The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-06-10
RAILROAD NEWS.
New King Of Locomotives is In
Topeka Today.
Santa Fe Baldwin DecapOd $50
Comes to Town.
THREE TONS HEAVIER.
Has the Former Giants of the
Rail Distanced.
So Tall That Whistle is Placed
Horizontally.
THREE Tons HEAVIER.

There arrived today in Topeka. for
the second time since January. the larg-
est engine in the world. And the en-
CINE which arrived today is not the one
which arrived in January. The old king
of engines has been dethroned. and the
reigning sovereign is now Santa F'e de-
capod No. o27.
Engine No. S87 is $500 pounds heavier
than 9Ss and 989, both of which were n
Topeka and were in their day. the big
gest engines in the world.
The new monarch Of all locomotives
will be in Topeka for the rest of the
week 1t came in dead" and WIZ be
set up by the shopnlen mere. After b.
ing put into running order, il will be
sent to the lines west of Albuquerque
where it will enter the freight service.
In general appearance the new engine
is similar to the old. Both are of the
decapod type. To the unframed obser-
Yer there is no difference in outward
appearances. The new engine. however,
is a coal burner. The others were con-
vertible, either oil or coal The old en-
gines were built by the American Loco
motive Vclks. The new one is turned
out by the Baldwin company.
The original order of the Santa F'e
called for 70 locomotives of this de-
capod class. but it is understood that
the order has been changed, allowing 80
of the engines to be Of the Prairie
freight cars
The new engine weighs Isl, 800 pounds
ers, which gives an axle load of A, $50
pounds. The tractive power of this en-
CINE is something over $1,000 pounds.
The Baldwin engine SURPRISES all COM
petition in the matter of heating sur
face, having a total of $3.50 square feet.
This is 709 square feet more than that
of the engine just referredsto. The CRATE
area is $50 square feet When one con-
siders the rate at which fuel is burned
in locomotives for the purpose of gen
Grating steam, the words of Prof Goss
in his book on Locomotive Sparks are
very suggestive. He says Nowhere
are fires urged with greater intensity
except in FORCES or in furnaces employ
ed for metallurgical purposes 1t may
be said that the CRATE of a modern loco
motive has an area equal to that of a
large sized dining room table To get,
perhaps. a better idea of what these
heating surface figures mean, it may
be stated that this compound decapod
has about One-eighth of an acre Of
heating surface. A tennis court when
laid out full size on a level lawn n cas-
ures So feet wide by Is feet long, and
enclOses 2,80S square feet. The heating
surface at this engine would make
something under two good tennis courts.
A detail which at once arrests the
attention Of the observer is a couple of
small cranes, permanently attached, one
on each side of the smoke box. This at
tachment is the first of the kind which
has been applied to any locomotive by
the Baldwin people. It is for the pur-
pose Of removing the high-pressure cyl
inder in order to facilitate the inspec-
ton Of the high pressure piston and the
rod packing between the cylinders To
take down the high pressure cylinder
the threaded eye-bOlt of the crane is
screwed into a tapped hole in the top
Of the valve chamber. The hole is SO
placed that the mass will balance when
swung out by the crane The bolts
which unite the cylinders and valve
chambers, having been sIackened, the
high-pressure cylinder comes away,
practically leaving its cover bOlted to
the lOw-p pressure cylinder. The joint be-
tween the valve chambers is made with
gland and stufhng box. The pistOn-rod
packing is an adaptation of that used in
marine practice, which permits Of a Ger
tain amount of side and vertical mo-
ton.
The hrebox of the old decapod is
larger than that Of the Baldwin de-
capOd by one inch in width. The for
mer is 8 feet long and 70 inches broad;
the latter is feet long and 70 inches
broad Both locomotives are planned to
carry 225 pounds of steam. The driving
wheels of both are 81 inches in diameter.
Each style carries 1000 gallons of wa
ter. The wheel base of the old engine is
% feet and II inches; of the new, 29 feet
and 10 INCHES.
One thing which illustrates the inn
mense size Of the new locomotive is the
fact that in order to come within clear
ance limits, the whistle is placed in a
horizontal position on top of the boiler
instead Of vertically. The engine is Is
feet s inches in height.