Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers:
1920-1929
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Robson, P.W.
Road transport by steam-vehicles. 639-61. Disc.: 661-72. + Plates 5 and 6
(6 illus.). 9 diagrs.
Sir Henry Fowler (662-3) said that, having
been the first observer of a steam-driven lorry which went out on official
trial in this country, at which trials he had the pleasure of meeting a prominent
Member of the Council, he could not help looking back and seeing the great
developments which had taken place in these vehicles since that time. He
had been particularly interested in what the Author had said with regard
to electric vehicles, because he represented a firm which had, he believed,
the largest fleet of this type of motors in the country, which they found
extremely useful for town deliveries. He was sorry the figures which he could
put forward, and which had been published quite recently in Motor
Transport, could not be compared with those the Author had given, because
the latter had evidently been chosen from typical heavy working under good
conditions of loading; these conditions were one of the great essentials
for getting the best service not only out of steam-vehicles but any type
of motor, and one which railway companies had very gwat difficulty in finding.
In view of the constant changes in the rates paid for labour at the present
time it would add materially to the usefulness of the Paper if the Author
would state, in reference to the figures given on page 642, the date to which
these figures applied, as this would be of use for future reference.
With regard to the life of vehicles, his firm purchased two motor vans in
1903 which had only just been disposed of, although for a very considerable
time they ran for twenty hours out of the twenty-four. They had a few
steam-vehicles, one of which had already had a life of sixteen or seventeen
years. A tractor built at Lincoln had a life of about ten years and was still
working satisfactorily. One point which had not been touched upon, but which
was of vital interest from a warehousing standpoint, was the fire risk with
steam-vehicles. That subject had received much greater consideration of late
years than in earlier times, but it was a factor which militated against
the use of steam-vehicles under certain conditions. He was sorry that from
a purely railway standpoint he could not discuss the question which the Author
had touched upon in the early part of his Paper in the time at present at
his disposal. It must be remembered, however, that motor-vehicles at present
ran on a permanent way–the roads–which was practically speaking
free. He lived on the side of a main road between two cities about 60 miles
apart, and he knew the difficulty he experienced in using a push-bicycle
over that road at the present time, and more so with a fairly light car on
four wheels. Undoubtedly this question of roads was a subject which must
be handled before the motor-vehicle could be satisfactorily dealt with on
the lines suggested by the Author, as many of the roads were at present in
a disgraceful state. Until a central authority was established, the roads
would not be put into a condition in which they could be used for steam or
petrol traction to the greatest advantage, and the question naturally arose
as to who was to pay for this. He did not wish to discuss the question of
the new taxation of vehicles, but he thought it would hardly meet the state
of things which the Author laid down as likely to occur in the future.
Perry, T.B.
The uniflow steam-engine. 731-43. Disc.: 743-64 + Plate 8. 5 illus., 13
diagrs.
The Uniflow Engine was invented in the United Kingdom by
T.J. Todd in 1885. The Patent
specification claimed that the object of the invention was to produce a
double-acting steam-engine to work more efficiently, produce and maintain
within itself an improved graduation of temperature extending from each of
its two hot inlets to its common central cold outlet, and thus cause less
condensation of the entering steam, and work with greater economy than had
hitherto been the case.
the invention remained undeveloped until 1908 when Stumpf, of Charlottenburg
University, took it in hand and devised a valve-gear specially suited to
the idosyncrasies of the engine. Manufacture was commenced by the Ersten
Brunner Maschinenfabrik, of Brunn, and their example was soon followed by
other continental, and by several British, firms. Before WW1 several hundred
engines had been built.
Advanatges claimed included economy in fuel consumption, flexibility in power
output, speed control, maintenance and floor space. The text mentioned the
North Eastern Railway's "goods" engines so-fitted, but most of the comment
concerned stationary engines. Discussion: Thomas Clarkson (752-3) noted that
he had constructed an unsuccessful steam car with a uniflow engine.
Daniel Adamson (753) noted that a uniflow engine had been working on a steam
wagon for twelve months at that time.
Nelson, Robert
Waste-heat utilization. 643-4. Disc.: 644-7.
Mainly concerned with heat recycling in the iron and steel industry
and in electricity generation.
F. Trevithick (644) gave his experience
in connexion with the atiliaation of waste heat in locomotives in Egypt.
By the adoption of superheaters he reduced coal consumption by 20 to 25%,
As regards utilizing the smoke-stack gases and the exhaust steam he had tried
various arrangements for heating the feed-water, and had also tried the effect
of heating the air before it went into the furnace. He found that, whether
he used the gases for heating the steam, or whether he used them for heating
the water, the economy was about the same. One of the difficulties which
he experienced was that, using steel tubes in the exhaust steam heater, after
about 60,000 miles they got very much corroded. There was no doubt that by
using brass or copper he would have got better results.
D. Earle Marsh (644) said considerable
economy was effected by getting the water into the boiler just below
boiling-point. That and superheating had quite revolutionized locomotive
practice. Another means by which a certain economy could be effected was
by heating the air before it entered the furnace. That was, however, a very
difficult thing to do in a locomotive.
Fowler, Henry
Superheating. 649. Disc.: 650-2.
Highly abridged. Early development of superheating had been hindered
by problems with lubrication, which had been solved by developments in mineral
oils. Pure mineral oils were not satisfactory – the best results were
obtained with blended oils, consisting mainly of mineral oil with small
quantities of fatty oil. One problem not fully overcome on locomotives was
deposits which accumulate in the cylinders and ports, which have to be removed
periodically.
The amount of superheat which can be given to the steam has gradually increased
owing to lubrication improvements. Ten years earlier 150°F was quite
normal for steam used in turbines, but in locomotives it frequently rose
to over 300°F for short periods. Now, although the latter figure was
rarely exceeded for any length of time in locomotives, it is worked up to
in turbine practice. Roughly, within certain limits, the practical saving
in steam with turbines is a little above 1% for every 10°F of superheat.
With locomotives the saving varies between 15% and 25%, depending largely
on circumstances.
In order to do away to a large extent with the fluctuation of firing up,
etc., it is often advisable to cover the tubes of the superheater of stationary
boilers with some substance which will store the heat somewhat, so that the
degree of superheat may be fairly constant. The chief change in locomotive
practice is the abandonment of every type of damper without any detrimental
effect. The cast-iron header had been in use for ten years with perfectly
satisfactory results.
Discussion: D.A. Low stated there was agreement that superheating
was a very great advantage. Further the saving was greater the lower the
pressure; and that the theoretical saving was less than the actual saving.
He explained that the actual saving over the theoretical was due to the greater
heat content of water over that of an equal volume of steam. This caused
a greater heat transfer to the cylinder walls and a greater loss of heat
through leakage when wet steam was used instead of superheated steam which
had no water suspended in it.
Ormandy, W.R.
Liquid, powdered and colloidal fuels. 653-5. Disc.: 655-7.
Williinm Reginald Ormendy was born in 1872 and received his technical
education at Manchester University. He subsequently became one of the leading
fuel technologists of the Automobile Industry. He died 12 September, 1941.
Sir Henry Fowler (655) stated that the use of oil, not only for locomotives,
but for every other purpose, was a financial one. Dr. Ormandy had spoken
about the specific gravity of oil, but at Derby works they always spoke of
the efflux time, which was about 400 at 60° F. He was no optimist
with regard to oil burning for locomotives when they got coal down to a lower
price. It must be remembered that at sea they could dispense with a certain
number of firemen, but on the footplate they could not do away with the second
man. He would say that the equalizing price for oil was at about 1.75 times
that of coal. Powdered coal, as Dr. Ormandy had said, was not at all a new
thing. He had seen it at work in the East End of London some years ago, but
the difficulty there was with the fire-brick. Lignite was used extensively
on the Roumanian railways in conjunction with oil, but not mixed with the
oil. It was employed as ordinary fuel. Loughnan St L Pendred () stated that
in America more extensive use was made of powdered coal than in this country.
