounds The diameter of first course is 7S inches; the thickness of this shell of steel Is 1916 inches. The fire-box is 123 inches long, 3s 1-2 inches wide, and T inches high. The boiler contains 379 tubes 2 inches in diameter and IA 5-S feet long. From the rail to the center of the boiler is feet 10 inches. and from the rail to the top of the stack the height is IS feet inches.
 These engines are fitted with all the latest Improvements. Their hauling capacity on a straight level track Is 5, ,305 tons excluding engine and tender. They are classed as 150 ton engines.
 These new locomotives are so tall that the smokestacks had to be taken down to get them under some of the bridges when they were being brought South. They have been placed in service on the Fourth Division, between Columbus. Ga, and Birmingham, Ala, where the coal and iron traffic is heavy. Each loco- motive can haul thirty-five loaded freight cars over the heaviest grades on that line.
 The purchase of these powerful locomo- tives shows that the Central is keeping in the lead of the procession. The great increase in the volume of business com pels the railroads to constantly enlarge the capacity of their locomotives and cars. and this calls for heavier rails and stronger bridges. The Centrars lines are in fine physical conditions for the opera tion of the heaviest equipment.
 Heavier locomotives and rolling stock is now getting to be not onfy a feature. but absolutely asential on all of the Southern roads. The magnificent new engines that the Louisville and Nash vile has lately put in on the Mobile and Montgomery division, the new engines on the Western between here and Atlanta and the big engines recently put in on the Alabama Midland division of the Plant System go to show this. A full descrip- tion of these engines has recently been published in The Advertiser and now comes the Central with theirs.
 The smoke nuisance has been a bete noir that President Wickersham of the Western has been grappling with for the past few months with the assistance of Master Mechanic Frank Walsh.
 Orders of all firemen on the Western both passenger and freight-are that only one shovel of coal is to be pitched into the firebox at a time. The old custom has been for firemen to shovel coal into the tirebox just as rapidly as possible that is six or eight shovel fulls and then a rest until the fire needs replenishing. MT. Wickersham's idea is to make things more uniform-one shovelfull with a wait of several moments and then another shovel full and so on. Of course this can't be adhered to on heavy grades, but there is a noticeable decrease in the trailing clouds of thick, black smoke fol- lowing like a pail the track of the cars This morning Master Mechanic Walsh will make test of what is known as the Bates System-he will use 1t on engine No. +, which was yesterday turned out of the local Western shops. This en- zine will take out train 3S. the fast vesti- bule that leaves for Atlanta at 6:2O this morning, MT. Walsh going out on the engine with Engineer Hammen. The in- vention is fire door gotten out by the Railway Fuel Econemy Company of New York. The claims made from it are that the black smoke is abated, a thin fire is maintained. the steaming efficiency in- creased and the labor of firing made easier and less laborious. If the inven- tion proves to be a success Mir. Walsh will put one in all the engines.