Locomotive Compounding & Super Heating Gairns 1907
Locomotive Compounding & Super Heating Gairns 1907
Locomotive Compounding & Super Heating Gairns 1907
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
Class
LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND
SUPERHEATING.
GHAS. GRIFFIN & CO., LTD., PUBLISHERS.
SECOND EDITION, Revised, with numerous Plates reduced from Working Drawings,
and 280 Illustrations in the text. $6.00.
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERING.
A Use of Engine Builders, Designers, and
Practical Text- Book for the
Draughtsmen, Railway Engineers and Students.
By WM. FRANK PETTIGREW, M.Inst.C.E. With a section on American and Continental
Engines, by ALBERT F. RAVENSHEAR, B.Sc.
" The standard work
upon this important subject." Railway Magazine.
OIL FUEL:
ITS SUPPLY, COMPOSITION, AND APPLICATION.
By SIDNEY H. NORTH, late Editor Petroleum Review.
"
Everyone interested in this important question will welcome Mr North's excellent
text-book." Nature.
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LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING
AND SUPERHEATING.
H practical
BY
J. F. GAIRNS.
W
LONDON:
CHARLES GRIFFIN & COMPANY, LIMITED,
PHILADELPHIA : J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
1907.
(c)
The chief engineers of the French State, Eastern and
Southern Railways, and of the Hungarian and Swedish State
Railways, etc.
(d) The Proceedings of the Institutions
of Mechanical and Civil
Engineers, the American Master Mechanics' Association, the French
Institution of Civil Engineers, The Engineer, Engineering, La Revue
Generate des Chemins de Fer, Railroad Gazette, Locomotive Magazine^
X PREFACE.
and Cassier's Magazine. In the latter case, some extracts are included
from the writer's own articles in that magazine.
In a few instances where the illustrations are reproduced directly
from the publications named, acknowledgment is specially made.
As a however, the illustrations are merely adapted where
rule,
private drawings were not available. The photographs reproduced
are all from official sources.
Acknowledgment must also be made of the loan of several blocks
J. F. GAIRNS.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
System ............
The Dean System The Player System The Rogers Automatic
67
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XV.
INDEX 187
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
1. Two-cylinder System Inside Cylinders, 17
2. ,, ,, Outside ,, 17
3. Three-cylinder System (1 H.P. and 2 UP.), 17
4. 18
5. Webb Three-cylinder System, . 18
6. Three-cylinder System (2 H.P. and 1 L.P.), 19
7. Four-cylinder Balanced System, 19
19
9 to 12. Four-cylinder Divided and Balanced System, . . .
20, 21
13. Tandem Cylinders,
14.
15.
,j
Tandem
,,
.
21
21
21
16. Superposed Cylinders Vauclain System, . . ... 22
17.
18. Johnstone Annular System,
19. Articulated
. . ... 22
22
22
Compound System, . . . . . . .
,,
View of,
Cross-section,
.
.
. ...
.
.....
. .
.
.
.
34
35
,, ,,
64
65
,, ,,
66
54. Dultz Starting and Intercepting Valve,
55. Worsdell System General Arrangement employed, first ... 68
56. ,, Starting and Intercepting Valve (early Form), 68
57. Von Borries System Starting and Intercepting Valve (early Form), . 69
58. j> > t> >
70
59. ,, ,, Further Construction of Valve, 71
60. Worsdell-von Borries -Lapage System recent Design of Starting and
Intercepting Valve, 71
61. Hungarian State Railways General Arrangement of Starting Mechanism, 72
62. 73
63. Intercepting Valve, . 74
64. Starting Valve, 74
65. , , Mechanism, 76
66. Driver's Starting Valve, 77
67. Intercepting Valve, . 77
77
Schenectady System Early Form of Starting and Intercepting Valves, 78
70.
71.
Vauclain (Baldwin Works) Automatic System,
Dean Starting and Intercepting Valves,
72. Player System (Brooks Locomotive Works)
......
Starting and Intercepting
78
79
Valves, 80
73. Rogers Locomotive Works (Automatic) System, 81
74. ,, Detail View, 82
75.
76.
77.
Lindner System
,,
,,
,,
,,
Regulator and Starting Valve (original Design),
Slide Valve and Steam Ports,
Starting Mechanism (Improved Form),
..... .
84
85
86
78. ,,
-
,, (modified), Diagrammatic Arrangement, . 87
79. Maft'ei System Starting Mechanism 88
80. ,, Detail of Mechanism,
,,
89
Slide Valve and Auxiliary Steam 89
81. Golsdorf System
82.
83.
J> ) >l
General Arrangement,
5
Ports,
...
.
90
90
,,
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XV11
FIG.
84.
85.
Smith Three-cylinder System
,, ,, ,,
Starting Valve,
Pressure- regulating Valve,
.... . .
PAGE
98
99
86. ,, ,, ,, General Arrangement, . . . 100
87. Du Bousquet (Woolf) Tandem System, 102
88. ,, Starting Mechanism, . . 103
89. Player Tandem System (Brooks Locomotive Works) Section of
Cylinders and Slide Valves, 104
90. Player Tandem System (Brooks Locomotive Works) Starting
Mechanism, 105
91. Vauclain Tandem Compound System Section of Cylinders, . . 106
92. American Locomotive Company's System Section of Tandem
Cylinders, . . . . 107
93. American Locomotive Company's System Starting Valve, . . 108
Sondermann System Section of Cylinders, 110
94.
95. Mallet Tandem System Section of Cylinders,
. .
. ... . . .
. 110
96. Hungarian State Railways Section of Tandem Cylinders, . . Ill
97. Du Bousquet (New) Tandem System Starting Mechanism, . . 112
98.
99.
Vauclain Compound Compressed-air Mine Locomotive,
,,
.
.
. .
. 115
116
117
102. ,, ,, ,, Cylinders and Fittings, . . 117
103. Vauclain Four-cylinder Compound System Steam Distribution, . 118
104. ,, Compound System- Starting Valve, . . . . 119
105. 106. Starting Cock for Vauclain Compound System, . . . 120
107. Modified Starting Valve for Vauclain Compound System, . . 120
108. Johnstone Annular System Section of Cylinders, 121
109. Webb
Four-cylinder System Slide Valves,
110. Golsdorf Four-cylinder System Cross- section,
......
....
. . .. .
123
125
111. Italian Four-cylinder Compound System Cylinders and Valve
Chests, 126
112. Von Borries Four-cylinder System Valve Chests and Starting
Valves, 128
113. Maffei Four-cylinder Compound Locomotive Cross -section, . . 129
114. De Glehn Four-cylinder Compound Express Locomotive Cross-
section; . 132
115. De Glehn Four-cylinder Compound Express Locomotive Sectional
Plan, . . , . 133
116. De Glehn Compound System Diagram of, . . . . 135
.136
117.
118.
119.
,,
,,
Intercepting Valve
System
Detail View,
Eastern Railway of France,
. .
...
....
.
137
138
120. Intercepting Valve and Operating Mechanism (Borsig),
.
,,
141
142
123.
124. Cole System Divided and Balanced Compound System, ... .
144
125.
126. Belgian
Locomotive,
State
Railways
,......
Belgian State Railways Diagrammatic Plan of Balanced Compound
Back Pressure. In a compound engine, as the steam from the exhaust side
of the high-pressure piston passes to the steam side of the low-pressure piston it
exerts pressure for a time in two directions, for while it tends to force the low-
pressure piston forwards, it also tends to force the high-pressure piston backwards
against the pressure of steam on the steam side. This backward pressure is
generally referred to as "back pressure"; and while the two cylinders are in
communication, the actual work being done in the high-pressure cylinder is only
the difference between that done on one side of the piston by the boiler steam and
that on the other side by the low-pressure steam.
The term is also used generally to indicate any pressure which acts oppositely
' ' "
to the steam pressure, due to the choking of the exhaust steam in consequence
of the ports or passages through which it escapes being restricted, or from other
causes.
By- Pass Valve. A valve which, when opened, allows communication through
a pipe or passage between the two ends of a cylinder.
Compound Engine. An engine wherein the steam is used in one cylinder for one
stage of expansion, and is then passed to a second cylinder for a second stage of
expansion. Strictly, there are only two stages of expansion in a compound engine,
though the term is sometimes used loosely to describe any engine wherein ex-
pansion is carried out in stages. Properly speaking, however, three-stage ex-
pansion engines should be described as "triple-expansion engines," four stage
engines as "quadruple-expansion engines," and so on.