Four railways were using it. In this country he thought Mr. Robinson was
the only engineer who had tried it on locomotives. In 1918 the cost of
pulverizing in America was 1s. 0½d. a ton. Probably that was a net charge,
and capital cost of plant was not included. A difficulty in its use was that
it had to be prepared locally. Sub-stations at which the coal was powdered
for the use of the locomotives had to be provided. Another serious trouble,
for which legislation had to be made, was that powdered coal was an extremely
dangerous explosive, and could not be stored in large quantities. The Americans
tried to burn powdered anthracite, but found that it was impossible to keep
it alight. The difficulty was, however, satisfactorily overcome by using
a mixture of 40% bituminous coal, and 60% anthracite, and grinding the whole
lot together. In power stations powdered coal was being used in America fairly
extensively, and it was claimed that the boilers at the Lakeside station
attained with it over 90% thermal efficiency.
Dalby, W.E.
The indicator as an aid to economy. 681-2. Disc.: 681-4.
The indicator diagram gives valuable information about the timing
of the cycle of operations and about valve-setting, and this is as important
as the determination of horse-power. In quick running internal-combustion
engines a mere fraction of a second difference in timing makes a large difference
in the power developed, and the quickest and best way of obtaining the proper
setting of an engine is by means of an indicator. For indicating engines
in which pressure changes are rapid, the moving parts of the instrument must
be reduced to the smallest possible mass in order to avoid inertia error,
and even then the movements must be small. With such liniihtions, diagrams
of convenient size could most easily be obtained optically. Optical indicators
may be divided into two types:
(1) the piston type, and
(2) the disk or diaphragm type.
The piston type was developed by the Hopkinson, and subsequently by Burstall.
The disk type was represented in the Carpentier instrument and in the indicator
designed by the Author, also in the indicator designed by the Watson
Fowler, Henry
The electrification of English main line railways: Joint Meeting of the Midland
Branch of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Birmingham and District
Association of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and of the South Midland
Centre of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, in the Council Chamber
of the Birmingham Corporation on Friday 20 January 1922.. 317-30.
A discussion meeting chaired by Sir Henry Fowler. Individual contributions
were made by: Gresley (317-19) who was
strongly in favour of the electrification of suburban railways, and railways
where it was necessary to spend a large amount of money in doubling lines.
In those cases he thought it was very likely that the electrification could
show a great advantage. For long lines of railways, with traffic which was
not dense, it appeared to him that unless the cost of electric supply could
be reduced very much below the present figure, there was not likely to be
sufficient financial return for the money which would be involved in carrying
out the scheme.
William Willox (former Chief Engineer, Metropolitan
Railway, 319-20): since 1913 the price of coal, the cost of materials,
and the wage rates had risen greatly, and passenger and freight prices had
risen causing railways were to lose traffic. Competition from road traction
had arisen, and was as serious as competition from electric tramways and
motor omnibuses. Gradually suburban railways were electrified at a considerable
cost (mostly owing to each railway having to provide its own power station),
and were successful. Electrification had taken place on a number of railways.
The Metropolitan Railway in 1913 carried nearly 122 million passengers, and
182 millions in 1919. The Lancashire and Yorkshire trebled its traffic. Sir
W. Forbes of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, stated that his
electrified lines broaght 150% more traffic and 200% more money, and showed
on the capital expended a return of over 15%. and wanted to electrify the
main line to the coast towns. The East London Railway–in the electrifying
of which he himself had a hand–was largely in tunnel and passed under
the Thames in Brunel's tunnel. This line was electrified without interfering
with the traffic. Up to 1913 it was worked by steam, and carried 5,506,664
passengers; after this the number of passengers steadily increased, and in
1920 the number was 16,307,382, an increase of 184%. The London and South
Western Railway electrification increased their passenger traffic by 100%.
In 1915 the North Eastern Railway equipped their Shildon-Newport line, which
with sidings was 50 miles long, with overhead electrical track equipment.
This line dealt with heavy mineral traffic drawn by powerful electric
locomotives, five of which did the work of thirteen steam locomotives. In
America there were a number of cases where main line working had been and
was being turned to electric working, with most favourable results, especially
where there were heavy gradients and tunnels. In South Africa the railway
from Glencoe Junction to Pietermaritzburg, 171 miles, was to be
electrified.
Owing to the continuous increase of traffic into terminal stations the question
of accommodation arose. This might be solved by costly extension of the terminus
or by electrification. The Metropolitan Railway hauled its main line steam
trains from 7 or 9 miles out by electric locomotives and the same thing would
have to precede main line electrification in many cases. The cost of the
electrification on such railways as the Metropolitan, including power-house
and everything, was somewhere about .£20,000 a mile pre-war cost. The
cost of electrifying the East London Railway, which received current from
Lots Road, was about £5,400 per mile pre-WW1. The power-houses were
intended to be built near the coal fields where coal should be plentiful
and cheap. There was no engineering difficulty in electrifying existing steam
railways, even when the traffic was dense, with either the contact-rail system
or the overhead-track equipment. No cases were known on the Metropolitan
Railway where men had been killed or injured if ordinary care were taken.
The cost of ordinary maintenance of a rail-contact line was found to be
£12.64 per mile per annum. There were over 600 trains a day in and out
of the main line part of Baker Street Station. The old station was pulled
down and every line in the station was altered in position. A new station
and new offices were built on columns over the lines and platform, and no
serious accident happened to any man and no train was delayed. On the West
London line, electrification was carried out while the traffic was carried
on regularly, and, with the added 2s. per week per man " juice )) money,
maintenance amounted to £13.1 per mile per annum. As to increase of
staff only one gang of five men was added, and this was in the densest 9
miles of line. With power supplied for electrification, signalling could
be electric or electro-pneumatic, and track-circuiting could be readily installed
throughout, thus adding additional safeguards, and the sections might be
lengthened or shortened in order to accommodate more trains.
Concluding, Sir Henry welcomed the pertinent points raised by Dr. Kapp. There
were many points with regard to the criticism of steam and electric locomotives
which might be dealt with if there was time, but the consideration they wanted
to lay hold upon was whether it was going to pay to electrify our main lines.
There was no insuperable electrical or mechanical difficulty in the
electrification of main lines, but there was a difficulty in regard to the
financial side of the problem when they were dealing with a low density of
traffic. He would again quote his friend, Mr. A.W. Gibbs, who said the
difficulties were more mechanical than electrical. The electrical side of
the problem seemed to be perfectly sound. There were certain mechanical
difficulties. One of them, unfortunately, had not been touched upon, that
was the question of low centre of gravity and wheel arrangement.
Fowler, Henry and H.S. Hele-Shaw
Metallurgy in relation to mechanical engineering. 331-5.
Dewhurst, P.C.
British and American locomotive design and practice: some comparative comments
thereon from practical experience. 375-511.
Sauvage, Edouard
Feed-water heaters for locomotives. 715-26. Disc.: 727-34. 9 diagrs.
With the exception of the exhaust steam injector, pumps were required
as adjuncts to the heaters. Disregarding pumps set in motion by the mechanism
of the engine direct acting steam-pumps, similar to the Westinghouse
air-compressor, were used. The steam consumption of these pumps, in proportion
to the work done, was large. They exhausted into the heater, but the heat
from that source, coming out of the boiler, reduced the recuperation due
to the main exhaust. Temperature measurements showed that out of eighty calories,
twenty came from live steam and sixty were recuperated. An advantage of the
pump was that it made regulation of a continuous feed, at whatever rate wanted,
with ease.
