The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-07-24
AN ENGINE TREADM|LL
The Modern Method OF Testing a
Locomotive.
RACING At A STANDSTlLL.

Steel Monster Are Driven to Their
Limit to Test Every Detail.
IN the old days when an engine was
built 10 was the custom to test her 10y
sending her out ou the road. Rudrnrd
kpling once wrote u story describing
how great locomotive was tried out.
This was true at that time II was
usual then to take the engine, hitch II
lot OF heavy freight rars 10 her and
send her ont over the line on levels
md iung,nts. ON curves and grades.
until She shovel exactly what was In
hcr FOR those purposes, says linrpcr's
Weekly
but nowadays the railroad men want
10 know more, and they want to know
II before they Iutru~t scheduled pas
scngcr or freight train 10 her mercics.
50 they put the engine ON trcadmill
The first thing they do with her then
is to allow her wheels To revolve to
capacity. for In that the maximum
speed is figured Then she is coupled
10 an arrangement with dial attach
mcnt Tor tn" purpose ~ testing her
pulling power by backward pull
the engineer makes her t.Hw the
equivalent ~ everything from bag
gage ear 10 q mile long freight train.
Now she Is to all intcnts and pur-
poses racing over che meadows, the
track clear aud the way straight: now
she is striking the grade Oh the other
side of u large town aud painting like
human being In distress. Stronger
and stronger grows that backward pull
until No. uOOu finds herself slowing up.
After time she Is required 10 start or
| try to start again. with every known
condition against her, every brake. bar,
lock and lever set wrong. This IL to
learn her starting power a most i'm
portant thing In ralroadng
All the time the engine was pulling
and hauling. racing aud checking. her
steam gauges and water gauges had
been telling little stories Of their own.
and these stories were listened to with
interest. They were telling about the
pressure of the steam In the boiler.
with the amount of water and coal
used. They were saying whether the
amount Of fuel was producing the max
| lmum of steam or whether there was
II mistake somewhere They were tell.
ing as plainly as the words will whcth.
er the boiler was large enough for the
crate or the CRATE too large for the
! boiler
by this severe test by the experts
Of the new locomotive on the tread
mill these skilled men can learn eX
nctly what every part of the machine
Is doing. Hud woe to the part that
! falls In lis share. II means another
trip 10 the construction department
aud the supplying of new parts.
Speed ana pun and pressure and ef.
fectiycuess Of parts do not end the
tests of No. 600 Another important
aud interesting thing is determined
while she IS on the trcadmlll and that
is her best load. II Is strange. but
true, that engines for some reason ARE
never exactly alike. They may be Of
the same type. parts made from the
same pattern may go Into them, and the
same workmcu may construct them
on the same plan. hut Just the same
they differ old engineers will tell
you ~ that. and therefore there must
bc n test FOR each machine.
once the test was tb hitch ON cars
tu an engine until she laid down ana
cried" ms they snli that Is. tin she
could not pull auu,hcr ear over the line
marked out Nowadays they never do
that. but 10y scientific arrangement
] - ftsfl.
! the golden mean between too much
weight and too little the exact point
where the machine can do ITS best
work In the shortest time under the
most adverse conditions.
The principle ls the same ms In the
case Of hodcarricr who overloads
himself for n climb up ladder and Is
therefore wcaricd 10y single trip.
while the man who londs light makes
many trips, with minimum of effect.
and therefore accomp,ishes more The
modern railroad superintendent wants
! Ia get the most bricks over his division
! every day
The proposition ot putting n locomo-
| tive on trcadmlll and running Il NJ
full speed Just Ia find out what II can
| do is a little startling The demands
made upon locomotives today have ma
tcrlnlly changed the conditions Of for
| mcr years. Longer ears, heavier trains.
| higher speed and longer runs are all
factors which must ho dealt with
Nothing short ~ the most accurate
knowledge ohtainahlc regarding every
element ~ design ana It's effect on the
operation of the machine rs whole
meets the needs ~ the man who builds
locomotive
There are certain qualities Of 10.
connective which can only hc deter.
mined by actual trial I'm service for
instance. the starting power. other
qualities cannot be- well determined
when the machine Is ln service. hc
cause when. running nt high speed
conditions cannot he kept uniform fM
a long running upripd uf time II tho