Compounding. This term is employed to describe the general principle of
expansion by stages, whether in two, three, four, or more stages.
Continuous Expansion. In many cases steam cannot be passed directly from
one cylinder to the other in a compound engine, owing to the fact that the pistons
of the respective cylinders do not reach the ends of their strokes at the same
time but in other cases they do so, and the steam can therefore pass from one
;
INTRODUCTORY.
CONTENTS : The Compound Use of Steam The Objects of Compounding Two-
stage Expansion versus One-stage Expansion Division of Work between
two Cylinders Cylinder Condensation and Re-evaporation Cylinder Heat-
ing and Cooling Uniformity of Thrust and Pull transmitted through. Piston
Rod The Use of Superheated Steam in Engines The Objects of Superheating.
furnace gases (usually the waste gases from the boiler furnace, so
that heat is utilised that would otherwise be wasted), whereby its
temperature is raised above that proportionate to the pressure at
which it is generated (its volume also becomes increased to some
extent) ; and the moisture " suspended in the boiler steam (generally
" saturated
referred to as steam) becomes evaporated, so that the
effects of cylinder condensation are minimised, and there is a reserve
of heat available for reheating the cooled cylinder walls as steam is
admitted to the cylinder, and for re-evaporating water of condensation
if any is present in the cylinder. By its use, therefore, steam can
be very efficiently utilised either for single-stage expansion or in
compound working, though, rather curiously, in locomotive engineer-
ing, the trials which have been conducted in various parts of the
world, notably Germany and Canada, have shown that there is
comparatively little advantage by combining compounding and
superheating, thus indicating that in large measure they constitute
equivalent methods of using the steam.
The fact that the volume of the steam is also increased is also the
cause of economy, as a greater quantity of steam at the required
pressure is therefore available at the cylinders than is actually
generated by the boiler, the necessary additional work units
represented thereby being obtained by the utilisation of heat from
the furnace gases before they finally pass away, and after they have
passed through the boiler fire tubes.
CHAPTER II.
Steam Engines :
be operated in an economical
manner.
many instances has shown little apparent advantage for very varied
duty.
So far, compounding been considered merely
for locomotives has
as a principle, but applied in many different ways, and it is
it is
pressure cylinder also ; and when the engine works for a considerable
time the division of work between the two cylinders may be very
unequal, so that the engine works not only uneconomically but
unsatisfactorily, whereas a non-compound engine may work at its
best under these conditions as regards power, although it is, of course,
temporarily extravagant.
Therefore, if a two-cylinder compound engine for express passenger
service can be always employed on fast work, or a goods engine
be always used with heavy trains for long distances, both work-
ing over fairly level lines with long hauls, it may be taken as a
foregone conclusion that it will prove satisfactory and economical as
compared with a non-compound engine ; but when the duty is varied,
one trip express, the next with frequent stops ; one day with heavy
long-distance trains, the next with a light short-distance train one
;
crank engines, thus dividing the work up more equally, and giving a
more regular turning-moment, while balancing is assisted. These
matters are dealt with more fully in the next chapter.
Another advantage is that the work can be distributed over separate
axles when three or four cylinders are employed, and parts can be
made lighter and the strains due to the momentum of moving bodies
reduced, while the division of work sometimes enables wheel arrange-
ments to be used which are not possible satisfactorily when all the
work is transmitted through one axle which is coupled with all other
driving wheels.
Direct and Indirect Economy due to Compounding. But a princi-
pal advantage attending the use of three or four cylinders consists in
the fact that while direct economy may be obtained by the compound
use of steam under favourable circumstances, indirect economy may
be obtained at other times, owing to the fact that it is possible to
arrange for greatly augmented power by working non-compound
temporarily, whereby the engine is enabled to deal with trains which
would otherwise require an assisting engine, possibly only necessary
for a small section of a total journey, though such assisting engine
may, for traffic reasons, have to go the whole or a large portion of a
trip ; or to do work for which another engine would be severely
handicapped. The provision of such facilities may also render very
fast bookings with heavy trains practicable, owing to the fact that
the engine is able to exert abnormal power at times, as for obtaining
rapid acceleration, so that temporary extravagant working is really
synonymous with valuable indirect economy.
It will be gathered from the foregoing that the writer is more in
favour of compounding with three or four cylinders operating three
or four cranks than with two-cylinder or two-crank systems, and
this seems to be borne out by recent practice and the performances
of recent locomotives in all parts of the world but it has to be
;
is drawn through the boiler tubes and ejected before it has been
properly burnt. This occurs particularly when the engine is
working hard, and just at the time when the strain upon the boiler
is most severe, owing to the necessity for a large supply of rapidly
generated steam ; and at other times the intense blast may tend to
"drag the fire to pieces," as it is termed.
With a compound engine, however, the blast is usually a soft
one, owing to the large volume and low pressure of the escaping
steam, and in some engines there are only two exhausts per revolution
instead of four as usual. Consequently the fuel is not so often, if
at all, ejected from the chimney or drawn through the tubes half
consumed, although no difficulty should be experienced in main-
taining steam when the fireman has learnt how to fire under
these circumstances, and thus economy results quite apart from
the compound use of steam.
CHAPTER III.
cylinder capacity.
(C) Crank angles, number of cranks, division of power over two
axles, balancing, etc.
(D) Slide valves, number of sets of valve gear, relative adjusta-
bility of high- and low-pressure valve gears, character of
steam distribution, etc.
cylinder engines have been built in large numbers for many years,
it probable that the two-
is
was applied so that coupling rods could be dispensed with, the two
H.P. cylinders driving one pair of wheels and the single L.P.
cylinder driving another axle ; but in the case of a numerous series
of eight-coupled mineral engines the three
cylinders actuated one axle
(fig. 6), and the wheels were necessarily coupled.
The Riekie system, also indicated by fig. 6, has been
experimentally
fitted to converted
engines in India, but has not been applied other-
""<""
wise. It is, however,
possible that it will be applied in British
A CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUND SYSTEMS. 19
balancing by counterweights on
the driving wheels is largely
reduced. Several sj'stems of
this class are in extensive use.
As a rule, the high-pressure
FIG. 7. Arrangement of Cyli
linders cylinders are placed outside the
Four-cylinder Balanced Sys
ystems. frames (fig. 7), but in some
cases the low-pressure cylinders
occupy that position (fig. 8). According to most systems, the pistons
of adjacent high- and low-pressure cylinders always move oppositely,
so that steam can pass directly from one to the other, the cranks of
the two cylinders on one side of the centre line being arranged 180
apart, while the cranks of the othertwo cylinders are at right angles
to the first-mentioned cranks,
but at angles of 180 to each
other. In fig. 7 the cranks at
each side are at angles of 90,
and in fig. 8 they are arranged
as mentioned.
V. Four - cylinder Divided
and Balanced Systems. Sys-
tems of this class provide for FIG. 8. Arrangement of Cylinders
two pairs of coupled driving Four-cylinder Balanced Systems.
wheels, one pair being operated
by the high pressure cylinders and the other pair by the low-
pressure cylinders. As the wheels are coupled, these systems pro-
vide for balancing, but the work is divided over two axles hence ;
In fig. 9 the outside high-pressure c}T linders are set back on the
frames and drive the rear pair of wheels. Occasionally the positions
of the respective cylinders are reversed. In fig. 10 the four cylinders
are placed in line, the outside cylinders having long connecting rods.
placed at an angle so that their rods can pass over the front coupled
axle to drive cranks on the second coupled axle.
Most of the compound systems which are being applied for recent
engines on a large scale, such as the de Glehn, von Borries, Gdlsdorf,
and Vauclain, together with other recent systems, such as the Webb,
Cole, Ivatt, etc. systems, belong to one or other of these two four-
cylinder classes, as will be seen hereafter.
VI. Four-cylinder Two-crank Tandem Systems. Experimentally,
the use of four cylinders arranged tandem fashion dates back right
to the early days of compounding for locomotives, for it has the
A CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUND SYSTEMS. 21
advantage that only two sets of motion are employed, and ordinary
locomotives can be fairly easily adapted by using the original
cylinders for low-pressure, and fitting smaller high-pressure cylinders
in front, the pistons of each pair
being upon the same rod. About
1886 and 1887 there were several experiments carried out in Great
Britain with such engines, and for some dozen years or so they have
been built occasionally in the United States, a few of the engines
being recent and notable machines. Their principal employment
system is
employed, according to which the rear coupled wheels are
operated by the high-pressure cylinders and the front coupled wheels
are mounted in a pivoted frame and operated by the low-pressure
cylinders (fig. 19). The Meyer-Lindner system sometimes includes
this cylinder arrangement, but, as a rule, the
cylinders are located
between the two sets of coupled wheels, one pair driving towards the
front of the engine and the other pair towards the rear. In some
A CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUND SYSTEMS. 23
even 1 3. :
1 2'25.