Amongst earlier heaters, the Kirchweger had been largely used to warm water
in the tender tank. The same plan had been used for a long time on the London,
Brighton and South Coast Railway. Couche also cites the pumps of Clarke,
of Bouch, and the Ehrhardt heater. The Chiazzari pump took water from the
tender and delivered it to a heater, receiving also exhaust steam, and then
returned the hot water to the boiler. It worked from the engine mechanism.
The Mazza injector took water at a very high temperature, and worked in connexion
with a Kirchweger heater. The Koerting double injector took water warmed
up to 75° in a tubular heater. The Lencauchez system had, like the
Chiazzari, a cold-water pump, a heater condensing steam in the water, and
a hot-water pump delivering into the boiler. Exhaust steam passed first through
an oil separator, working on the principle of changes of direction. The pumps
were worked from the engine mechanism, but as at high speeds their action
is inefficient, Lencauchez proposed to reduce the speed by gearing..
Principal appliances in actual use were the Davies and Metcalfe injector,
Weir heater, Caille-Potonie Heater, Worthington heater and Knorr heater.
Raven, Vincent L.
Electric locomotives. 735-74. Disc.: 774-81. 19 figs.
The North Eastern Railway have a 4-4-4 symmetrical steam type
(D class) which has run up
to 70 miles per hour without finding any ill effects.
Bond, Roland C.
The Walschaert locomotive valve-gear. 1137-41.
Author awarded a prize of £3 for this Paper, which was read in
Manchester on 14th December 1922, and in London on 19th March 1923.
Diamond, E.L.
Recent improvements in the efficiency of the steam-locomotive. 53-68.
Author awarded a prize of £5 for this paper, which was read in
Manchester on 8th November 1923, and in London on 21st January 1924.
General meeting [the welcoming of President Sir Vincent Raven] by William Henry Patchell.. 607-10.
Gresley, Herbert N.
The three-cylinder high-pressure locomotive. 927-67. Disc.: 968-86. 9 illus.,
15 diagrs., 6 tables.
This paper is of great significance as in it he attempts to outline
his design philosophy in a way in which only the greatest engineers were
prepared to do (Churchward, Maunsell, Stanier and Bulleid were others).
Advantages of the three-cylinder locomotive were summarized as under:
During the discussion, opened by James Clayton Gresley had to withstand
a sharp attack on (1) the Patent priority of the derived valve gear (Holcroft
1909), and (2) the inherent weakness of the derived gear (at least as developed
by Holcroft). Clayton (968-70) gave details of the satisfactory performance
of No. A822 in service, but stated his preference for three independent sets
of valve gear. This may explain the change from conjugated gears, on the
S.R. Clayton was critical of the irregularity of the derived motion.
Nevertheless, Clayton did support Gresley on the advantages of three
cyclinders,.. Support for derived systems came from H.P.M.
Beames (976-7): " it was the experience of all locomotive engineers that
the less they got inside the frames the better. It was difficult to get a
man to spend more time inside the frames than was necessary.".
McDermid (J. Instn Loco. Engrs,
1932, 22, 291 (Paper 291) quoted this paper and this led to further
discussion on the draught in three-cylinder locomotives.
Raven (p. 978) noted that "there was a great similarity between the
three-cylinder engines which he built and those which Mr. Gresley built to-day,
with the exception of the valve-gear. So far as that was concerned, he always
adhered to the Stephenson valve-gear, as he believed in simplicity. He used
the three sets of valve-gear, and if he went back to railwork to-day, he
would do the same again. The reason why he built three-cylinder engines was
because they had on the North Eastern Railway a three-cylinder compound engine
designed by Mr. Smith, who was the chief draughtsman to them in the days
gone by, and it was on account of the even starting effort given by the
120° crank they were able to get with a three-cylinder engine, which
led him to adopt it. One also realized that one was getting within the limit
of gauges for high-power engines. The cylinders of the very large two-cylinder
engines often struck the platforms, and therefore it was necessary to make
some alteration. The particular advantages were the balancing of the engine,
the starting effort, and the reduction of hammer effect on the permanent
way. He was pleased indeed to be able to study the details of the advantages
so admirably carried out by Mr. Gresley in his dynamometer-car tests. They
bore out what his own experience had been, and he really thought the distinct
advantages of the three-cylinder engine for locomotive purposes had been
proved. The advantages of that engine could not be more clearly set forth
than as given on page 946.
Mr. Clayton drew attention to the valve-gear. He did discover, after
designing his arrangement, that Mr. Holcroft had devised a valve-gear for-
three-cylinder engines, but it had not the same arrangement of levers. Mr.
Holcroft had far more levers than he used. ' The other point Mr. Clayton
referred to was very important, namely, the over-running of the valve-gear.
He had had the same experience as they had had on the South Eastern and Chatham
Railway, that was when running at high speeds excessive travel on the middle
valve occurred when steam was shut off and the engine put into full gear,
and the steam-chest covers were either broken or damaged. The trouble was
overcome by allowing more clearance, and by using ball-bearings in all the
working parts. The levers of the central valve-gear on the three-cylinder
engines which he had built had all ball-bearings of the Hoffman type. He
had built an engine with roller bearings fitted to all pins of the Walschaerts
gear: After five years' work, with one exception, the rest of the bearings
were the same as those originally put in; the wear was so slight.Of course,
they were expensive, but they had been so successful that he was extending
the experiment by fitting more engines up in the same way.
Another question raised by Clayton was also important: He said there
were eight points where there were pins in the Author's particular valve-gear,
and he said there were only eight points if they introduced an ordinary separate
valve-gear for the middle cylinder. He (Mr. Gresley) quite agreed, but in
his gear there were eight pin-joints, only requiring little attention for
lubrication, the ball bearings having grease cups which ran f9r a long time
without any attention. With a separate valve-gear for inside cylinders' having
eight working points, one of these would be an eccentric on the
axle,
In replying to Mr. Sisson (page 972) Gresley referred to the question
of triple expansion. Of course, that could not be used successfully on a
locomotive because they could not condense, and the whole success of that
system was contingent upon having a condenser. Mr. Webb built a triple-expansion
engine at Crewe, and they at Crewe in those days thought there was no engine
like the three-cylinder compound, but when he built a triple-expansion and
it did not work quite so well, and although it was hoped it would be better
than the compounds, the hopes were not realized and it got the name of Ichabod,
because the glory had departed from Israel. (Laughter.) Mr. Bowden (page
973) raised the question of a reduced boiler repair bill. He (Mr. Gresley)
had not taken that as being one of the advantages, although obviously it
followed as one. of the subsidiary advantages of the use of the three-cyli:p.der
engine.
Advantage had not been taken of the increased weight permissible on
bridges due to better balancing. The engineers of the country imposed certain
limits to the weight taken on a single pair of wheels, and they had not cared
to increase the weights if the engines were three-cylinder, because it had
not been proved that the hammer-blow was less. The Bridge Research Committee
had found that th~ three-cylinder engine gave very much less hammer-blow
on the bridges than the two-cylinder engines, and when they came to issue
their report he hoped they would bear that in mind in considering the question
of allowing greater weights with properly balanced three-cylinder
engines.
Raven, Vincent L.
Address by the President. 1085-1105.
Presented on Friduy 23 October 1925.
"No doubt you will expect me in my Address to say something about the
steam-locomotive, inasmuch as this year is the 100th anniversary of the opening
of the first railway in the world, and George Stephenson, the Founder of
our Institution, was the first railway engineer and played so important a
part in the introduction of steam transport for public use [but].
