Catechism of the locomotive

The Catechism of the Locomotive is intended for a large class of readers, among whom are all kinds of railroad officers and employes, consisting of locomotive runners, firemen,...

_Answer._ It is applied by admitting it into a _cylinder_ (_A_, fig. 1) in which a _piston_, _B_, is fitted so as to move air-tight from one end of the cylinder to the other. Th...

_Answer._ It is the pressure exerted by the weight of the air on every point with which it is in contact. The globe of the earth is surrounded by a layer of air about 50 miles t...

_Answer._ They are used to produce _motion_, which is opposed by some _resistance_. Thus, if an engine is employed to raise grain from a railroad car to the top of a warehouse,...

_Answer._ 1. It must admit steam to one end only of the cylinders at one time. 2. It must allow the steam to escape from one end at least as soon as it is admitted to the other...

_Answer._ By the use of an instrument made for that purpose, called an _indicator_. Its action can be best explained by supposing that we have a small cylinder and piston, _T_,...

_Answer._ A boiler for generating steam and a pair of high-pressure steam engines, which are all mounted on a suitable frame and wheels adapted for running on a track consisting...

_Answer_. Locomotive engine boilers must produce much more steam in a given time, in proportion to their size, than is required of the boilers of any other class of engines, (ex...

_Answer._ The ordinary single-acting force pump, fig. 66, used on locomotive and other steam engines consists of a _pump-barrel_, _A A_, which is a cast-iron or brass cylinder i...

_Answer._ By a valve, _h_, fig. 41, called a _throttle-valve_, which is usually placed at the end of the pipe _I_, near the top of the dome. Throttle-valves are sometimes placed...

_Answer._ They are made of hard cast iron, and have the steam and exhaust ports and valve-seats cast with them. The harder the iron the better will the cylinders withstand the w...

_Answer._ It must be so arranged that the locomotive can be run either backward or forward, and so that the motion of the wheels can be reversed quickly and with certainty. It s...

_Answer._ It means those parts, such as the wheels, axles and frames, which carry the other parts of the engine. As the Germans express it, it is the “_wagon_” of the locomotive.

_Answer._ Like all friction it depends upon the weight or pressure of the surfaces in contact, and consequently upon the load which rests on each wheel. It also depends upon the...

_Answer._ They are: 1, the momentum of the parts which have a reciprocating motion; 2, those due to the varying pressure of the steam in the cylinder-heads; 3, those caused by t...

_Answer_. It is intended to carry a supply of dry sand, which is scattered on the rails in front of the driving-wheels when the latter are liable to slip. This is done by two pi...

_Answer_. It is the distance the thread progresses lengthwise of the screw in one revolution. Thus if a single-threaded screw has one-eighth of an inch pitch, it means that the...

_Answer._ Their construction is represented in figs. 204, 205 and 206. Fig. 204 is a side view, fig. 205 a longitudinal section, and fig. 206 a plan of an ordinary tender, which...

_Answer._ Friction is the resistance between two bodies in contact which opposes the sliding of the one on the other. Thus if a brick is placed on a board with a slight inclinat...

_Answer_. By combustion is meant the phenomenon ordinarily called burning, as when a piece of wood or coal or a candle is burnt. In reality combustion is a union of one of the “...

_Answer._ It is the power required to move them on the track. Thus if a rope, fig. 219, was attached to a car at one end, and the other passed over a pulley, _a_, and a sufficie...

_Answer._ We should first know the weight of the train which the locomotive must draw; second, the speed at which it must run; and third, the steepest grades and the shortest cu...

_Answer._ 1. Locomotives for “switching,” “shunting” or “drilling” service, that is, for transferring cars from one place to another at stations; 2, for freight traffic; 3, for...

_Answer._ Continuous train brakes are brakes which can be applied to all the cars of a train by the locomotive runner on the locomotive. In some cases such brakes are arranged i...

[103] Deducting 10 per cent. from this amount will give very nearly the gold value of the cost. The figures given above represent the cost in the depreciated promises to pay of...

_Answer._ At suitable points, called water stations, along the line of the road, large tanks or reservoirs are located, which are filled either from a natural stream which is hi...

_Answer._ They are: 1. Inspection and lubrication; that is, an examination of the parts to see that they are in good working order, and the application of oil to the journals an...

_Answer._ It must always be noticed, before kindling the fire, whether the boiler has the requisite quantity of water in it; that all cinders, clinkers and ashes are removed fro...

_Answer._ The obvious thing to do is to stop the trains as soon as possible. This is done by applying the brakes at once with all their power, and then reversing the engine, alt...

_Answer._ In such cases it very often happens that with knowledge and sufficient coolness to apply that knowledge, one or more non-medical persons who are present when an accide...

_Answer._ Runners and firemen are not only exposed to great bodily injury or even death by every accident which may happen to their engine, but unless they are very careful to p...