: For example, the Smith compound engines on the Midland
Railway have a 19-in. H.P. cylinder and two 21-in. L.P. cylinders.
For engines such as the Webb three-cylinder locomotives, the
diameters have been 15 in. or 16 in. and 30 in., giving the ratio of
1 :
2, or slightly less.
24 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
cylinders and large or extended H.P. exhaust ports serve the same
purpose.
The study
of the influence of the receiver in compound locomotives
is,however, a complicated one, and for extended consideration the
reader must be referred to Professor Wood's book already mentioned.
In most cases the receiver is fitted with a safety valve, which blows
off in the event of the steam pressure therein rising unduly. A
usual lifting pressure for such valves is about 80 Ibs. per square inch,
this being a very common admission pressure for use in the low-
pressure cylinder or cylinders.
C. Arrangement of Cranks, Division of Power, and Balancing.
For two-cylinder and two-crank compound engines the cranks are
always arranged at angles of 90, this corresponding with ordinary
non-compound practice ; but when there are more than two cranks,
various crank dispositions are used.
The usual arrangement for three-cylinder compound engines is to
place the two L.P. cranks (for Webb three-cylinder engines it is the
two H.P. cranks) at right angles, and the other crank bisects the
obtuse angle between them, being at 135 with respect to each of
the other cranks. Mr Riekie, in his system, however, advocates the
arrangement of the three cranks at angles of 120.
For four-cylinder four-crank systems the most common arrange-
ment is to dispose the cylinders in pairs, there being a high- and a
low-pressure cylinder on either side of the longitudinal centre-line
of the engine, the cranks of which are 180 apart, so that the re-
(b) Having two valve gears, each governing the steam distribution
of two cylinders.
All three-cylinder compound engines have separate valve gears,
and, as a rule, they are each complete, though in a few cases some
of the Webb three-cylinder compound engines for example one of
the valve gears is of a simple type, and is dependent for its operation
on the working of other valve gears.
Four-cylinder compound locomotives are about equally divided
between the two classes.
When four cranks are employed, as in balanced, divided and
balanced, and articulated engines, it appears to be preferable to fit
each cylinder with its complete valve gear, although such practice
introduces complication and adds to first cost, as by so doing the
A CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUND SYSTEMS. 27
proved very satisfactory, but after extended trial the engines were
converted back to their original condition. It is believed that an
engine was also adapted according to this system on the then
London and Brighton Railway.
The Sutcliffe and Salmon Proposals. In 1853 a Mr J. Sutcliffe
patented a curious three-cylinder compound system, according to
which two outside high-pressure cylinders operated the driving
axle directly, and a single inside low-pressure cylinder actuated
an axle which was geared by 2 to 1 gearing with the driving axle.
The low-pressure cylinder was supplied from both the high-pressure
cylinders, the low-pressure piston working at double the speed of the
30 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPEBHEATING.
in the one case to the front of the engine, and in the other case to
the rear of the engine.
Other modifications suggest (1) the use of four cylinders placed in
line, the low-pressure cylinders being between the frames and all
connecting rods driving on to one axle ; (2) the fitting of the cylinders
in pairs outside the frames, the connecting rods at either side driving
on to the same crank pins ; (3) the use of one high-pressure cylinder
and two low-pressure cylinders, all acting on the same axle and (4)
;
pressure cylinder for acting upon the annular piston therein for the
return stroke.
Joy's Four-cylinder Suggestion. In 1866 provisional protection
was granted to the late Mr David Joy for a scheme according to
which the high-pressure cylinders were to actuate a pair of small
wheels and the low-pressure cylinders to drive a pair of larger wheels,
the different speeds of the two sets of driving wheels compensating
for the difference in working pressure of the steam in each case.
Morandiere's suggested Three-cylinder Engine. At the period
when the designof suitable locomotives for working traffic on the
juncture, for the Mallet system is one of the two main systems from
which all the two-cylinder systems since introduced may be considered
to be derived.
The Mallet system is the original of the now extensive list of
systems according to which the driver is given complete control over
the use of boiler steam in the low-pressure cylinder, the Worsdell-
von Borries system (introduced 1880-1885) being correspondingly the
original of systems by which, after starting, an engine is automatically
converted to compound working.
Monsieur Mallet believed that the driver should be able to work
3
34 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
FIG. 26. One of the first three Compound Locomotives Mallet System.
u ui
not only attracted attention from engineers all over the world, but
provided material for one of the most heated controversies which
have ever appeared in the pages of an engineering journal, for letters
from amateur and practical engineers appeared week after week for
several months in the pages of Engineering, the writers endeavouring
to prove and disprove that Mr Webb was altogether wrong, both as
regards his system and as regards the design of the engine. It must
be remembered that in those early days there were very few engineers
who would admit that locomotive compounding could be satisfactory
at all, and the opposition to Monsieur Mallet and to Mr Webb was in
some quarters of an extreme character.
However, Mr Webb disposed of his opponents, who said in effect
that ' '
he did not know his business," by building more and more of his
three-cylindercompound engines, and showing their capabilities in
working the express traffic of the London and North- Western
Railway ; and although the building of these engines has for some
FIG. 31. First Webb Three-cylinder Compound Engine for London and
North- Western Railway (1881). Reproduced from Engineering.
compound locomotive.
CHAPTER V.
THE systems of this class are the most numerous of those concerned
with the use of two-cylinders only for compound locomotives, and
it is therefore fitting that these should be dealt with first, more
pressure cylinder.
Generally, when the inlet G is only connected with steam when
working non-compound, the ordinary regulator valve is provided with
a special port, so that when fully opened, as at starting or when
working hard, steam passes to G and the engine works non-compound,
whereas on partially closing the regulator the steam is cut off from
G and compound working commences. It therefore follows that
with such an arrangement an engine only works non-compound with
the steam regulator fully open or nearly so, whereas when the valve
I is employed non-compound working results entirely at the will of
the driver.
Batchellor System. This system has been largely employed in
past years for engines built by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works,
U.S.A., though, since the amalgamation of this firm into the Ameri-
can Locomotive Company, it has only been used, if at all, when
specially ordered.
46 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
serves for the main steam supply to the intercepting valve ; the pipe
k constitutes the receiver; the port m connects the steam pipe i
with the interior of the valve; the port n connects the interior of
the valve with the pipe h wherein the reducing valve is situated ;
and the port o connects with the low-pressure steam chest. The
starting valve e connects, when open, the receiver pipe k with the
blast pipe p, and thence with atmosphere for working non-compound.
In operation at starting, the valve e being closed and the regulator
being opened^ steam passes, in addition to its direct passage to the
high-pressure cylinder, along the pipe i and into the intercepting
valve through the port m, where it acts on the piston b. which is
slightly larger than a, moving the whole to the right, and opening a
for steam from m through the port n to the reducing valve h,
TWO-CYLINDER NON-AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS. 47
and thence to the low-pressure steam chest, the steam being pro-
portionally reduced in pressure before use in the low-pressure
cylinder. As soon, however, as the pressure in the receiver becomes
sufficient for compound working, the greater pressure on the receiver
face of the piston c causes the valves to be moved to the positions
shown, cutting off the live steam supply to the low-pressure cylinder,
and opening the port 0, connecting receiver and low-pressure steam
chest.
Thus far it will be seen that the intercepting valve operates auto-
matically, and were no starting valve employed the system would be
an automatic one, not allowing of extended non-compound working.
By opening the starting valve e, which is of the "hit-and-miss"
type, the high-pressure exhaust allowed to pass to the blast pipe,
is
but it has also been fitted for some Continental locomotives, and this
system stands almost alone among American compound systems in
having been employed for engines outside of America, and not of
American design and build.
[n general operation the Mellin system is very similar to the
Batchellor system already described, though it also corresponds to
a great extent with some of Monsieur Mallet's valves. A general
construction as used in America is shown in fig. 37.