I do not, however, propose to place before you an Address dealing with this
subject, interesting as it may be." His main theme was to record the importance
of mechanical engineering and this was illustrated by reference to electricity
generation, especially from water-power (the huge Niagara hydro-electricity
project received considerable attention), and to marine propulsion: he was
highly critical of the Allied Conirnissioners for insisting on the breaking
up of a M.A.N. set of double-acting two-cycle engines in an adranced state
of construct'ion at the Armistice which were of about 16,000 h.p. in four
cylinders. Following a visit to Australia he was trenchent in his criticism
of the lack of a standard gauge for its railways.
Aspinall, Sir John A.F..
Some railway notes old and new. (The 12th Thomas Hawksley Lecture). 1107-51.
21 figs.
A very extensive historical ramble: Aspinall clearly stated at the
beginning that he was going to turn over some earelier ideas which may have
been "forgotten". It was written to celebrate the Stockton & Darlington
Railway's Centenary, and includes observations on the development of railways
both in Britain and in North America since the time of George Stephenson.
plus some sharp assessments on competition from road transport.
Donald Currie raised strong objections to railways in 1837 because “veins
of water will be cut, springs dricd up, and sloping fields so deprived of
water that they will become sterile and unfit for pasturage and agriculture.
Whole estates are cut asunder and disfigured by deep cuttings.” Therefore,
he proposed what he called a safety railway, by constructing it of "timber
or other materials raised at least ten feet above the ground,” removing
every obstruction to agricultural operations. As Sir John Aspinal said "Time
and knowledge have, however, changed all that"
William Prosser patented in 1844 a system of angular wheels which was capable
of keeping locomotives and rolling stock on the rails without the need for
flanges. Used for a time on the Guildford & Woking Railway.
The next meander took Sir John into dangerous territory as he cited Clement
E. Stretton's The History of the Preston and Walton Summit Plate-way
.
Guy, H.L.
The economic value of increased steam pressure. 99-213.
Kitson Clark, E.
An internal-combustion locomotive. 333-98.
Diamond, E.L.
An investigation into the cylinder losses on a compound locomotive. 465-79.
Disc.: 480-517. 10 diagrs., 5 tables.
Several outstanding facts were made clear by this investigation. The
first is that as great a loss of efficiency occurs in the cylinders as in
the boiler of the locomotive, particularly at high speeds. In express passenger
service the locomotive runs normally at speeds in excess of fifty miles an
hour. Under these conditions the boiler efficiency may be from 60 to 70%
or more, but the relative engine efficiency will not exceed 60% in the best
designs of locomotive with the traditional form of valve-gear. It would seem,
therefore, that an insufficient proportion of the attention of loconiotive
designrrs has been directed to the engine as distinct from the boiler, and
it is suggested that great improvements can be mad(. in this direction which
would also assist in solving the boiler problem by reducing the steam consumption
per drawbar horse-power hour.
It is also an important fact that the cylinder losses increase with the speed,
and this helps to explain why goods engines run more efficiently than passenger
engines. So great, in fact, is the increase in throttling and back-pressure
losses at express speed that it is to be recommended strongly that locomotive
tests be not confined, as is so often done, to very heavily graded routes,
but that tests be made on level or easily gracled routes with maximum train
loads and at high average spccds. Far greater differences are likely to be
found between different types of locomotives under these conditions, and
it is, perhaps, not without significance that the one British railway company
[GWR] wliieh has standardized the long-lap valve for years past is the railway
whose main line is level and whose trains are scheduled at the highest average
speeds.
Perhaps the most important fact of all those set forth is that in the cylinders
of the locomotive under investigation which is known to be of high efficiency,
the total losses due to the restricted passages given to the steam at admission
and cxhaust increase from 17.6% at 24 miles an hour to no less than 67.6%t
at 68 miles an hour, of which probably not more than 15% is necessary for
the production of draught; that is to say, an amount of power egual to the
work that is actually being exerted on the train is wasted in throttling
losses at this speed. In view of this the Author unhesitatingly recommends
the universal adoption for compound as well as sirnple-expansion locomotives
of t,he longlap valve by means of which the port opening to steam at admission
and exhaust can be materially improved. The only object'ions to its use,
namely thc great,er wear on the valve liners and thc extra slip of tho die
in the expansion link, seem utterly unimportant in the light of so mormous
a loss of power. It is also strongly to be recommended that in cylinder design
the provision of large, dirwt ports and a free exhaust passage be the first
requirement. It has long been vaguely known that this is desirable, but it
has probably not been realized what an enormous effect on thc engine's
performance insufficient attention to these points must inevitably hapve.
It must be stated, however, that even with these improvements the conventional
valve-gear can never approach perfection, and it is suggested that serious
experiments be made with the various forms of poppet gear that have been
designed for locomotives, for it is evident that a gain of efficiency surpassing
that of superheating may be effected if a simple and robust poppet gear can
be perfected. It must be admitted 'that the locomotive engine is still a
crude affair by comparison with the modern stationary steam-plant. This is
not entirely to be attributed to its peculiar limitations, but is Iargely
the result of a lack of experiment on the lines indicated in this Paper.
There is still, for instance, a wide division of opinion regarding the merits
of compound expansion for locomotives. A few carefully conducted indicating
experiments, with accurate water measurements and pre-arranged constant
conditions, wou!d remove such doubts and condemn some locomotive types that
burn fifty per cent more coal than is reasonably necessary.
The Author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Sir Henry Fowler, Chief
Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, for permittjing
him to make use of the experimental data on which this analysis was
based.
Excursions [Birmingham Summer Meeting]. 647-717.
Messrs. Allen Everitt and Sons, Kingston Metal Works,
Smethwick. 672-3
From a modest foundation in 1769, Messrs. Everitt had built up a modern
factory covering sixteen acres for the production of non-ferrous metals,
and especially tubes. Since WW1 tube mills had been rebuilt and had been
equipped with the most recent appliances for economic production. They had
also rebuilt and refurnished their research department and installed melting
and heating furnaces of the latest designs. The firm was the first in this
country to employ electrically heated furnaces for the production of tube
castings. Within recent years they had made a speciality of cupro-nickel
condenser tubes, and these were successful in resisting corrosion and erosion
and were installed in several important power stations around the
world.
The Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company,
Saltley Works, Birmingham. 682-3.
Works established by Joseph Wright, a coach-builder, in 1845, to meet
demand for simple wooden four-wheeled carriages and wagons then in use. Since
then the works had expanded to meet the growing demands of the railways,
and then covered about fifty acres. Due to increasing scarcity of best quality
timber, steel and aluminium were being used for body construction, the
body-framing being sometimes of wood covered with steel panels, sometimes
of metal throughout, but more often a steel framework finished internally
with wood. A special feature of the carriages built for the tube railways
in this country was that all timber was fireproof, and the cars were usually
lined with sound and heat insulation.
To meet world-wide competition, the works had concentrated on speed of
production. Two examples were the delivery of 200 Indian four-wheeled
steel-covered goods wagons in eight weeks, and 500 forty-ton steel bogie
grain-wagons for South Africa in twenty weeks. Such output demanded an extensive
plant, and the shops were arranged for the progressive passage of a great
variety of vehicles through the works. The drawing office contained a staff
of over a hundred draughtsmen. In designing, great attention was being given
to the reduction of weight, whilst maintaining adequate strength. Another
aid to rapidity of construction was the extensive range of bushed drilling
templates and tools provided for each order. This ensured interchangeability
of parts, so that a complete vehicle can be quickly assembled from pieces
taken at random.
Raw materials entered the works at the outer end, and were distributed by
a cross-gantry, steel and iron being dealt with on the left, and timber on
the right. The sections and plates were straightened and machined, assembled
and riveted in large shops equipped with overhead cranes. Adjoining was the
smithy, and the waste heat from the coal-fired furnaces was used to generate
steam for the steam-hammers and the power house. In the saw-mill over 30,000
ft3 of timber were handled per month. After machining and sanding,
the wood parts were delivered to the finishing and body shops for assembly.
