All,
Its been a while in posting but the summer is here and i am back in the basement working on a layout. My question relates to the Texas and Pacific 0-8-0 switchers. In the 1927 Train shed Cyclopedia there is a picture of the 0-8-0 switcher for T&P with a tender booster. My question relates to the external pipe running from the Smokebox to the ‘turret’ (at least that where it looks like it goes). Is this an external dry pipe? I notice a few feet back from the smokebox the pipe has an external valve and then close to the turret is looks like a whistle on the pipe. Can someone tell me a little bit about these fixtures? In addition there is a small dome ahead of the stack and i am guessing a superheater appliance.
Anyone wager to discuss? You can see what i am talking about in this image…
http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/steam/0-8-0/489/texas-and-pacific-railway-steam-0-8-0-489-image-417.html
All my Best,
NC
That whistle looking thing might be a relief valve of some type.
well, since few others have jumped in on this, i am going to offer a couple of educated guesses.
i am not familiar with T&P steam power but this engine probably has a front end throttle for snappier performance when kicking cars. if we could see the other side, i’ll bet the throttle linkage runs the entire length of the boiler with an equalizer crank midway to prevent “creeping”. that would account for the extra dome ahead of the stack. throttles were often located in the steam dome but if they were closer to the steam chest then there was less lag in getting steam pressure into the cylinders. if that guess is right, then, the large pipe would be the steam supply to the booster or superheated steam to the turret for auxiliaries.
google “superheater” or “front end throttle” and read more about it.
grizlump
I think “grizlump” has it right. That external pipe supplies superheated steam from the superheater header in the smokebox to the auxiliaries via the turret ahead of the cab, and also to the whistle mounted directly on the pipe. “Dry pipe” is the term usually reserved for the pipe connecting the steam dome to the superheater, so I’d call this a “supply pipe.”
By the way, these engines definitely had front-end throttles. They were located in the “dome” ahead of the smokestack since there wasn’t room in the smokebox of these 0-8-0s based on the USRA design.
Also, there’s no tender booster in that photo of the 489, although I believe that other T&P 0-8-0s did have them.
So long,
Andy
I would suggest the vertical item near the turret on the steam supply pipe IS the locomotive whistle.
The angled object on the small pipe ahead of the stack is a ‘smoke light’ so the fireman can tell the colour of the smoke at night, and adjust his firing valve and atomiser accordingly.
Not all roads applied these lights on oil burners.
Andy,
Sorry i have a few pics and i didnt post the one with the Tender Booster… here is the link with the booster:
http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/steam/0-8-0/490/texas-and-pacific-railway-steam-0-8-0-490-image-1123.html
Also from the other side the throttle is indeed front end seen here:
http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/steam/0-8-0/490/texas-and-pacific-railway-steam-0-8-0-490-image-959.html
There is another picture with what appears to be a pilot mounted feedwater but i cannot locate it at this time.
So what is meant by “Auxilliaries”?
Thanks for all the replies
Hello “NC,”
You’re welcome. The auxilliary appliances powered by steam are primarily the injectors, dynamo, and air compressor. If there were a pump for a feedwater heater system, that would be included too. The Lima Locomotive Works promoted the use of superheated steam for auxilliaries on its H-10 Mikados for the NYC and subsequent Berkshire- and Texas-type locomotives, the latter, of course, built for the T&P. However, this feature of the super power program wasn’t as widely accepted as the large firebox supported by a four-wheel trailing truck, or the feedwater heater.
So long,
Andy