The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-02-10
BIGGEST
ENGINE IN
The WORLD
Most PuW,riul Iocono..V, EV,T
Built HIS Lafl SCHENECTADY
for The West.

Schenectady, ~. ". Feb. t0.-Tht
worlds biggest and most powerful loco
motive. built here. has left for the faI
west where IL will haul heavy freight
on the Santa Fe. IL represents the high
est achievement In locomotive design. the
most notable effort OF American builders
TO produce an engine OF enormous trac-
tive power adapted 10 the rugged road
beds OF the trans-continental lines.
As bold venture In masslveness. ''9Se's"
rigorous service tests In the mountains
Of the trans-Missouri viii attract the at
tention of the railway engineers of the
world. The builders of England and the
continent judged Americans insane when
they passed the hundred-ton mark. but
here is a monster weighing, without the
5c-ton tender. 100000 pounds-2l times as
much as the historic De witt Clinton.
From the end OF tho tender TO the point
Of the pilot this giant of the rail meas
ures 20 feet Two engines OF "as9's" type
II they could be suspended In the air.
one above the other, would reach a height
nearly as great as that of Niagara. The
top OF the stunted smokestack is i6 feet
above tho ties. and to such great height
does the dome reach that it's top had to
be taken of before the locomotive could
pass in safety under the overhead bridges
between Schenectady and Buffalo.
The massive boiler. nearly seven feet
In diameter. is perched so high in the air
that "a tall man can stand under It. But
while the dome top is 13 feet above the
driving-wheel axles. the centre OF gravity
IS very low--several inches below the top
line of the drivers. The engine gets its
great stability from its massive frames.
cylinder castings. driving wheels and
driving mechanism
On level track "9S9' could haul a train
n mile and half long carrying the har-
vest OF 10000 acres of wheat. Its tractive
power In exactly $500 pounds-that is, IL
could lift this amount OF dead weight.
It's great wheel base gives "9S9' this
worlds record hauling power Ten mas
sive driving wheels. nearly as tall as a
man. and so heavily counter balanced
that they appear almost solid grip 20
feet OF track. On these ten drivers
which give the name decapod TO this
type Of engine--a weight OF 232.0o0 pounds
Is carried. The pony truck carries but IL
tons, much OF the weight of the saddle
and cylinder castings being distributed
over the drivers by the equalizer beam
so distinctive of American design.
To make use of this unprecedented
driving weight OF lis tons, '9s9" must
produce steam as no other engine ever
has. Following the growing practice
among the railways OF the southwest the
Santa Fe will burn oil IN this. its best
engine. It's hre box. made OF carbon
steel tested 90 a tensile strength of 10000
pounds 10 the square inch. Is as big as
the bed chamber of New York fiat It's
two thick shells are held together by
nearly e0o0 tough staybolts. each one
capable OF lifting a yard engine without
breaking.
The CRATE area Is 80 square feet. ,inap-
preached in any locomotive ever built.
The bottom of the flre box reaches out
over the tops of the drivers. after the
fashion of recent American locomotives.
The most remarkable feature OF ''9Ss's"
construction Is the unprecedented heating
surface. The other day an eicht-coupled
mineral hauler was put IN service on one
OF the English railways. and all OF the
foreign technical journals smoke OF its
remarkable heating surface-2500 square
feet. the record i'm Enrlish construction.
The Santa Fe's great freighter measures
nearly double that OF the English record
breaker. OF exactly 1889 square feet. Be-
tween the tube sheets ''ps9's'' boiler meas
ures 1917 feet and in this big barrel are
massed 4f3 fues two and one-uuarter
tnches in diameter. Placed end 20 end
these hues would make "a pipe n mile
ard half long. IL is this great stretch
Of tubing. compacted I'm n space OF %
cubic yards. that gives this wonderful
heating surface.