The final, and one of the most important stages of production was painting.
Here great skill and the very best materials were required to withstand corrosion
and the heat of foreign climates; several coats of paint being applied, and
a specially heated and dustfree shop was provided. The majority of coaches
manufactured for export had to be completely dismantled and packed, but some
were shipped complete. In most cases these coaches fouled the English loading
gauge and special tranship bogies had to be constructed with screw-gear,
to give lateral movement, and all transport to the port of shipment was done
over the week-end. In conjunction with the other works controlled by the
Metropolitan Carriage Company, an estimated annual output up to 15,000 wagons
and 600 coaches could be achieved.
The Midland Railway-carriage and Wagon Company,
Midland Works, Washwood Heath. 684.
This was one of the oldest railway rolling-stock firms in Britain,
having been established in 1853. Then works were completed in 1912 and were
up-to-date in lay-out and equipment. The establishment on the iron side included
wheel forge, general forge, smithy, and press shop, die shop, foundry, machine
shop, steel erection shop, and power station ; these together covered an
area of nearly nine acres. The buildings on the wood side comprised a timber
shed and gantry, saw-mill, wood wagon-building shops, carriage body-building
shop, coach finishing shop, paint shop, polishing and trimming shop, and
general stores, which occupied an area of about eight acres.
The saw-mill included a sixty spindle drill for drilling all holes in wagon
sole-bars simultaneously, and double-ended tenoning machines, one of which
was specialIy designed to include trenching in its operations. AlI scrap,
sawdust and shavings were collected underground and conveyed to the power
house boilers. The latest timber-drying plant was installed. The wagon shop
was capable of dealing with 120 standard coal wagons a week, all components
being made to jigs and templates. Electrical power was distributed by a
three-wire direct-current system at 440 volts. Steam was generated at 175
psi with 150° superheat, and was taken from the power house through
a reducing-valve at 100 psi into the forge and smithy. The exhaust from the
hammers and drop-stamps was returned to a steam-accumulator and finally passed
through mixed pressure turbines to condensers. There were also vertical
high-pressure reciprocating engines which could work in series with the turbines,
either alone or in parallel with the smithy, or else could exhaust direct
to the condensers. These arrangements reduce to a minimum the chance of total
failure.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company,
Chief Mechanical' Engineer's Department's Works, Derby.
699-702.
Works mainly concerned with building and repairing the 3,000 locomotives
in service on the Midland Division of the LMS. They occupied eighty acres,
of which about twenty were covered by shops, stores and offices. When fully
occupied 4,500 men and youths were employed. Some of the shops had been in
existence since 1839. A particularly interesting one from this period was
No. 1 Round Shed, where light boiler repairs were carried out; this was built
in 1839, and was the first engine-shed be constructed with a central turntable
and radiating tracks. The works had been expanded, the largest extension
taking place in 1874: consequently the lay-out is not ideal. An important
feature of the shops was the progress system, whereby the position of various
components was shown on conspicuously displayed cards showing daily work
progress and indication of when it should be completed.
A central power station provided power and light to the Chief Mechanical
Engineer’s, the Carriage and Wagon, and the Signal departments. The
installation consists of one 2,000 k.v.a. and two 1,500 k.v.a. generators
and turbines and one 600-900 k.v.a. mixed pressure turbine (the latter being
driven chiefly by the exhaust steam from the forge and smithy) and two Willans
central-valve engines, as a shndby for light loads. Steam is provided by
five Stirling water-tube boilers, two working at 210 lb. per sq. inch and
three at 170 lb. per sq. inch, superheated to 640°F. and 520°F.
respectively. Four of these boilers supply 24,000 and one 16,000 Ib. of steam
per hour. The heavier machines in the works are driven by separate niotors,
and the lighter ones are run in groups from short lengths of shafting.
The smithy and forge are equipped with steam- and drophammers. The brass
foundry has four Morgan furnaces, fired by oil-gas tar, a by-product from
the oil-gas works; each of these furnaces has a capacity of 600 Ib. There
are also two pit-type crucible furnaces. The total capacity is from 25 to
30 tons per week, a,nd of this output about 76 per cent of the castings are
machinemoulded. A chair foundry has two cupolas, used on alternate days,
each giving an output of 250 tons per week, and produces about 13,000 chairs
per week for the permanent way of the Midland Division. The iron foundry
has two cupolas, also used on alternate days, each having a capacity of 150
tons per week. Jolt-ramniers and moulding machines are installed.
The wheel and axle shops do all the rnacliining necessary for wheel-centres,
tyres, crankpins, straight axles and both solid and built-up crank-axles.
An interesting machine is the wheel-prcss ; its ram can exert a force of
200 tons, and an a~t~ornatriocc order indicates the pressure at any position
of the whecl as it is bring forced on to the axlc. The boiler shops are provided
with furnaces gas-fired from a gas-producer pla.nt, and two hydraulic presses
of 550 and 260 tons capacity for flanging boiler plates. A particularly good
example of this work is the throat-plate which connects the Belpaire firebox
to the boilcr barrel. The tender tanks are made in this shop, and in their
construction angle-iron work has been almost ein5rely superseded by flanging
the plates and stays. The splashers for the wheels of goods locomotives are
now also pressed out of a flat sheet instead of being built up from plates
and angles. Two vertical drilling machines are installcd in a pit for drilling
an assembled boiler shell and firebox in any direction. A single vertical
roller bending press, with an hydraulically operated pressure-bar is used
for hending the outer steel wrapper plates of Belpaire fireboxes ; this is
sptAcially adaptable for the sharp bends in the upper corners of the plat(,.
There are also hydraulic riveters and large forging presses, the latter bending,
setting, and welding foundation rings. The plant in these shops is capable
of making seven new boilers and dealing with heavy repairs to sixteen boilers
per week. In the boiler mounting shop the position of the mountings is located
by teniplates temporarily attached to the boiler.
The machine and fitting shops, built in 1874, are well-lighted buildings
and contain a large range of modern machine-tools, a few of the principal
being a frame-slotting machine capable of making four cuts simultaneously
through a set of twenty engine frames, each one inch in thicknws; a drilling
and tapping machine for cylinders ; a niaehine which can bore simultaneously
the cylinder and piston-valve chest, the boring-bar for the latter being
capable of adjustment to any angle rclative to the cylinder axis ; an a11-
electrically-driven planing machine ; heavy milling machines, and a series
of automatic and semi-automatic lathes. The lay-out of these tools is arranged
with special regard to the sequence of the machining operations. Prom the
marking-out tables the work flows along reglilar paths, until it enters the
erecting shop. The tool room is a specid fvature of the machine shop. To
it is attached a standard room in which are kept all types of gauges, measuring
machines, and a shadow projector for screw-threads.
The crecting shop has three bays and can accommodate seventytwo locomotives
on six longitudinal pits. Twelve of these pits (at the ends of two of the
bays) are reserved for the examination of engines prior to repair ; an additional
central road in each bay is used for wheeling the engines and carrying them
in and out of the shop. The output from this shop is twenty-two engines each
full week, including two new locomotives and twenty heavily repaired or rebuilt
ones. In the paint shop the engines are completed ready for the road. There
are a large staff of millwrights with their own shop, an electrical shop
in which is manufactured and irmintained the electrical plant required in
the works and elsewhere, anibulance and mess rooms, a photographic department
and well-equipped test rooms and chemical laboratories.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, Carriage
and Wagon Works, Derby. 702-3
The works were originally laid out in 1876 and have been added to from time
to time. The lifting and stamping shops, which are the most recent, were
built in 1910. The general lay-out is as follows: wood-working shops are
on the west side of the main sidings, iron-working shops on the east side
and painting shops at the south end. The whole of the plant is electrically
driven. Hydraulic power is also supplied at 750 and 1,200 psi and compressed
air at 100 psi.
