Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-05
CHANGES IN LOCOMOTIVES
Contrasts in the Exhibits of 1893 ard
Those of 1904.

recent issue of the Engineering
News contains an interesting resume of
the railroad locomotive exhibit in the
Palace of Transportation at the st.
Louis exposition and a comparison with
the Chicago exhibit. The exhibit is
smaller than hiatt made at the Chicago
exposition eleven years ago. but COM
prises larger number of engines of
special design or special interest. The
St Louis exhibit comprises forty-tWo
engines, of which six are foreign made
and ten are of the compound type-that
is having more than one cylider. AT
the Chicago exposition there We're
siXty-tWo engines, of which ten We're of
foreign construction and twenty We're
compounds. One of the most striking
features of the present exhibit is the
great size of most of the engines. the
smaller classes of engines also being
relatively fewer.
The largest engine in the world is the
exhibited Mallet- duplex compound of
/ the Baltimore g. Ohio Road weighing
l51 tons. minus the tender, and all on
the driver. Next in size is the double
end ie~apod Santa Fee engine of l44
tons weight. III tons being on the
drivers. Half of the engines on exhibit
weigh over 90 tons, whit over so tons
resting on the driving wheels. At the
time Of the Chicago exposition the gen
eral opinion of experts was that the
heaviest locomotive there was too
heavy to be practical success. That
| locomotive was a deCapod of 81 tons
with Sc tons on the ten driving wheels
Since then, however there has been a
general tendency to increase weight
the record Of being the heaviest loco
| motive in the world having been held
and relinquished by engine after en-
| CINE. The arts of track construction
and bridge building have had to ad-
vance rapidly in order to accommodate
| the increase in locomotive weights.
| AT the st. Louis exposition experts are
SAYING. as they did in Chicago that the
weight limit has been reached. Despite
| th1s fact Will the next eleven years
| snow another such marvellous advance
ment in locomotive weights?
1T is noted that the use of the small
| trailing wheel to carry the load of the
| larger fireboxes has now become gen.
erhl, whereas in Chicago only two
/
| tehtion is called to the diminished use
of compounds. which were hailed as a
marked advancement. and to the use
on foreign locomotives of a SUPER
heater in the form of box surround
ing the tubes in the boiler barrel. It
is also pointed out that the main and
SIDE rods on foreign engines are much
smaller and lighter than on American
engines, presumably due to a reduc-
tion in vibration on account of greater
sta olllty of track and roadbed on
European roads.
considerable comment is made upon
the fact that the foreign engines show
Hher finish. closer attention to de-
t'liS ana more regard for general ap-
pearance than American engines. The
iorelsh engines are uniformly hand
some and attractive, and bear evil
dence OF skillful workmanship as well
as OF excellent design. The two large
GERMAN engines. for example, are
painted a dark green for the upper
parts and have red wheels and brown
frames; all are highly finished and
more or less relieved by brass work and
nning or stripping of different coors.
The American engines are uniformly
pidck' relieved only by the lettering,
ana IN few instances by a minimum
of gold stripping.
IN tehuer construction the most
notable feature is said to be the cvlin-
drlcal tank invented by Cornelius
vanderbilt. which effects a material
saving in the cost.
Beware Of Counterfeits.