Train Stuff

They really are magnificent machines , and the power of steam, when you look at what drives the engine it is really small compared to the whole engine...

http://www.petersrailway.com/How-Steam-Trains-Work.aspx

I want one, I think I could handle one this size...

DePippo79 wrote:Hello all. Think I figured out how to get pictures off my phone and onto my computer. Here's a picture of a locomotive power assembly broken down. Cylinder, head, piston and rod. Grey thing is a air dryer. Own a job out of Boston so I get to walk through the shop on the way to the yard. More to follow. Matt

Reply to first post with the picture ..
May help to put this in perspective..This EMD 645 ( General Motors) power assembly has 645 Cubic Inches to it. Each assembly in the engine does!
This engine can have 6, 8, 12, 16, or 20 cylinder assemblies. These two cycle engines run around 800-850 Max Rpm, with a Blower. So much power!!
Great picture!

Yes Formulabruce undo a snap ring and you can replace a piston. Detailed pictures once I get them off my phone. Anyway I like the song.



My new favorite railroad. The Erie Lackawanna.
Matt

DePippo79 wrote:Yes Formulabruce undo a snap ring and you can replace a piston. Detailed pictures once I get them off my phone. Anyway I like the song.



My new favorite railroad. The Erie Lackawanna.
Matt

Well, as far as power assemblies go, I tend to blow them through the crankcase. If I can't make the locomotive do as I wish it to, it gets broken a lot of times. Of course having a dead train with an engine spewing a 100 gallons of lube oil everywhere, gumming up the railroad; tends to anger supervision for some odd reason.

So, on a steam locomotive, the "cold" steam exhausts into a Venturi, causing a low pressure which in turn drafts the fire?

This also must cause the "puffing" smoke out the stack, no?

I've always wondered why there was no chimney on a locomotive...now I know....lol!

*****************

How is the draft started if this is the case?

Is there an external device to draft the fire until steam pressure is up?

Also, there must be some type of plumbing to allow steam to flow into the Venturi while the train is not in motion?

scalabro wrote:So, on a steam locomotive, the "cold" steam exhausts into a Venturi, causing a low pressure which in turn drafts the fire?

This also must cause the "puffing" smoke out the stack, no?

I've always wondered why there was no chimney on a locomotive...now I know....lol!

*****************

How is the draft started if this is the case?

Is there an external device to draft the fire until steam pressure is up?

Also, there must be some type of plumbing to allow steam to flow into the Venturi while the train is not in motion?

This is how it works. Note old Wood burning steam engines Do NOT have this and have a big, "full size" "Chimney"
Steam can be released some as its made to help draft the fire, however most steam used a softer coal than we burn and it gets going a lot faster and easier.
edit. I noticed that the coal pile in North Conway , NH for their 0-6-0 Grand Trunk engine, is Anthracite, and its very hard, looks like stove size Blackshak and it burns white ash.....

Thank you FB.

So no external draft device on initial start?

scalabro wrote:Thank you FB.

So no external draft device on initial start?

A lot depends on if the boiler has super heaters and the engineer. Really not needed with softer coal as much as one may think trying to start a coal fire at 40 degrees outside and less draft. At Stasburgh I watched a fire start with no draft help. Many times the coal dust burns. Like in our stoves the small tiny coal pieces at the bottom of the bag can be like fireflys in the stove. a kero rag will light one with dry coal.

Formulabruce wrote:

scalabro wrote:Thank you FB.

So no external draft device on initial start?

A lot depends on if the boiler has super heaters and the engineer. Really not needed with softer coal as much as one may think trying to start a coal fire at 40 degrees outside and less draft. At Stasburgh I watched a fire start with no draft help. Many times the coal dust burns. Like in our stoves the small tiny coal pieces at the bottom of the bag can be like fireflys in the stove. a kero rag will light one with dry coal.

Ok.

Is the "superheater" the red box shown just aft of the Venturi in the animated video?

What do you want to know about steam engines?
About the Superheater. Steam is collected in the dome at the top of the boiler. When the engineer opens the throttle the steam goes down the, "dry pipe," then it flows into a manifold which directs the steam into a nest of smaller tubes which are looped into the fire tubes. Here the steam is exposed directly to the hot exhaust coming down the fire tubes. The steam is dried (all suspended water vapor is evaporated) and the steam is superheated to above 700 degrees. Now the steam is plastic and invisible. It has the characteristics of a pure gas at this point. It's power is increased which translates into a whole lot more horsepower for the engine and it also raises the locomotive's thermal efficiency quite a bit. It saves a lot of water and coal while making the engine more powerful.
After the steam is superheated it goes into the valve chamber above the cylinders where is is distributed into the cylinders according to where the engineer has set the reverse lever.
The engineer controls the power of the locomotive by means of the reverse lever. The engineer can control how much steam is admitted to each stroke of the cylinder. After the engine is started the reverse lever is more important than the throttle however they are worked in tandem.

I thought you may be along soon....

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

So does power and efficiency go up as the cylinders warm up?

I would assume so as those huge iron cylinder castings must tend to cool the gasses somewhat.

The engineer controls the power of the locomotive by means of the reverse lever. The engineer can control how much steam is admitted to each stroke of the cylinder. After the engine is started the reverse lever is more important than the throttle however they are worked in tandem.

Could you please explain this a bit more without writing a book? I always wondered how they did reverse...

grumpy wrote:I want one, I think I could handle one this size...

This reminded me.
When we lived on Long Island and our kids were young, we'd take them here for rides. http://longislandlivesteamers.org/
It was only a 1/2 mile from my brother's house. I think my brother and I got more of a kick out of it than the kids did. We'd have stayed all day if it was just the two of us.

Some of the engine's detailing was wonderful.

Paul

I used to live on LI too, where did you live?