Saw-mill:Timber was purchased as trees, square logs and scantlings,
and was obtained as far as possible from Empire sources. Some was bought
dry, the rest was subsequently dried either naturally in stack, or artificially
by the moist air process (Erith's). The stacks for natural drying were arranged
on the pigeon-hole principle (gaps between edges of the scantlings, etc.
but no gaps between rows). No marking-out was done; the timber was worked
to stops and templates. All articles were finished to final size and the
tolerance allowed was plus/minus 0.002 inch. The machines were grouped according
to operation and not by type as usual in British practice.
Wagon Building Shop.Each man was engaged on a particular part of the
work, and each operation was performed at a fixed point, the work being moved
to the man. No fitting or finishing was necessary, and all parts were delivered
to the point required, and mainly to the height required, to avoid unnecessary
lifting. Only one road in the shop was actually used for erection, instead
of ten roads under the old methods. Each of the main operations (of which
there are ten) takes approximately the same time, and a wagon was turned
out every thirty minutes. Simultaneously with the completion of the tenth
operation, the wagon was ready for moving away for painting and lettering.
Hydraulic power was used for cramping operations, and pneumatic power for
boring and nut-tightening.
Carriuge Building Shop.There were nineteen positions for erection,
finishing and painting. The end-framing, seat-framing and doors were placed
in power cramps, and screws were put in by automatic screw-driving machines
before pressure was released. The steel underframe was delivered complete
on its own bogies to the carria.ge building shop. At the first operation
the wooden floor was fitted and upon this the ends, quarters, partitions,
etc. were erected, including the complete jig-made roof. The time taken for
the actual assembly on the carriage underframe was twenty-two minutes.
Carriuge Finishing Shop.dealt with the construction of sliding doors,
partition frames, photograph frames, door-lights, etc. These articles were
put together in cramps, after which they were taken to the triple-drum sander
and a good surface prepared for polishing. They were then taken to the polishing
shop.
Carriage Polishing Shop.-The first operation was staining, and the
second filling, after which the articles were spray-polished or spray-varnished.
The articles which had been spray-varnished are put into a special drying
room at a humid temperature of 95° F. The spray-polished work was rubbed
down by flatting machines. The completed work from these machines was taken
to the benches for the final polish.
Painting Shop No lead was used in painting carriages and wagons. There
were for inspection in this shop a kitchen car with steel panelling and
Decolite floor, and a third-class corridor brake.
Liffing Shop This shop was built in 1910 on modern lines. There were
no pits for examination purposes, as the vehicles were lifted by two electrically
driven cranes on to trestles, at a convenient height for working underneath.
The bogies were dealt with by 5-ton floor-operated cranes. Whilst the bogies
and frames were being cleaned and any necessary replacements of worn parts
made, the wheels were dealt with in the turning shop. Seventy-nine carriages
and one hundred wagons were lifted each week. In the underframe, bogie, and
steel-frame erecting bay, operation timings were adopted in the same way
as in the erection of carriages and wagons. The component parts were assembled
on jigs and afterwards built as a complete underframe or bogie. Hydraulic
and pneumatic riveters were employed, and two machines were utilized for
electrically heating the rivets.
Turning Shop.-Axles, tyres and wheel-centres were bought in the rough
state and machined and assembled on modern machines. Wheels were pressed
on to the axles by hydraulic pressure, fifty to sixty tons being used for
wheels without tyres, and sixty to seventy tons for wheels fitted with tyres.
Wheels are condemned when the tyres were worn to less than one-inch
thickness.
Fowler, Sir Henry
Address by the President. 723-47.
Two themes were intertwined: the significance of George Stephenson
and the significance of metallurgy on mechanical engineering. "I have always
been impressed by the fact that George Stephenson seemed to be not only
conversant with, but an expert on all that was known and of interest concerning
mechanical engineering in his day."
At the time when the Rocket was being built, not only was there no
large commercial production of metals and alloys of the quality and type
which we look upon as commonplace to-day, but the actual production was,
to our present-day ideas, infinitesimally small. Of the basic material, cast
iron, the whole amount produced in the world in 1850 was only 4½ million
tons; in 1926 this had grown to over 77 million tons. The amount of steel
did not reach half a million tons per annum until 1870, whilst in 1926 it
had reached over 90 million tons.
The Rocket was produced from ordinary cast and wrought iron, and a
small amount of brass, Compare this small number of metals with the varied
and complex quantities used in the construction of such a simple machine
as a locomotive to-day We must, remember that the constituents of the three
metals mentioned were not then properly understood nor were they subdivided
as they are now.
"In 1848, Dr Pole translated, from the German, Alban's book on a high pressure
boiler, which was in fact an interesting water-tube boiler" (running at 1000
psi). Standardizing materials: (steels, brasses, bronzes); steel
manufacture, metallography, fatigue, radiology, education and higher
pressure boilers. Several quotes from Ecclesiasticus: "They will maintain
the fabric of the world; and the handywork of their work in their prayer."
Aspinall gave the Vote of Thanks pp 746-7.
Fry, Lawford H.
Some experimental results from a three-cylinder compound locomotive. 923-54.
Disc.: 955-1024. 5 illus., 22 diagrs. 17 tables.
Thorough series of tests on the Pennsylvania Railway locomotive testing
plant at Altoona and trials in road service. On pp.955-61
Fowler gave details of compound locomotive performance on the
LMS.
Beames, H.P.M.
The reorganization of Crewe Works. 245-62. Discussion: 245-88. 5 illus.,
5 diagrs., 2 plans.
Maunsell, R.E.L.
The trend of modern steam-locomotive design. 465-77.
Lecture delivered before the graduates' section in London on 26th
March 1928, and repeated in Birmingham on 13th April 1928.
Stanier, W.A.
A pageant of railroad engineering. 495-8.
Address delivered at Western Branch in Bristol on 8th December
1927.
Herbert, T.M.
Locomotive firebox conditions: gas compositions and temperatures close to
copper plates. 985-1006
Metallurgist who became in charge of research on LMS
Meeting in Manchester, June 1929: excursions.
685 et seq
Messrs. Beyer, Peacock and Company, Gorton. 694-
Works celebrated three-quarters of a century of locomotive building
for all parts of the world, having been founded in 1854 by Mr. Charles F.
Beyer and Mr. Richard Peacock. They covered a total area of twenty-three
acres, of which between seventeen and eighteen acres are roofed shops, and,
when working up to full capacity, find employment for 3,000 men.
General Offices formed a large two-story building 245 feet in length
and 45 feet in width, the ground floor being devoted to the comniercial
departments and the upper floor to the designing and drawing offices. A new
building was equipped in about 1925 to house the cost accounting and statistical
services and was provided with modern electrical tabulating and other
machinery.
Foundries. The iron and steel foundries were located in one building,
over 400 feet long and 120 feet wide when an extension then under construction
was completed. The equipment of the steel foundry included two 10-ton acid
Siemens-Martin furnaces, and the extension included an electric furnace melting
plant. The annealing furnaces were of a special pit type with removable sectional
roofs, and were gas-fired from the plant used in connexion with the melting
furnaces. There was also a brass foundry capable of producing individual
castings as large as the heaviest axle-boxes.
Forge. This shop was equipped with five steam-hammers, including one
of 74 tons, capable of dealing with the largest sizes of steel blooms required
in locomotive work. Two hammers are served by gas-fired furnaces and the
remaining three by oil-fired furnaces. The department also included annealing
and case-hardening furnaces.
Smithy comprised four bays each 120 feet long by.40 feet wide. Its
equipment included steam and electro-pneumatic hammers, hot and cold saws,
nut and bolt forging machines and rivet-making plant with oil-fired furnaces
and the usual smiths’ hearths.
