Enginemans Manual Description And Instructions For Handling Richmond Compound Locomotives As Built By American Locomotive Co Richmond Works PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 edition. Excerpt: ... importance in locomotive operating, and affords an opportunity to economize in the use of fuel, only equaled by the economy resulting from the expansive use of steam. The nature of a locomotive's work in starting trains and forcing them into speed, climbing hills, and then running down hills and into stations with steam shut off, necessitates great irregularity of the application of power. Now working at full stroke, starting a train; now cutting off at fifteen inches, struggling into speed; now, as speed increases, "cut back," to six or five inch cut-off; now steam entirely shut off while train runs into a station. So the round goes. A struggle, succeeded by a calm; soon to be followed by another struggle, in which all the energy of the engine is exercised. The exhaust resounding up the stack, creating a fierce draft through the fire; the late cut-off of the valves allowing great quantities of steam to enter the cylinders, and each exhaust to subtract a thousand units of heat from the boiler, necessitating an intensely hot fire and immense consumption of coal. "In time of peace prepare for war," is a maxim full of wisdom, and applicable to locomotive operating. From the nature of its work, a locomotive is necessarily being continually subjected to sudden drains upon its resources, and as its source of power is heat, it is well for the engineer to avail himself of every opportunity that offers to gather in a reserve store of heat, as great as possible, that it may assist his engine to easily and economically meet the requirements of hard work. Such a store of heat is to a locomotive as a reserve fund, or capital stock is to a bank; it may be drawn upon with great advantage in emergencies. Such an emergency exists whenever an engine is...