The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-20
IMPROVEMENT IN ENGINES.
Comparison Of the old IrOnsIdes
with the New Tyne.

with the New Type.
PHILADELPHIA. Set 2o-The BALD
win locomotive Works recently c5mplet-
ed an order for several high-speed pas
senger locomotives for the Reading Rail-
way. Those engines are the most eff
cicut yet run on that road. They aye Of
the Atlantic type. in It's latest and high
est stage OF development The aim in
their construction was two-fold, sreat
speed and great power. They were de-
signed to haul heavy trains in the hur-
ricane flight TO Atlantic City. and some
OF them have been in service en- the sea-
shore flyers in the season now waning.
Others are running between this city and
New York, at a rate Of speed nearly
egualing that OF the fastest Atlantic city
trains.
Il is an interesting fact that the first
locomotive built in the Baldwin works.
that by the founder. NJ. ". Baldwin, was
run on a road now operated by the Read
ing, namely. the Philadelphia. German
town, and NorristUwn Railroad. That was
old Ironsides. which was bull, and first
run sixty-niue years ago. in the fan Of
lS3z- The fundamental idea Of the loco
motive had been first given form in 1900.
so that Old IrOnsides was the final pro-
duct IN that lire Of a generation
In its day Il was described as a marvel
Of mechanical genius. the utmost combin-
alton Of mechanical power and beauty
Compare II, as pi5tured here. with the last
achievement of q century Of locomotive
building, one Of the new engines Of the
Reading.
Figures for comparison between these
two engines would be meaningless. except
on few points. for the reason that while
one was simple and rudimentary the 9TH
or is highly complicated To show how
vast the difference II is enough TO say
that one weighed five tons, the other
weighs nearly eishty-one tons. Old Iron
sides is nearly fully described as wheels.
boiler and smokestact; the passenger loo
omotiye Of today would need pages for
adequate description And yet. it is in
terestiug to note. in view OF the present
superiority Of American locomotives. that
Old IrOnsides had points Of decided super
i0rity over locomotives Of English make
in those days Moreover. the essential
parts Of the locomotive were contained IN
this simple structure built BY Baldwin.
The IrOnsides had only 4 wheels The
rear OF driving wheels were - inches in
diameter, on a crank axle, placed in front
Of the hreboX- The crauks were 50 inches
from centre TO centre The cylinders
were so inches in diameter by IS inches
stroke, and were attached horizontally to
the outside OF the smoke box. The wheel
spokes were wooden. as was the frame
placed outside the wheels. The boiler was
30 inches in diameter. ard iuere were y
fues or tubes OF the new Reading loco
motives. the general dimensions are as
follows: GUagc. ( feet inches. cylinders.
Is by . by q inches: drivers. z feet one
quarter inch; driving wheel base. feet
3 inches; total weight ITSJ0 pounds:
weight on drivers. So $50 pounds. on trail
ers. 81. 100 pounds number Of tubes SO.
boiler diameter. $50 inches. length OF
nrebOX, IL inches, width. 10 inches. heat
Ing surface Of the fire box. Isl feet
inches; heating surface Of the tubes. 2SlS
teet inches. tank capacity 800 gallons
These figures scarcely give an idea OF the
vast difference between the two engines.
The former made GermantOwn-siE miles
within an hour. the latter is built 90 go
from Camden ID Atlantic CiJy-55 miles
within % minutes
Interesting are the accounts printed in
the papers Of the day Of the first trip OF
Old IrOusides One Of them says The
placing IRE in the furnace and raising
steam occupied twenty minutes. The en-
CINE with her tender moved from the
depC. IN beautiful style, working with
great ease and uniformity And in con
clusiOn. this remark. almost prophetic as
view in present Circumstance We re-
laaNr az Nltt suit N4 AlAE A-llt ils as 10
COUcluSiVely shows that Philadelphia. al
ways famous for the skin Of her mechan-
les, is enabled TO produce steam engines
for railroads combining so many superior
qualities as 60 warrant the belief that her
mechanics VIII hereafter supply nearly an
the public works Of this description IN the
country The Baldwin Locomotive
Works today turn out over half the loco
motives built ia America
Old lr0usldes had no cab. the addition
Of a cab was the work Of some construc-
tive genius about twenty years later
The engineer was first exposed. as was the
FIRE. SO that the runs were subject 10
the weather. Ii would appear from the
announcement made that a ride behind
IL was regarded as a form Of amusement.
as trolley riding was few years ago. for
the haudbills informed the public that
entire cars could be engaged
Another old locomotive. 10 which much
interest attaches is the Heck which
drew the first passenger train over the
Reading Railroad 20 Reading. This was
December 9. lS9- Pl8cards announced that
two trains were To be run on that day.
but only one got away No record OF the
event was made and lictIe information Is
to be got concerning IT, COMPTROLLER
Jones. OF the Reading. has the only draw
ing OF the Hecla IS existence