Pattern and Joiners Depurtment. The modern locomotive, especially
the articulated type, entailed a considerable amount of patteh-making and
the pattern department was consequently a commodious building. An adjunct
of the main building provided accommodation for a large number of joiners,
wliilst other large buildings were used for the storage of patterns of which
there were many thousands.
Boiler and Tender Departments. An outstanding feature of the firm’s
policy of modernization was the new boiler department, which began operation
in 1925: it measured 600 feet long by 175 feet wide, and consisted of three
longitudinal bays and a riveting bay. The main or boiler building and mounting
bay was fitted with two crane gantries of 62 feet and 59 feet span respectively,
one above the other. The upper accommodated travelling cranes of 50 tons
capacity, and the lower one carried cranes of 10 and 5 tons capacity. The
middle bay had a single gantry of 50 feet span for cranes of 20 and 10 tons
capacity. The third bay also had a single gantry, but of 45 feet span and
carryied cranes of 10 and 5 tons capacity. These three gantries led into
a high transverse end bay equipped with cranes, having remote control, of
sufficient range of lift for dealing with the longest boiler shells. In this
transverse bay were situated the deep-leg riveting machines. Adjacent to
this bay, but outside the shop and alongside the railway, was a large covered
stores for the unloading and storing of plates. The whole of the machinery
and plant was planned and laid out so that materials as received progressed
in proper sequence, involving a minimum of transport and handling, until
developed into a complete boiler. tender or tank ready for testing. The hydraulic
and steam tests of boilers were carried out in a special section of the shop
before being passed to the erecting department.
Framing Department. Large machine shop devoted to processes involving
frames: department had a span of 75 feet and was 305 feet long. It had a
single gantry carrying crane of 6 and 20 tons capacity, the former had remote
control. This department had machines for handling not only plate frames,
but also bar frames, usually associated with American locomotives and used
in a considerable number of Garratt locomotives recently designed and constructed
at Gorton Foundry. Most of this machinery was naturally of a heavy character,
and included slotting, drilling machines, etc , arranged so that the frames
progressed until reaching the fitting section, where the axle-box guides
and other details were fitted before passing to the erecting department.
Machine Departments. The arrangement and equipment of these presented
many features of interest, and included sveral modern machines introduced
within previous six years.
Cylinder Department.was160 feet long by 42 feet wide, of modern
construction with ample top light and a gantry throughout its length with
one 10-ton crane. The equipment included two modern planing machines, the
larger of which had a stroke of 12 feet with a distance of 10 ft. 9 in. between
housings. Modern boring niachines and drilling machines also featured.
Wheel and Axle Department occupied a building 250 feet by 42 feet,
having a gantry throughout its length and generally of similar construction
to the cylinder department. It was equipped with modern machinery for dealing
with axles and wheels, including the latest construction for
‘topping” wheel tyres. A wheel press of 450 tons capacity had recently
been installed.
Erecting Department. All parts were ultimately sent for assembly to
this shop which was arranged so that the locomotive frames and stays are
built on either side of a central track. The frames, after the cylinders,
boiler, and other parts have been fitted, were lifted by overhead cranes
and lowered on to the wheels standing on the central track, which had a pit
for its whole length. The fittings were then mounted into place, the engine
completed and passed straight out into a steaming shed and finally to the
trial track for inspection, under actual conditions of working.
Coppersmiths. shop was adjacent to the erecting department and in
it the many copper and steel pipes required were prepared before assembly
on the locomotive. In addition the thin sheeting which formed the clothing
on the outside of the boiler was dealt with in this department.
Paint and Packing Departnient. The paint shop was a lofty building
220 feet long by 55 feet wide and had three inspection pits running its entire
length. The central track was laid with multiple gauge rails and the crane
equipment consisted of two 50-ton cranes capable of dealing with the largest,
locomotives. The packing department was adjacent and had every facility for
packing the largest parts of locomotives for transport overseas.
Testing Department and central chuck stores were contained in a building
220 feet long. Here jigs, chucks, and gauges for every description of machine
work were arranged on a thorough system of classification. The testing department
contained a machine room equipped with a 50-ton Buckton tensile-testing machine
and machines for testing the hardness and transverse strength of materials.
There was also a well-equipped chemical laboratory where analyses were made
of all classes of fuel, pig iron, steel blooms and bars and other stores
in addition to the products of the forge and foundries. Research work was
also conducted here to determine the correct treatment in the manufacture
of iron, steel and other materials of construction.
Electric Plant. Gorton Foundry was a pioneer in the use of electric
driving, as in 1897 it was fully equipped with its own electric generating
plant. In 1906, realizing the advantages to be derived by using power from
the Corporation, the works power station was changed completely and current
was taken from Manchester Corporation at 6,500 volts. A large portion is
transformed to a.c.. at 220 volts whilst the remainder is converted to d.c.
for cranes and lighting purposes. The lighter types of machines were grouped
and driven from line-shafting whilst individual driving was adopted as a
general practice for the heavier machines.
Internal Transport. An example of the progressive policy of the firm
was exemplified in the method of internal transport, an item of great importance
in facilitating production where great numbers of locomotive details of a
heavy nature had to be transferred from one department to another, The works
were equipped with several Millars truck-tractors, Lister auto-trucks and
a Ransome and Rapier mobile petrol-electric crane for handling the wide variety
of component parts. These vehicles worked to a time-table and travelled on
concrete roads throughout the works. In addition to these means there was
a 5-ton steam travelling crane and two shunting engines, one of which is
equipped with a crane.
Messrs. Gresham and Craven, Salford. 710.
The firm was founded over sixty years ago, and after a partnership
of twenty years was formed into a private limited liability company. The
late James Gresham was largely responsible for the successful development
of the steam injector, the inventor of which was Giffard, and showed considerable
ingenuity in the various inventions and improvements in that apparatus, which
resulted in the automatic restarting injector to pass boiler feed-water at
temperatures up tto 140"F. Gresham also interested himself in the automatic
vacuum brake, in connexion with the details of which many patents were obtained.
The firm has specialized in the production and development of fittings for
locomotives, and its injectors, "Dreadnought" ejectors, steam-brake valves
and steam-sanding valves are used almost exclusively by the leading railway
companies all over the world. The works occupy about 120,000. ft2.
of floor space and comprised a brass foundry, smithy, machine and fitting
shops, packing shop and testing rooms for injectors and cylinders. There
were about 460 men employed and the normal output was 40 tons of finished
brass mountings and 2,000 vacuum brake cylinders per month. In the drawing
office were kept complete sectional models of the firm's specialities which,
with the model brake stand consisting of a train of 50 cylinders and 1,700
feet of piping, ejectors, van valves, etc., form a ready means not only of
obtaining accurate data with regard to the performance of the firm's products,
but for educating drivers and firemen in the proper use and working of the
apparatus they handled. These facilities were greatly appreciated, not only
by those conveniently situated, but by Mutual Improvement Societies throughout
the country, and hy railwaymen home on leave.
London Midland and Scottish Railway Company. Carriage
and Wagon Works, Newton Heath. 713-14.
Works opened in 1877 to manufacture carriages and wagons for the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, additions being made to the original
building in 1896 when the paint shop and mess-rooms were erected, and in
1914, when the shop later used for carriage repairs was opened as a wagon
rcpairing shop. The area of the works was forty-five acres with a total shop
area of fourteen acres, the length of sidings being over thirteen miles.
