IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE TRAM CARS AND TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVES
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Ernest Latham and Frederic Bradley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th December 1880.
ERNEST LATHAM, of Birkenhead, in the County of Chester, Engineer, and
FREDERIC BRADLEY, of Kidderminster, in the County of Worcester, Iron Founder.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE TRAM CARS AND TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVES."
This relates to steam generators, engines, and appliances for giving motion to
tram cars, whether such apparatus is located on or forms part of the tram car
on which passengers are carried, or whether it is separate from and is used in
hauling tram cars.
The object is to provide locomotive tram cars and tramway locomotives which
shall be especially adapted for the work to be done, and which shall exert the
desired tractive and retarding forces in an economical and efficient manner without
objectionable noise or other undesirable effects.
Under the first part of the said Invention steam cylinders are disposed
vertically at each side of a suitable generator. The said cylinders have pistons
and piston rods, which latter are coupled by means of connecting rods to dummy
cranks affixed to an axle free to revolve in bearings on the framework of the car
or locomotive; or the said cranks may revolve on fixed pins or studs. Such said
dummy cranks are connected by coupling bars or suitable connecting rods to the
carrying wheels of the said car or locomotive, so that motion given to the dummy
cranks is imparted to the said carrying wheels. The valve gear and other parts
of the engine are of any desired kind, and the generator is attached to or secured
on the frame of the locomotive or tram car in any suitable or desired manner.
Second. The starting and stopping and the reversing gear for locomotive tram
cars and tramway locomotives constructed under the above first part of our
Invention are operated by means of rods or their equivalents extending from
the said gear to each end of the car, and are fitted with counterpart actuating
wheels or handles, so that the driver finds the same motions necessary at each end
no matter which end is leading.
Third. A locomotive steam tram-car or tramway locomotive, having the parts
arranged in accordance with our Invention, is provided with a condenser con-
structed, arranged, and acting in the following novel manner :-The condenser,

page_text: which consists of a box or chamber, is fitted on the top or roof of the car, and bas
louvre boards or like appliances for directing a current of air between or around
and in contact with pipes or tubes disposed crosswise in the said condensing box
or chamber. The steam to be condensed passes into the condenser on the outside
of the said pipes or tubes. When desired the steam is caused to pass through and
the air around the said pipes or tubes. The said condenser is applicable to loco-
motive tram cars and tramway locomotives generally. The current of air through
the condenser may be obtained by the chimney draft.
Fourth. Condensers, constructed and arranged substantially as above set forth,
are fitted with plates or diaphragms between the rows of pipes or tubes. The said
plates or diaphragms cause the steam which passes through the condenser to travel
to and fro instead of entering at one side or end and flowing directly out at the
other.