The space / connects with the high-pressure exhaust and constitutes
part of the receiver, and its communication with the passage h to the
low-pressure cylinder is controlled by the main intercepting valve g,
which valve is automatically closed at starting by boiler steam
from o acting on the small annular area at the right-hand end of
the piston I mounted as a sleeve upon the valve spindle. Live steam
at a reduced pressure then passes from o through the annular passage
opened when the piston I moves to the left with the valve g. As
soon as the pressure in the receiver becomes sufficient, the valve g
opens, cutting off the live steam supply from o, and the engine
works compound.
Thus far the valve is automatic in its operation, but to allow of
48 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
composite piston type, but nothing further was done with this
system.
Messrs Worsdell, von Borries, and Lapage's latest form of
Starting and Intercepting Valve. The valve shown in fig. 39
represents the latest form of starting and intercepting valve intro-
duced by these gentlemen since 1900. As can be seen, it is very
similar in general character to many others of the valves which
have been described, but it is somewhat notable for embodying
almost the acme of simplicity in connection with such valves,
especially as it combines the purposes of a starting, intercepting,
and reducing valve.
The hollow piston valve 1 works within a casing having ports and
openings connecting as follows :
are arranged
fig.40, a high-pressure and a low-pressure cylinder
tandem fashion between the frames, and the two piston rods (which
are quadrupled outside the cylinders) drive in opposite directions, the
cranked axles,
connecting rods operating backwards on to separate
the two of driving wheels being coupled by outside rods. For
pairs
52 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
rocked through the levers shown from a rod extending into the cab,
where it can be operated by the driver ; one of these valves (A)
controls connection from the high-pressure exhaust to the blast pipe,
and the other (B) controls the connection of the low-pressure cylinder
with the receiver pipe. Alongside the valve B is a valve C, operated
simultaneously with the rocking lever, and therefore correspondingly
with the valves A B, whereby, when B is closed to receiver, boiler
steam can pass from the pipe D to the low-pressure cylinder. In
connection with this system it has been recently proposed to adapt
the valve C so that, under the control of the reversing gear, it will
act as a variable pressure-reducing valve, whereby the pressure of
boiler steam supplied to the low-pressure cylinder is so regulated as
to equalise the work done in the two cylinders according to the cut-
off ratio employed for the high-pressure valve gear.
stearn can pass from c round the outside of the valve to the pipe m
leading to the further side of the valve k. At the same time the
space e isplaced in communication with atmosphere through the
interior of the valve a and the pipe n, and as the pressure upon the
valve / is removed, the intercepting valve h moves to the left, and
with it the valve /, closing the port g and opening communication
between the exhaust of the high-pressure cylinder and atmosphere,
while the pressure of the steam through m
moves the valve k to close
the passage to the blast pipe or atmosphere.
The valve / acts as a reducing valve, whereby the pressure of steam
Mallet, but in other cases they are of the automatic type, wherein
non-compound working results only at the moment of starting. The
automatic valves are considered in Chapter VI.
According to the arrangement shown in fig. 43, the parts being
represented in the positions they occupy during compound working,
and the non-compound positions being indicated by dot-and-dash
lines, at starting or at times when great power is required the
driver moves the lever a so that the piston valve b uncovers a port
whereby boiler steam passes from the pipe c to the pipe d leading to
pressure the steam acts on the large end of the reducing valve,
rises,
causing it move backward and close the passage H, through
to
which steam enters the receiver, and thus prevent an excess pressure
of steam in the low-pressure cylinder. Poppet valves F and G are
placed in connection with the port E, one to prevent the escape of
steam from the receiver to the pipe D when the locomotive is
working single expansion, and the other to close the passage from
pipe D to the receiver when working compound.
Normally the lever of the operating valve in the cab is in the
TWO-CYLINDER NON-AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS. 61
^d ^
capacity and for slight reheating of the steam c is the blast pipe ;
;
FIG. 56. Starting and Intercepting Valves Worsdell System (early Form).
TWO-CYLINDER AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS. 69
Fio. 57. Early Form of Starting and Intercepting Valves Von Borries
System (early Form).
short duration, and non-compound working can only result when the
pressure in the receiver is less than that resulting from the use of
boiler steam (at a reduced pressure owing to wiredrawing) in the low-
pressure cylinder.
Herr von Homes' Practice. Fig. 57 shows a contemporary style
of starting and intercepting valves introduced by Herr von Borries ;
the strong family likeness between the two valves will be apparent
on inspection. The valve A, placed in the passage between the
receiver pipe and the low-pressure cylinder, is closed before starting
by means qf a rod extending to the driver's cab, thus closing com-
munication between the two cylinders. At the same time the
valve C has moved from off its seating, so that boiler steam entering
at B from a small pipe connected thereat passes through the annular
space formed by the reduced portion of the valve spindle, and can
pass to the low-pressure cylinder. As soon, however, as the pressure
in the receiver due to a few exhausts from the H.P. cylinder rises
70 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
FIG. 58. Early Form of Starting and Intercepting Valve Von Borries System.
supplied, and operates to ensure that the valve d is either fully open
or fully closed. When the valve d is closed steam acts on one side
of the piston / so that it tends to press the valve against its seating,
but when the valve d is opened the piston moves past the steam
admission pipe so that the pressure comes upon its other face.
A further construction of the von Borries valve is shown in fig. 59.
A small piston / is fitted which works in a cylinder g, and the top
side of the piston is connected by the small passage shown with the
receiver space ; a live steam pipe h leads to a small cylinder i, wherein
the end of the valve spindle k forms a piston. The object of this
arrangement is to ensure the starting of the engine when the high-
pressure crank is on a dead centre. The live steam then lifts the
intercepting valve d, and as the spindle If rises high enough to
uncover the small passages II steam can pass to the low-pressure
cylinder. When the receiver pressure becomes sufficient the valve
d tends to open, and this is assisted by the pressure of receiver steam
on the piston/, which has a greater area than the end of the valve
TWO-CYLINDER AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS. 71
spindle A
1
which is subjected to boiler steam pressure, so that the
,
At starting, the driver moves the lever a (fig. G4) through a long
rod extending into the cab so that it occupies the position shown
in dot-and-dash lines. This movement causes the two valves b c to
TWO-CYLINDER AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS. 75
a live steam supply, whereby steam enters the space g, and thence
passes through the passage e as already mentioned.
At the right-hand end of the piston b the receiver pressure is able
to press upon the piston so that as soon as there is pressure in the
receiver from the high-pressure exhaust the valves a b are forced to
the left, thus opening communication between the receiver and the
low-pressure cylinder, while the valve a at the same time closes
TWO-CYLINDER AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS. 77
\
FIG. 66. Driver's Starting Valve- FIG. 67. Valve-
Intercepting
Hungarian State Railways. Hungarian State Railways.
When the intercepting valve closes the receiver passage, the boiler
steam from the starting valve reaches the receiver beyond the
intercepting valve by means of the annular space round the piston
valve.
The Dean System. This somewhat complicated system has been
employed for a number of American two-cylinder compound loco-
motives. The main features are shown in fig. 7 1 .
e .'
pipe b can enter the hollow of the piston e directly, and escape there^
from through the port h to the receiver. As soon as the high-
pressure cylinder supplies exhaust steam to i the valve c is forced
open, and the piston e and the plunger d are consequently moved
l
back, cutting off the supply of steam from the pipe b the con-
;
Usually this system has been applied so that the starting valve
cannot act except when the reversing gear is placed in full forward
and backward gear, and this result is obtained by means of the
device shown in fig. 74.
6
82 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
The cam plate m is connected by the rod n with the reversing gear,
so that when full, or nearly full, gear is employed, the non-concentric
portions of the cam groove m act to move the reach rod o a short
distance to the right, the rod o being unaffected in intermediate
positions of thecam plate m. The link p holds the roller fitted to
the end of the rod o, and which engages in the cam groove m' in
its working position.
The rod o extends to the smokebox, where it is connected to the
dome so that steam can be cut off entirely from this valve, to ensure
that boiler steam cannot pass to the low-pressure cylinder in the
event of the reversing gear being placed in full gear before steam is
admitted by the regulator to the high-pressure cylinder, and to
enable the live steam supply to the low-pressure cylinder to be cut
off by partially closing the regulator, even although full gear is
employed.
The Lindner System. Fig. 75 shows the arrangement first
employed by Herr Lindner ;
and although various improvements have
been incorporated in recent years, the system has not been changed
in important particulars.
In the steam pipe casing of the regulator an auxiliary steam pipe
a is fitted, and this is connected with a four-way plug cock b, which
is connected with the reach rod of the reversing gear, so that it is
83
84 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
only in the extreme positions that a through way is provided for the
steam. After passing this valve the steam enters the receiver pipe
c, so that it can operate in the low-pressure cylinder.