Carriage Repair Shop This shop was built in 1914 (as a wagon repair
shop), covered an area of 126,808 ft2. and was heated and ventilated
on the Sturtevant “Plenum” system. The dimensions were 489 feet
long by 266 feet wide and it is equipped with one 20-ton and four 10-ton
cranes. Carriages were brought into the shop by a 40-ton traverser and the
repairs were performed under a progressive system. After the trimmings had
been removed, the carriages were lifted from their bogies in the lifting
bays on to movable trestles where both carriage and bogie progress down their
respective roads simultaneously, propelled at a constant speed by mechanical
power. The repairs necessary to the underframe and bogie were carried out
at their various positions. After leaving the lifting bays the carriage was
taken through the body repair and finishing stages, so that by the time the
vehicle was ready to leave the shop the trimmings and inside fitments had
been replaced, and the vehicle is ready for the paint shop. The shop is provided
with wheel lathes, smithy and a gas and pipe department.
Forge and Smithy.The principal apparatus in these shops were 2-ton
and 1-ton steam-hammers, 15-cwt. and 30-cwt. drop stamps, and a large Bulldozer
machine and a number of small steam-hammers. Steam was supplied from the
main boiler plant.
Saw-Mill. -Timber entered as rough scantling at one end of the building
and emerged at the other in a finished state ready for the building shops.
The mill was laid out in two sections, one for dealing with carriage pillars,
and the other for dealing with wagon scantlings, coach bottom sides and cant
rails. The machines were arranged in sequence of operations, and all machining
was done to limit-gauges, no hand labour being necessary on the completion
of the operations. The machines in this shop were of the latest type, and
included a six-cutter planer, large band saw, and double-ended tenoning
machine.
Body Shop Progressive system working was employed in this shop. The
doors, ends and quarters were built in jigs, compressed air being used for
driving home the tenons, and pneumatic screw driving machines for fixing
the screws. The floor of the coach was built on the underframe, and afterwards
the whole of the sections were assembled thereon. On the completion of this
stage the vehicle moved forward stage by stagc at stated intervals until
completion; the first coat of paint was applied before the vehicle went into
the paint shop. A portion of the body shop was partitioned off for the coach
finishers, the polishing room being adjacent. The various fluids were applied
where possible by spraying.
Wagon Shop Three shops were provided for building and repairing wagons
with progresiive system working. The timbers were supplied to size and no
hand work except on assembling was necessary. All materials were delivered
at the correct height as the vehicle progressed towards completion.
Machine Shop. This shop was provided with tools for machining members
for steel underframes, and the metal details used in the building and repairing
of carriages and wagons. Internal transportation used petrol and electric
tractors and trailers. For power and lighting, current was taken from the
Manchester Corporation, and the power house was equipped with two 500 kw.
rotary converters, working at 250 volts d.c. and two 250 kw. ac . transformers
for the sawmill machinery working at 416 volts, the lighting being on a separate
circuit at 200 volts d.c.
London and North Eastern Railway Company, Locomotive
Works, Gorton. 714-15.
The works originated in 1849, when the locornotivc, carriage and wagon
workshops of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway Company were
transferred from Newton, Cheshire. Later the works at Gorton became thc
headquarters for the construction and repair of locomotives, carriages and
wagons, and for the manufacture of a portion of the permanent way requirements
for the Engineer of the Great Central Railway Company. Owing to the increased
stock on that railway the space available at Gorton was found insufficient,
and in 1907 the carriage and wagon work was transferred to new works at
Dukinfield. The whole of tho Gorton works was then made available for the
construction and repair of locomotives, cxcept that portion utilized for
the manufacture of permanent way apparatus. The area covered by the works
and running sheds was approximately forty-six acres, and the site was bounded
on the north by Whitworth Street (which runs parallel with Ashton Old Road),
on the south by the LNER main lines from Manchester (London Road) to Sheffield
and London, and on the east by Cornwall Street (off Ashton Old Road), from
which street the main offices and works were reached.
Messrs. Nasmyth, Wilson and Company, Patricroft.
729.
The firm was founded in 1836 by James Nasmyth, whose name will always
he associated with his invention of the steam-hammer and whose life history
is perpetuated by the writings of Samuel Smiles. The works, situated on the
LMS Railway about six miles from Manchester, occupy the historic corner where
the original railway between Liverpool and Manchester crossed the first canal
built in this country by the Duke of Bridgewater. Originally the works
manufactured locomotives, steam-engines and machine-tools of all descriptions.
However, on patents being taken out for the steam-hammer, the activities
of the firm were directed solely to the production of this tool, for which
there was a large demand both at home and abroad. After the patent rights
of the steam-hammer lapsed, the works again took up the manufacture of
locomotives, etc. The customers of the firm included the chief railways of
the world. In addition to the usual machine and erecting shops equipped with
a number of modern machine-tools, and arranged according to modern ideas
of organization, the works contained its own forge and iron foundry. About
700 workmen were normally employed throughout the different departments.
With the consulting engineers the firm had been instrumental in carrying
out a number of new standard designs of locomotives of metre gauge for the
Indian State Railways, and had developed several interesting types of locomotives
of various gauges for 'work in the Crown Colonies.
The Superheater Company, Trafford Park. 737
The works are devoted entirely to the manufacture of superheater
apparatus of the “ M.L.S.” (marine, locomotive and stationary)
type, and contain specially designed machinery for dealing with the various
operations in the manufacture of elements. As built in 1914, there were only
two bays, but the shops then comprisd five large bays forming one block covering
over 50,000 ft2. Each bay was served by fast overhead cranes.
Of particular interest was the manufacture of the return-bend which was carried
out by the “ M.L.S.” machine forging process without welding. There
are three complete plants for this process capable of dealing with tubes
up to 3 inches diameter. The tubes were heated in oil-fired furnaces preparatory
to the forging operation. The plant comprised special apparatus for bending,
offsetting, testing, etc., and since its installation upwards of
one-and-a-quarter million ends had been prcduced.
One bay was used as a machine shop where superheater headers were machined,
and much of the plant had been specially adapted for the work. Extensive
use wais made of compressed air at 100 psi to operate machines. Cast iron
was the material employed for locomotive headers, whilst the marine and
stationary headers were made of steel. For the tests of superheater elements
and headers prior to dispatch, hydraulic pressure up to 2,500 psi was available.
The output of headers exceeded 1,250 per annum, whilst the annual output
of superheater elements exceeded 68,000, some weighing as much as 7 cwt.
and containing up to 230 feet of tube each. 300 workmen were employed.
Stanier, W.A.
The heat treatment of locomotive parts. 1069-73. illus., 3 diagrs.
At Swindon it was the practice to treat all steel stampings and forgings
so that the structure of each part was in the best condition to resist the
strains and stresses to which it would be subject in service. The heat treatment
took place in horizontal gas-fired furnaces with adjacent quenching
tanks..
Johnson, W. Arnold
Alloy steels for locomotive construction. 1087-97.
Awarded a prize of £5 for this Paper, which was read before the
Graduates' Section, North Western Branch, in Manchester on 11th October 1928.
Alloy steels considered included those with vanadium; chromium-vanadium;
Vibrac steel manufactured by Armstrong Whiworth used for the coupling-
and connecting-rods of the Royal Scot class of locomotives which is a
nickel-chrome-molybdenum steel. The composition was: carbon, 0.3%; silicon,
0.15%; manganese, 0.6%; phosphorus, 0.03%; sulphur 0.04%; nickel 2.5%; chromium,
0.6%; and molybdenum,0.6%. It was claimed that the molybdenum content prevents
temper brittleness. The high-tensile steel used on the LNER Pacific locomotives
has the following composition: carbon, 0.33%; silicon, 0.21%; manganese,
0.60%; sulphur, 0.032%; phosphorus, 0.039%; nickel, 3.42%; and chromium,
0.60%. It has a tensile strength of 58 tons: this waas employed high-tensile
alloy steel connecting- and coupling-rods. This contributed to reducing
hammer-blow..
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