Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-10-05

- 80 49,,
to the thirteenth annual convention
Wf the Travelling Engineers associa-
ton held al Detroit recently, c. \.
Craft, road foreman OF engines on the
Chez sapeake and Ohio, gave some of
the results of experiments with the
stoker by the Cleveland, Cincinnati.
Chicago and st. Louis and the Chesa-
psake and Ohio railways. Passenger
engines on one division OF the Big
Four between Cincinnati and Chi
caco, were equipped with the stoker
End have been In operation since the
f'rs' az the year. These stokers are
attached to locomotives with wide
fire boxes as well as to those with
long fire boxes. and the result Is,
SAYS Mr.. Kraft, that the stOker does
i,e work efficiently and economically,
rnl that the fireman having once be-
ctrc acquainted with the stOker and
recognizing it's la%bOr-saving features,
becomes its enthusiastic supporter. IN
IL statements as to the work perform
"a by The stoker, Mr.. Kraft says that
tse coal is distributed uniformly over
t. widest tyne of r e-bOxes, with an
kfntirc absence of any blow holes.
na7i The evcnness OF temperature Sec
I1SuYea has bad a very marked effect
Cn ;fe cost Of repairs TO the locomo-
t'yes TIE etoker itself does not
GENE in contact with the fire, and as
II IS strong and simply made the cost
O. ma:ntainancc is very slight. The
continuous feeding of coal has a very
narked effect upon the AMOUNT con
sumei. Run-of-mine coal Is used, but
II has been found that a good grade OF
slack will secure even better results,
ewing 10 the principle Of feeding coal
in small quantities widely distributed.
Absence of dense volumes OF black
smoke Is also very noticeable. An
engine coming into a terminal win
clean fires, such as are possible Win
This machine, Is not called UPON 10
20 to the cinder pit and dump its
fires. but is backed into the round.
house. where she holds steam for
hours until size Is ready to go on her
return run. In the fastest n neaV-
lest runs made, it is found that the
steam gauge shows a variation OF not
exceeding five pounds under ordinary
CCn0lIlCuS. IIdCttNd
the capacity Of the stoker have proven
that it will feed. under normal con
ditions. a total of ] 5000 pounds OF run
of.mine coal per hour. With an un-
limited ~coal-feeding capacity. there
fore, and with such mechanism as
will allow the fireman to regulate the
stoker TO existing conditions. the du-
ties Of the fireman are very mucn
lessened and he has far more time
to give attention to the running OF
the engine. Il brings the fireman to
the end of his days work In a fresh
condition. ready for extra duty should
~ call be made upon him. BY renew
ing the firemen Of the ba~ck-breaklns'
blistering work, the railroads art en-
abled to secure men of more tina or
binary intelligence to do the work OF
fircmen. and thus lie provided with a
high grade Of men from whom to
promote &c engineers.
As TO the service in which the the
stol1er will prove most ~valuabie, Nf'
Kraft states es his opinion that on
ira ordinary American type of engine
there Is no necessity wnateyer Tor the
stoker,sas the fireman has to be KEPT
on the engine Of course aud the WORK
is not such that an ordinary mn
cannot execute it with ease. But with
the long fire box type Of engine on q
long run over a division comparative
IL free from grades, where the en-
.ine is loaded to It's maximum capa-
CITY all the time, Is where the stoker
will be found the most yalraDe,s as a
r,schine will not tire and consequently,
will enable the engine TO carry the
maximum pressure all the time and
get the full, benefit Of the tractive
power of the engine over a long con-
tinuous trip. This cannot be done
with the hand-firing method on the
t, pc of engine mentioned above where
the runs exceed seventy-five miles IN
length. We have used the stOker on
cur large engines, and used run-of-
mine coal over q hundred-mile divi-
sion. and the engine steamed as well
over the last ten miles as It did the
first. and went into the terminal with
ahout eight inches of fire OF the crate
and out again without the engine
over the ash-pit. All that was
= necessary IOT tulS eHSHic ~ - e"'
= of the first thirty miles out Of the sec
Ond terminal was to shake the CRATES
two or three times and the fire was
almost as clean as when out OF the
first terminal. This engine really
made two hundred miles without nav
ing her fire cleaned and steamed per.
fectly.
There Is only one thing necessary
to make the mechanical stoker a sue
cess. says Mr.. Kraft, and that Is for
the railway companies that adopt 1t
to REQUIRE each and every engineman
a,.I fireman to familiarizt themselves
with the construction Of the machine
and pass an examination the same as
.on the air pump: then the mechanical
stoker will point IN the right direc.
ton. tc economy and a labor sasi.,;
tevi,e for tn fireman. and the age
of flues and fire-box sheets will be
heightened by the use of the stoker.
LIGHT Cars Go Behind.
Orders have be n issued on the
p~ittsburg. Fort Wayne and Chicago