The high-pressure slide valve (fig. 76) is formed with small
auxiliary ports so that both ends
of the cylinder are placed in com-
munication with the receiver, and
the high-pressure piston is there-
fore balanced so that when the
low-pressure piston is
being oper-
ated, as at starting,with boiler
steam, the back pressure on the
H.P. piston is minimised. As soon
as the engine is "linked up," the
slide valve travel becomes such
that the auxiliary ports do not
operate.
Usually the regulator valve is
so arranged that, when partially
closed, steam is cut off from the
pipe a.
Modifications of the Lindner
System. According to another
arrangement, specially suitable for
goods engines, the steam pipe a
is led, beyond the valve b, to the
of the stroke, but directly the valve gear is linked up to less than
this the mechanism automatically changes the connections, and the
engine then works compound.
The Cooke Starting Mechanism. This system has in past years
been employed for a number of engines built by the Cooke Locomotive
ately this takes place, the driver opens the regulator and the cock
is consequently closed, the engine working thereafter as a compound.
The Gb'lsdorf System. This system shares with the Lindner
system the distinction of being the most frequently employed of
systems of the character under notice, and although of somewhat
later date than the Lindner system, it is probable that the engines
fitted with the Golsdorf starting apparatus are more numerous than
those fitted according to Herr Lindner's methods. In fact, Golsdorf
compound engines, besides being the standards for the Austrian State
Railways, are also to be found on some of the German railways, or
the railways of the Balkan States, and in Hungary, Russia, Sweden,
and in a few cases in the United States and elsewhere.
88 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
SEMI-AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS (LINDNER TYPE). 89
bridges, the arrangement being such that it is only when the slide
valve has maximum travel, owing to the reversing gear being in full
forward or backward gear, that the auxiliary ports are uncovered.
FIG. 81. Slide Valve and Auxiliary Steam Ports Golsdorf System.
the live steam admission necessarily takes place also, but this only
occurs exceptionally, and in some cases a small valve is fitted, whereby,
after the engine is started, the driver can cut off the supply of steam
FIG. 82. Slide Valve and Auxiliary Steam Ports (Cross Section)
Golsdorf System.
steam chest, and the slide valve has a small side extension for con-
trolling them.
Fig. 83 shows in diagrammatic plan the general arrangement
employed.
Since about the year 1900 the system has also been applied to
four-cylinder compound locomotives in which all four cylinders drive
the same axle, the cranks being 90 apart round the circle of revolution.
CHAPTER VIII.
Hick " class, corresponding to the " Greater Britain " class, but in-
tended for use between Crewe and Carlisle, where severe gradients
occur, and therefore having driving wheels only 6 ft. 3 in. diameter.
During the years 1884-7 four tank engines were converted or built
as three-cylinder compound engines, but these were not multiplied,
and the writer has Mr Webb's own authority for stating that they
were never considered as other than experimental engines, which
experiments were not sufficiently satisfactory to warrant further
work on the same lines.
Webb System as applied to Goods Engines. Mr Webb's three-
cylinder compound system has also been applied to upwards of a
hundred eight-coupled mineral engines, dated between the years 1893
and 1899. These engines necessarily do not include the use of non-
coupled driving wheels, and all three cylinders drive the same axle,
the second from the front. These powerful engines have always done
very good work, but Mr Whale, the present Locomotive Chief, is now
converting them to two-cylinder non-compound engines with larger
boilers as they go into the shops for heavy repairs and rebuilding.
During the years 1883-1890 about seventeen Webb compound
engines were built for service in France, South America, India, and
the United States (Pennsylvania Railroad), and although in no case
were other engines built, the reports of their work were fairly satis-
factory.
The Riekie Three-cylinder System. This system shares with
that just described the peculiarity of employing two high-pressure
cylinders and only one low-pressure cylinder, but in other respects
it comprises several features which differentiate it from Mr Webb's
system.
In introducing this system, Mr Riekie, who in 1894 converted one
of the Webb compound engines belonging to the North-Western
Railway of India according thereto, had for his object to employ the
high-pressure cylinders as nearly as possible in the same manner as
they are employed in an ordinary non-compound engine, cutting off
at an early point in the stroke in the usual manner for engines
which are not compound, except when the stress of work requires a
late cut-off, the purpose of the low-pressure cylinder being to enable
further work to be obtained from the steam before it passes up the
chimney. Coupled with this feature is the employment of three
driving cranks 120 apart, whereby an even and regular turning
moment is obtained. As the high-pressure cylinders are designed
to operate as the cylinders of an ordinary engine, they are made of
a size equal to, or only slightly less than, those which would be
employed were no other cylinders fitted, instead of being smaller and
the valve gear adapted for a late cut-off, as usual in all other com-
pound locomotives. It therefore follows that the low-pressure
the receiver falls below, say, 80 Ibs. per square inch, admitting boiler
steam at the requisite reduced pressure. If additional power is
required in the low-pressure cylinders, the valve n is adjusted so that
the closing pressure on the valve i l is increased, and it therefore
results that boiler steam will be admitted to the receiver immedi-
ately the pressure falls below, say, 120 Ibs. per square inch, the result
being that the receiver receives both H.P. exhaust and reduced
boiler steam for reinforced or semi-compound working.
Several other constructional features, such as cushioning and
leakage-preventing means, are also employed, but these need not be
dealt with here.
CHAPTER IX.
(1) those wherein the two cylinders of each tandem pair are formed
together in one casting or very closely connected, this section being
farther capable of classification according to whether one slide valve
or two is or are employed at each side of the engine, and according
to whether the steam passes direct from one cylinder to the other
101
102 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
As will be seen, the two cylinders are cast together, and the low-
pressure cylinder has two piston rods which pass outside the high-
pressure cylinder, all three rods being connected to the same
crosshead. A single slide valve of special construction controls the
steam distribution of both cylinders, the arrangement of ports and
the path of the steam for one position of the pistons being indicated.
To all intents and purposes, the slide valve consists of two slide
valves, one inside the other, and rigidly connected therewith.
and a low-pressure cylinder, and the use of a single slide valve (or
rather two valves working in one steam chest) for two cylinders, it
requires consideration at this stage, though other tandem compound
systems antedate its use by several years.
Fig. 91 is a section of a pair of cylinders and valves according to
this system.
Each cylinder, with its valve chest, is cast separately, and is
separate from the saddle. The steam connections are made by a
pipe from the saddle to the high-pressure valve chest, and the final
exhaust takes place through an adjustable connection between the
low-pressure cylinder and the saddle casting. The valve, which
is double and hollow, admits steam to the
high-pressure cylinder,
and at the same time distributes the high-pressure exhaust from
the front end of the high-pressure cylinder to the back end of the
low-pressure cylinder, or vice versa, as the case may be, without
the necessity of crossed ports. As shown, A
is the high-pressure
valve by which steam is conducted from the live steam openings
through external cavities B and B to the high-pressure cylinder.
The exhaust from the high-pressure cylinder passes through the
opening C to the steam chest, which acts as a receiver ; D is the
low-pressure valve connected to the high-pressure valve by valve rod
E. This valve in its operation is similar to the ordinary slide valve.
The outside edges control the admission, and the exhaust takes place
106 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
STARTING VALVE
to the side of the steam chest over the high-pressure cylinder, and
connects directly with the steam passages of that cylinder. A by-
pass valve for the high-pressure cylinder is also contained in the
rrfn
FOUR-CYLINDER TWO-CRANK SYSTEMS (TANDEM CLASS). 109
mechanism.
For actuating the mechanism for changing from non-compound to
the
compound working compressed air is employed, controlled by
small valve a operated in conjunction with the regulator ; this valve
allows air to pass by one or other of the pipes b c to the top or the
bottom end respectively of the cylinder d so as to raise or lower its
piston, and thereby to rotate through
the mechanism shown the
rotary valve e, which in one position (non-compound) opens
communi-
cation between the pipe /, connected with the steam supply pipe g,
for the high-pressure cylinder, and the low-pressure steam chest,
112 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING,
between the H.P. and L.P. cylinders through the pipe h. As repre-
sented, the parts are in the compound position. This valve also
FOUR-CYLINDER TWO-CRANK SYSTEMS (TANDEM CLASS). 113
stands alone, for no other builders than the Baldwin Works turn out
engines thus compounded, and yet the system has probably as many
any other system.
representatives, widely scattered, as
The engine on this system was an otherwise ordinary four-
first
coupled bogie (American type) locomotive for the Baltimore and Ohio
114
FOUR-CYLINDER TWO-CRANK SYSTEMS (OTHER THAN TANDEM). 115
and elevated railway service, and to rack, and combined rack and
adhesion, locomotives.
