The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-07-14
GIANT LOCOMOTIVES
FOR THE WESTERN
Description of Big Machines
Now Arriving.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
HEAVIEST OF TIE CCNSoLIDA-
TION TYPE.

The heavy consolidated locomotives
five of which were put into service on
the Rio Grande Western within the
past two weeks, is receiving a good
deal of attention among railroad ne
chauicaI men and railIay journals Of
the east. The current issue Of the
Railway Age contains the following in
teresting discussion Of che subject:
The Richmond Locomotive Works
have recently delivered a number Of
heavy consolidation engines to the Rio
Grande Western railway that are some
what remarkable for their size, and as
such serve TO give a direct and fla con-
tradictiOn 10 the predictions that were
made by a high authority a few years
ago regarding the limitations that
would be put upon the cylinder dame
ters Of two cylinder compound tOcomO-
tives. It was most emphatically as
serted before the convention Of master
mechanics that railroad men would not
consent to run cylinders of a diameter
OF thirty-siX inches, which would be
required 10 meet the demands made
upon the modern locomotive. But some
how the dimension. has been reached
with no working difficulties, either as
to road, CleaTdnCes, COunueTbalRnCing
or stresses on frames.
The engines under consideration be
hong to the heaviest type of .COnsOIida-
ton locomotives that have been built,
though they are exceeded IN actual
weight in a few other instances, and
yet they are 50 well proportional that
they do not appear to the eye to be eX-
ceedingly large. The compound fea-
ture is, Of course the interesting one
especially on account Of the large
diameter Of the lOW-preSSUIe cylinder
Which is Thirty-siK inches. This has
necessiuated placing the valve seat on
an incline, Another matter Of some
interest is the large size Of the main
reservoir for the air brakes This is
necessitated not only 10y the heavy ser
vice that these engines will have to
perform, but also by Une fact that the
percentage Of air-bral1ed cars has In
creased 50 greatly within the past few
years Ghat this larger storage capacity
for air IS demanded. The valves have
the dOuble-ported feature Of the Rich
mOnd compound, that has proven so
advan tageOus to the working Of the en-
gdne. As for size, the engine crowds
closely on the largest that have been
built-a weight Of more than ninety
two tons: cylinders of twenty-three a nd
one-half to thirty-six inches diameter
with a stroke Of thirty inches. and a
boiler shell Of more than six feet in
diameter, certainly put the engine
among the big ones of the country. The
following IS a list OF the principal di-
mansions of the machine. Weight on
drivers, 167, $50 pounds: weight in work
ing order, 1874 400 pounds; cylinders.
diameter. high pressure, twenty-three
and uhree-QuaTter t1Ches: low pressure
tnirty-siX inches; piston stroke. thirty
inches; boiler, extended wagOn-toD
type, seventy-fOur inches in outside
diameter made for working pressure
of 200 pounds; steel frebOx, 122 inches
long. Al lis inches wide 771k inches
deep at the front and Il inches in back:
heating surface, tubes, 1857 square
feet; hreboX. POS square feet: total, 2.S73
square feet CRATE area, 34T- square
feet; water capacity, 5000 gallons coal
capacity. ten tons"