The Washington times., 1903-03-22
SOME OF THE LATEST WONDERS IN THE SCIENCE OF MECAN

T He Great Eastern Railway Of Eng
L land has an enormous suburban
traffic. and for the purpose Of relieving
the congestion at certain periods OF the
day II became necessary TO design
new form OF locomotive 10 handle il TO
the greatest advantage. The problem
was TO handle gross loads Of go long
tons, carrying 1900 passengers each and
making Is stops and starts in 10 miles.
a series of observations. extending over
10000 stops, showN that the average
time required was p seconds per stop
and the conclusion was reached that
the successful working OF these trains
required that a speed OF 80 miles an
hour must be reached in not more than
30 seconds from starting, II the traffic
was 10 be handled satisfactorily.
A Specially Designed Locomotive.
The locomotive designed for this work
presents some marked points Of differ
snce from the type Of engine used on
American railroads in the heavy su-
burban traffic. The entire weight of
engine. fuel and water is carried on five
coupled pairs Of driving wheels. there
being no leading or trailing wheels.
Again. the engine has three simple
cylinders. allhorizontal, one located be
tween the frames and one on each side
The inside cylinder takes hold upon the
cranked axle Of the second pair Of dri-
vers and tho outside cylinders connect
With the third pair from the front by
the customary outside cranks. These cyl
inders are 1S1sx2i inches single
steam chest serves for the middle and
right hand cylinders. and the valves are
of the usual ID type. The wheels arc
4 feet s inches in diameter on the tread
The drivers on the third axle arc blind
and the rear ones have about a half
inch play in either direction.
Ball and Socket CoupIers.
The coupling rods have a ball-and-
socket joint to make the engine flexible
in curvinE. The crnnks are set at I2O
degrees. and tho connecting rod to the
middle cylinder is forkcd 10 clear the
forward axle. which Is also crankcd CT
bent sufficiently TO follow around with
the fork. and prevent interference. AIl
the reciprocatinE weights arc balaac ID
in this engine. instead OF two-thirds Of
the weight. as is the general rule. IN
both England and America. The counter
weights are made Of melted lead. run
between thin plates bolted TO TIE
wheels. so that any error in the calcu-
lated counter balance can be corrected.
Large Boiler Area.
The boiler contains 3.O1O square FEET
OF heating surface. and the CRATE era
is forty-two square feet The frebo<
extends out over the frame on each
side. The inside diameter of the boiler
is 6iA inches at the smallest ring. and
II contains 395 1%-inch tubes Is feet II
inches long. an unusually large boiler
for English practice. The total weight
is between sixty and seventy tons "a
working order. The boiler is carried
high. its center line being nine feet
above the rail. and this. combined win
the small clearance allowed in English
railway lines. compels the reduction of
the stack TO simply rudimentory indica-
tion, practically only an upper petit
4 coat pipe, as the distance from the rail
10 the top of the chimney is q feet IL
inches. The working steam pressure is
zoe pounds. and there are six relief