Fig. 98 illustrates the application of this system to a compressed-
air mine locomotive for the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron
engines are adapted for freight traffic, or have small coupled wheels.
Fig. 102 shows a pair of cylinders fitted up for use.
116 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
1. To produce a
compound locomotive of the greatest efficiency, with
the utmost simplicity of parts and the least possible deviation from
FIGS. 100 and 101. Cylinder ^Castings for Vauclain Compound System.
and as the supply of steam for the high-pressure cylinder enters the
steam chest at both ends, the valve is perfectly balanced, except for
the slight variation caused by the area of the valve stem at the back
end. It is claimed that this variation is an advantage in case the
valve or its connection to the valve rod should be broken, as it holds
SHUT
of this type have hauled passenger trains long distances with broken
valve stems and broken valves, the parts being kept in their proper
relation while running by the compression due to the variation
mentioned. To avoid the possibility of breaking, it is the present
practice, however, to pass the valve stem through the valve and
secure it
by a nut on the front end.
FOUR-CYLINDER TWO-CRANK SYSTEMS (OTHER THAN TANDEM). 119
Cast-iron packing rings are fitted to the valve and constitute the
edges of the valve. They are prevented from entering the steam
ports when the valve is in motion by the narrow bridge pieces across
the steam ports of the bushing.
When the low-pressure cylinder is on top it is
usually necessary
to fit
motion, but when the high-pressure cylinder
direct valve
occupies that position a rocking lever and indirect valve motion
are employed, as usual in American practice.
It is obvious that to enable a Vauclain
compound engine to start
a heavy train it is
necessary to admit boiler steam to the low-
FIGS. 105 and 106. Starting Cock for Vauclain Compound System.
is relieved and allowed to pass into the valve through the
air is
axle, and (2) wherein two cylinders drive one axle and two another,
the two sets of coupled wheels being in most cases coupled.
Strictly speaking, systems of the one class can be adapted, with
practically no change other than constructional, from one division
to the other, and in a few instances this has been done, but for
convenience the present chapter deals with systems which have been
applied only according to the first class. Where a system has been
employed in both ways, description is reserved until the following
" "
chapter, as in nearly every instance the divided engines are the
most important.
The four-cylinder " balanced "
systems derive their name because
of the fact that as the four cylinders drive separate cranks, the
cranks can be distributed round the circle of revolution, at or about
angles of 90 apart, and are so arranged that one crank is opposite
another consequently, the moving parts are very largely balanced,
;
and as there are eight impulses per revolution, fairly evenly dis-
tributed, the turning moment can be made very regular, and the
engines made very efficient.
That this is so appears to be becoming extensively realised, for
four-cylinder balanced compound engines are becoming well-nigh
universal, either with the cranks all on one axle, or with two driving
axles according to the "divided and balanced" system. In fact,
almost all recently designed compound engines belong to one or
other of these classifications. It is true that four cylinders operating
separate cranks necessitate the use of four sets of motion, and in
many cases four sets of valve gear, but it is realised nowadays that
122
FOUR-CYLINDER BALANCED SYSTEMS. 123
frames and two low-pressure cylinders inside the frames, and the other
had four cylinders all receiving boiler steam. After extended trial,
the non-compound engine was altered to compound, and thirty-eight
further compound engines were built. In 1900-2 another series of
forty engines were built, having slightly larger high-pressure cylinders
and augmented boiler power, the steam pressure being also raised
in some cases. In 1901-2 the system was applied for eight-coupled
mineral engines, otherwise similar to the three-cylinder engines
already described, and in 1903-4 a class of small-wheeled six-coupled
bogie engines were introduced for mixed traffic purposes.
A feature of Mr Webb's four-cylinder system is the fact that only
two sets of valve gear are employed for four cylinders, and fig. 109
shows the mechanism used for transferring the movement of the
directly operated low-pressure valve spindle to the corresponding
high-pressure valve spindle in opposite degree as required, as the
pistons of adjacent low- and high-pressure cylinders are always
moving oppositely, and the slide valves therefore require to be
correspondingly operated.
It has been maintained by many engineers that these engines
124 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
coupled axle under the smokebox, so that all cylinders operate the
middle coupled axle.
It is difficult to understand why an arrangement involving such
I I
(about one-sixth open) that steam can pass to the receiver by this
means, the engine working compound when the regulator is opened
further. This design was prepared by Signor Planchar of the
Southern Railway of Italy.
Smith Four-cylinder System. The Smith three-cylinder system
has already been described in Chapter VIII. During 1906, however,
the system has also been adapted to four-cylinder engines, designed
by Mr Worsdell for the North-Eastern Railway, and one of these
engines is illustrated in the frontispiece.
Von Berries Four-cylinder System. In 1903 a notable engine
was built by the Hanover Engine Works, primarily for exhibition
at St Louis in 1904, but also for participation in official trials of
steam locomotives held in Germany at the beginning of the same
year, the engine being a four-cylinder compound engine designed
by Herr von Borries. Since that date a number (about fifty) of
similar engines, which are also fitted with the Pielock superheater
(see Chapter XV.), have been supplied for service on German
Railways
The two high-pressure cylinders are placed between the frames,
the low-pressure cylinders being outside. Each pair of high- and
low-pressure cylinders is cast in one piece, with their corresponding
steam chests. The two groups of cylinders are bolted together and
carry the smokebox. The valves of the H.P. cylinders are piston
valves with inside admission, those of the L.P. cylinders balanced
Trick valves.
The cranks of the H.P. and L.P. cylinders upon the same side of
the engine are set at an angle of 180 with each other, the cranks
of the two sides being at right angles to each other.
The valve gear is of the Heusinger-Walchaert type, and both
valves on one side of the engine are driven by a single gearing.
The two valves are controlled by a single link, which receives its
motion from one eccentric, but the stem of each valve is coupled to
an advance lever, which receives its motion from the crosshead of
the corresponding piston.
For the outside valve the link movement is transmitted by a lever
with arms of different length, so proportioned that the ratio of
steam admission is 55 30 for L.P. and H.P. cylinders in forward
:
passage-way is opened for the H.P. exhaust steam to pass from the
interior of the valve b through the opening h to the low-pressure
steam chest, and the boiler steam supply is cut off.
There are two valves b, one at each side of the engine, but they
are operated together by mechanism under the driver's control.
Maffei Compound Engines, Bavaria and Baden State Railways.
These engines, of the Atlantic (4-4-2) type, were first introduced
in 1903, and were also designed to some extent in connection with
the official steam locomotive trials conducted in Germany. They
are now employed in considerable numbers on the Bavarian and
Baden State Railways, together with some engines differing only in
the fact that a third pair of coupled wheels are substituted for the
trailing carrying wheels. The system has also been applied to some
1
FIG. 112. Von Borries Four-cylinder System Valve Chests and Starting Valves.
large engines of the 4-4-4 type, having a bogie under the firebox as
well as at the leading end, and four coupled wheels.
Fig. 113 is a cross section of one of these engines for the Bavarian
State Railways. All four cylinders are in line underneath the smoke-
box. The H.P. cylinders are fitted with piston valves. The outside
low-pressure cylinders are provided with balanced slide valves having
double admission and exhaust ports.
The low-pressure cylinders are each connected with the high-
pressure cylinders by short double pipes. The valve motion is
outside and actuates the low-pressure valves directly, the high-
pressure valves being operated from the same motion by means of a
rocking lever.
To ensure economical working of steam, the proportion between
the high- and low-pressure piston areas has been made 1 2'9. :
For starting the engine there is a valve worked from the reversing
UNIVERSITY
OF
cylinders inside driving the front driving axle and two outside low-
;
pressure cylinders, set back on the frames, driving the rear pair of
131
132 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
Engineering, which very clearly set forth the main features of the de
Glehn system as employed in recent engines of the Eastern Railway
of France.
The system is not altered from that already described, but
the constructive arrangements are
somewhat different, though re-
<tion of Piston,
Starting,
of Piston,
'sit/on
Compound Working
on the frames to drive the rear coupled axle, thus conforming to the
cylinder arrangement generally associated with Monsieur de Glenn.
In 1894 M. Baudry built forty
more four-coupled bogie engines
of the same type, and since then
further engines of various types
on the same lines have been
built as required, the Henri and
the de Glehn systems having by
this time converged until the
differences became those of de-
tail design or in matters outside
the present subject.
For many years these bogie
four - coupled engines and a
corresponding class of small
wheeled six-coupled bogie en-
gines have been employed on
the Paris, Lyons, and Mediter-
ranean Railway, but in 1904
Monsieur Baudry introduced a
large-wheeled six-coupled class
of engine on the same system
for heavy express traffic.
The cylinders are all placed
very nearly in line, but the con-
necting rods of the outside high-
pressure cylinders are much
longer than those of the inside
cylinders, so as to actuate the
second coupled axle.
For all these compound en-
gines provision is made by
means of a special design of
reversing gear for the indepen-
dent adjustment of the high-
pressure valve gear, but, as a
rule, according to this system
the low-pressure cut-off ratio is
invariable, as Monsieur Baudry
considers this method of opera-
tion preferable.
For starting purposes, a simple
valve is fitted whereby boiler
FIG. 121. Cylinder and Valve Castings for Vauclain Balanced System.
and was sold to the Chicago Short Line. It was of the ten-wheel
(4-6-0) type.
As is common to locomotives of this system, the low-pressure
cylinders are placed outside the engine frames, connections being
made with crank pins on the driving wheels. The high-pressure
cylinders are located inside the frames in the same horizontal plane
as the low-pressure, and connection is made with a cranked driving
axle. In the first locomotive referred to all four connecting rods
are coupled with the front axle.
The cylinder saddle is cast in two parts (fig. 121) and bolted
together in the usual way, each half containing a high- and low-
pressure cylinder and a single valve which controls the admission of
steam to both cylinders. This admits of the use of the ordinary
Stephenson type of valve motion, the same as is used in single
expansion locomotives. The valve is of the piston type, with central
steam admission, and slides in a machined bushing, which is forced
FOUR-CYLINDER DIVIDED AND BALANCED SYSTEMS. 141
a few cases are the engines compound, but several of them are
fitted with superheating
apparatus, as described in Chapter XV.,
and some of them combine both features.
Some of the compound engines are on the de Glehn divided and
balanced system already described, and correspond with standard
classes on French railways, but others are arranged with the four
cylinders driving the leading coupled axle.
Fig. 1 25 is a diagrammatic plan view of one of these engines, as
built by the John Cockerill Company of Seraing, and having all four
cylinders driving one axle. This engine has two sets of valve gear
operating the valves of four cylinders by means of a reversing
rocking lever, in the manner already described in reference to the
Webb four-cylinder system. The low-pressure cylinders are placed
outside.
For starting, the admission of boiler steam to the receivers is
automatically effected by a small differential valve which allows steam
to pass only so long as the pressure in the receiver is below 88
pounds per square inch, but which closes as soon as that pressure is
reached. The driver has, however, control of this valve, so that he
can prevent live steam admission if desired.
Another engine built by the same firm has the cylinders arranged
FOUR-CYLINDER DIVIDED AND BALANCED SYSTEMS. 147
126).
Some of the engines are fitted with superheating apparatus (see
Chapter XV.), and are adapted so that part of the superheater also
serves the purpose of a receiver superheater through which the
steam passes between the high- and low-pressure cylinders.
Another engine, having four cylinders abreast and driving the
same axle, has been built by the La Meuse Company, and this, though
a non-compound engine, is adapted for ready conversion as a compound
engine.
Besides the four-cylinder divided and balanced engines described, a
few such engines have also been supplied to the Bavarian and Swiss
railways, which, while not corresponding exactly with the de Glehn
system, are compounded according to very similar systems.
CHAPTER XIII.
(1) those wherein all the wheels are coupled in somewhat the usual
manner, but some of the axles are capable of the requisite independent
angular movement (many of these designs are most ingenious, but
very complicated) ; and (2) those wherein the wheels are arranged in
distinct sets.
Engines of the former class have never been very numerous, and
all ofthem, so far as the writer is aware, have been simple engines.
In the second class, however, compounding has been employed
with success, and therefore extended consideration is required.
Engines of this class can be again divided into three main divisions :
(1) those having cylinders all fixed upon the frame, but driving one
series of coupled wheels directly and one series indirectly through
more or less complicated lever mechanism which allows of the
required independent angular movement of one set of wheels; (2)
those having two sets of coupled wheels, one set fitted in the engine
frames which carry their operating cylinders, while the other set are
fitted in a bogie frame and usually carrying operating cylinders
therefor and (3) those wherein two pivoted bogie trucks, each with
;
led to the use of four drivers, and the shortness of the radius of the
150 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
Europe, for the St Gothard Railway, are of the same class. These
were built by the firm of J. A. Maffei of Munich in 1889, and are,
as will be seen from fig. 127, large tank engines,
having two sets
of six-coupled wheels.
The following notes concerning this engine will be of interest :
&
154 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
FIG. 130. Cross Section through L.P. Cylinders Mallet Articulated System.
L P.
Cyl.
Annular Round H.P.
Cyl
Duplicate
Engines
'EndloEnd
all three
acting low-pressure cylinder, cylinders driving on to one
axle. The practical arrangement of this design depended upon the
special features of the Riekie system, as described in Chapter VIII.
The cylinders were to be 14, 20, and 28 in. in diameter, with a
stroke of 26 in. This design also included a triple boiler and
various other departures from usual practice.
The engine has been referred to and illustrated in some locomotive
books, generally to be depended on, as an actual engine for the
North- Western Railway of Beluchistan (India), but this is not so.
It is purely a design, though an interesting one.
Compound Rack Railway Locomotives. Rack railways are of
two kinds. One is entirely separated from any other railway ; the
other works in connection with adhesion lines, or forms a part thereof,
the same engines working, or being capable of working, on both
sections.
On railways of the first class the locomotives rely wholly upon
the rack, so that no adhesion cylinders are needed, and therefore,
as these engines are comparatively small and draw light loads, two
FIG. 133. Monsieur Mallet's suggested Design FIG. 134. Mr Reikie's pro-
for Triple- expansion Locomotive. posed Design for Triple-
expansion Locomotive.
rack only; (2) operating both rack and adhesion wheels from the
same cylinders and (3) with six cylinders two for the rack
;
pinion
and four for the adhesion wheels.
Since writing the foregoing, a combined rack and adhesion loco-
motive has been introduced by the Swiss Locomotive Works wherein
high-pressure cylinders drive the rack pinion, and low-pressure
cylinders the adhesion wheels, the engine working compound when
both sets are worked simultaneously, as often occurs in- this
case,
or either set can be operated with boiler steam.
independently
Concluding Remarks concerning Compound Locomotives. We
have now reviewed every compound
system of any importance
engines with more than two cylinders were considered good arguments
against the use of three or four cylinders ; but it is now argued with
success that these factors, though important, are more than balanced
by the mechanical advantages as well as the compound advantages
of multi-cylinder compound locomotives. Moreover, with three or
four cylinders available, the possibility of using them all with boiler
steam on occasions goes far to solve the problem of providing very
powerful engines of ordinary dimension, and, if
only for this reason,
compounding represents progress. And when the possibility of
achieving advantage by the compound use of the steam at ordinary
times, that is, for the largest proportion of the time the engine is
maining in the furnace gases after they have passed through the
boiler tubes, and before they are passed away up the chimney.
The Advantages and Economy of Superheating for Loco-
motives. In the case of locomotive engines these advantages exist
to nearly the same extent as they do in the case of stationary and
marine engines ; for whereas compounding as applied to locomotives
requires to be considered on a special basis, superheating is only
differentiated in detail matters, such as the fact that most super-
heating apparatus for locomotives necessitate some diminution of
the steam generative efficiency of the boiler (usually only slight,
however), and that a special construction of slide valves, especially
when of the piston type, is usually necessary owing to difficulties
attending the use of high-temperature dry steam and "
the consequent
" or ordinary wet
loss of the lubricating capabilities of saturated
steam.
The principal problem attending the adaptation of superheating
apparatus for locomotives has therefore consisted in the design and
construction of the apparatus in such a way that it can be con-
163
164 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
Warsaw-Vienna Railway.
Paris-Orleans Railway.
Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway.
Western Railway of France.
Great Western Railway of England (one engine).
Besides these, there are a few other instances of one or more engines
being so fitted, making a total, according to the particulars in the
writer's possession, of 287 engines.
Since this list was made up a number of other engines have been
fitted with the Schmidt apparatus, notably, additional ones in
Belgium, Canada, and some in the United States, and the actual
number is now probably between 400 and 500.
The Schmidt Superheater, Smokebox Type. This system of
superheating is based on the following principle : The gases of
combustion issuing from the firebox are divided into two separate
currents ; one, the larger current, passes through the ordinary tubes
in the boiler and generates steam in the usual mariner, while the
other and smaller current flows through a single large flue or tube
which extends from the firebox and along the lower part of the boiler
barrel to the superheater apparatus in the smokebox. The gases in
this flue are cooled only to a comparatively small extent by the
water, and the heat is consequently utilised for superheating purposes.
Therefore, as the temperature of the gases entering the apparatus is
comparatively high, a relatively small amount of heating surface,
easily provided and accommodated, suffices to highly superheat the
steam before it reaches the valve chests. Approximately, 10 per
cent, of the heat developed on the grate is employed in this way.
The heating surface of the boiler is but inappreciably diminished.
On the other hand, the total cross-sectional tube area is increased a
fact of great importance when hard work has to be done while the
superheater sensibly increases the total heating surface, and thus
secures a better use of the gases of combustion than would otherwise
be possible. As a matter of fact, the efficiency and draught of the
boiler are improved by the increased cross section of free passage for
the gases, since the vacuum in the firebox will be greater, and more
coal can therefore be burnt per hour than in an ordinary locomotive.
Referring to fig. 136, it will be seen that the large flue tube in the
lower portion of the boiler conducts the hot gases from the firebox
direct to the superheater, and that the latter consists of a number of
small tubes arranged in three concentric rows and situated in the
annular space of the extended smokebox. The inner row is so bent
as to constitute an arched continuation of the flame tube. This arch,
which has a gradually decreasing radius towards the front of the
smokebox, thus forms a passage, which conduces to a uniform distri-
bution of the gases in the superheater. The superheater tubes arc
expanded into the walls of two cast-steel headers or steam chambers,
which are fixed in a longitudinal position inside the roof of the smoke-
box, one on each side of the chimney, and are covered on the outside
THE USE OF SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR LOCOMOTIVES. 167
the central rings, and returns through them to the left-hand header.
This header also contains a baffleplate, fixed, in this case, over the
openings of the middle and outer series of tubes, and so arranged
that the steam is conducted from the central rings of tubes into the
outermost sets, and thus finally flows back to the right-hand header,
from which it passes in a highly superheated condition to the valve
chests and cylinders. In this way the steam is made to traverse
the superheater three times from left- to right-hand header, and
vice versa, and from left to right again before reaching the -cylinders.
As the combustion gases, both on entering and leaving the super-
heater, come in contact with tubes whose surfaces are cooled by wet
steam, their temperature is sufficiently reduced to prevent the tubes
which contain superheated steam, and which are therefore much
hotter than the others, from becoming overheated. Thus the high
temperature of the gases cannot act injuriously on the walls of the
superheater tubes.
As already stated, the headers are provided with detachable covers.
These covers in reality form part of the outside of the smokebox, and
afford direct communication with the interior of the headers. They
can be readily removed for the purpose of expanding or plugging the
tube ends when necessary. Since, by reason of their bent form,
the tubes can expand freely, and since their extremities lie at the
top of the superheater, and consequently only come in contact with
gases having a temperature varying approximately from a minimum
of 570 F. to a maximum of 750 F., loosening of the joints is a very
remote contingency. If, however, any of the tubes should get loose
in course of time, the difficulty can be temporarily and easily over-
come by plugging those tubes, without necessitating the withdrawal
of the engine from service. If a considerable number of tubes
become so defective as to require renewing, the upper part of the
smokebox, together with the complete superheater, can be removed,
so that the whole apparatus is capable of being readily examined and
repaired.
In a general way, regulation of the superheating by means of the
dampers is wholly unnecessary, but their provision enables the
driver to reduce, or to entirely stop, superheating, as the case may
be, when special circumstances render either course advisable. As a
rule, therefore, the driver does not have to pay any attention
whatever to the superheater whilst running, so that he can devote
A steel mercury pyrometer is
his time entirely to his usual duties.
fixed in the cab for the purpose of indicating to the driver the
degree of superheating. Although this pyrometer gauge is not
absolutely essential, it is extremly desirable and useful. For test
runs it is indispensable. It is also of great value to the driver,
inasmuch as it enables him to control the combustion and evaporation
in the boiler, while a slagged grate, holes in the fire, or priming of
the boiler, frequently caused by the water-level being too high, or
by dirty, scummy water, are conditions which, owing to their effect
on the degree of superheating, are at once made known by means of
170 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
trolling the blower, in such a way that the latter can only be turned
on when the damper is shut.
Soot and ashes can be removed from the large flues and super-
172 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
"
Bysuperheating, the volume of steam is augmented proportion-
ately to the rise of temperature, diminishing, however, its density.
In other words, when the degree of superheat is sufficient to prevent
the loss due to condensation in the cylinders, then the surplus heat
contained in superheated steam is sufficient to reheat the walls of
the cylinders, maintaining the temperature necessary to get rid of
THE USE OF SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR LOCOMOTIVES. 173
same.
174 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
s
I
n
THE USE OF SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR LOCOMOTIVES. 175
.-<*:;:
'&:%. :*
FIG. 140. Pielock Superheater detached from Boiler and showing Boiler Tubes.
(4) The superheater is safe for working, as the pressure inside and
out is the same. The strain on the boiler tubes remains the same
with or without the superheater, and overheating of the boiler tubes
is impossible if the superheater is so far from the firebox that the
Figs. 141, 142, and 143 illustrate the arrangement first employed
in 1904.
The upper rows of boiler tubes are somewhat larger than the
others, and into them extend two concentric tubes, connected respec-
tively to two chambers formed in a header casting mounted in the
smokebox, the other ends of the outer tubes being closed (as shown
separately in fig. 143), while the inner tubes terminate a short
distance before the end is reached, so that the steam can circulate
from one chamber of the header through the annular space between
the two superheater tubes and return through the inner tube to the
other header chamber, and thence to the cylinders. The superheater
tubes are placed towards the top of the boiler tubes. The ends of
THE USE OF SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR LOCOMOTIVES. 179
support the free ends, having legs whereby it rests on the sides of the
boiler tubes.
In usual designs for large boilers, there are thirty-two large 5-in.
boiler tubes, each containing four superheater double tubes, so that
the heating surface available for superheating is considerable.
Superheating Apparatus on the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway. Two or three years ago several of the express engines of
this railway were fitted with superheating apparatus arranged in a
large smokebox formed by an extension into the barrel of the boiler.
The superheater consists of a large drum, through which pass fire
tubes slightly larger than those of the boiler, and the drum is divided
up internally by diaphragms which cause the steam to pass internally
up and down as it circulates through the apparatus.
180 LOCOMOTIVE COMPOUNDING AND SUPERHEATING.
THE USE OF SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR LOCOMOTIVES 181
These engines are also fitted with steam jackets to the cylinders,
and in the upper part of the superheater is a coil in which the jacket
steam is superheated.
The whole apparatus is so arranged that it can be bodily removed
with little trouble.
With the exception of these engines, the only other British loco-
motive fitted with superheating apparatus is one recently
equipped
with the Schmidt apparatus on the Great Western
Railway.
The Cockerill Superheater. In connection with the extensive
trials of superheating apparatus for locomotives carried out in
isa valve with three pistons intended to divert the steam coming
from the regulator towards the compartment C, or into the tube L,
according as it is required to operate the superheat to high-pressure
r
FIG. 146. The New Century Engine Company's Steam and Compressed
Air System.
between the heated air and the superheated steam, which has the
not only providing all the advantages attending the use of
effect of
China, compound loco, in, 115, 133. Dunbar tandem system, 40.
187
188 INDEX.
35-8, 40-1, 44, 49, 67, 71, 92, 94, 36, 38, 96, 127.
96-7, 123, 127, 129, 130, 133-4, Nadal system, 62.
136, 145. New Century Engine Co.'s system, 183.
superheaters in, 166, 179, 181, 183. New Zealand, compound locomotives in,
6, 115.
Heating, cylinder, 2. superheaters in, 186.
Henri system, 41, 131, 137. Nicholson-Samuel system, 28, 29.
Holland, compound locomotives in, 6, Nisbet tandem system, 40.
41, 50. Norway, compound locomotives in, 6,
Holt's system, 35. 63.
INDEX. 189
i CLF
1WV-*
RET'D OCT 2 8 19B1
7 199
'-04104