I’m reading a book, that says by the 1850’s, steam locomotives had : equalizing levers and springs, and engine brakes. What are those? (Please talk to me like I’m 4 years old-I’m not mechanically minded[D)] ) Thanks
Norris, the equalizing bars were a sort of suspension system component that kept the pressure on the rails of each of the drivers at optimal level when the track was rough. It is sort of like a car’s suspension where one gives, and the other compensates by supporting the opposite corner and other side so that the car doesn’t tilt too much in that direction. As for springs, I am pretty sure they just mean either upwards cupped leaf springs or downward cupped leaf springs. Think of the curved leaves with their tips all upward or downward as they are nested together and clamped.
Brakes, initially, were done with valve cut-off settings above the steam cylinders at the front of the engine, and perhaps with hand-brakes, but about them I am unsure…never read about them. The valves let steam cyclicly into the cylinders, but their timing of closing the inlets and outlets determine how effectively the engine moves. With the right timing of the valve so that cutoff happens to create backpressure against the motion of the piston, you get braking…of sorts. The rest of the train was hand-cranked with wheels and chain to rods below the frame to pull the individual cars’ brakes tight. Many roof walkers lost their lives doing what they were known as…brakemen. Eventually the engines got airpumps, the twin-lunged Westinghouse cross compounds most notably widely used. These compressors pumped air into reservoirs on the engine and permitted the use of air actuators on brakes on the engine. At about the same time, hoses linked the engine to the train cars and they also had air actuated brakes…as they do to this day.
More detail than that…I’d have to do some reading meself.
-Crandell
Thanks Crandell. That makes sense. The context of the discussion, was in reference to things American trains had, in advance of European trains of the time. It noted that British railroads of the period were flatter, smoother, and somewhat less curvy, thus there had not been a need to develop these improvements yet in Britain.
Not true at all. Springs, equalising/compensating beams and engine brakes were in common use in the UK and Europe by the 1850s - US practice was not in advance of either.
Mind you, most tender locomotives of that era only had handbrakes bearing on the tender wheels, which must have made life very interesting for the fireman and the guard, who had the only other brakes on the train.
Mark.
Ha! I knew Mark would poke his head in. [:D]
But, Murph, what is the source you were referring to? I think we need to know.
-Crandell
| 1872: | George Westinghouse patents the first automatic air brake. This is basically the same system as is used by today’s railroads |
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Henry Campbell designed and James Brooks built a 4-4-0 engine in 1839 that had “equalized” drivers…was also the “first” to have what we would call a “3 point suspension” this came about account that US trackbeds werent all that good and the ridged wheelbased engines of the time would derail often and there were more English engines in the US then US engines…English engines upto about 1845-50 where pretty much copies of what ever the Stephensons were building and even then they were mostly ridged framed 0-4-0 (Patentee types and Planet types) 0-6-0(Long Boiler types)and some 2-2-2(some with drive wheels over 8 ft!!!)…granted the English were ahead of US builders when it came to brakes and early firebox experimentation… the US had a much larger group of people trying to out-do the compition…this comes from 2 sources…The Story of American Railroads by Stewart Holbrook NY NY 1947 and The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways by Hamilton Ellis London 1956…its worth mentioning that the coment about the compition in the US between early designers and builders comes from the English author and book…
note on early US engine brakes…the very first engines like the Best Freind of Charleston and the DeWitt Clinton as examples had crude lever brakes…fireman pulled a lever HARD to push against the wheels…after around 1840 engines had small live steam cylinders to apply engine brakes but these were not to effective when it came to stopping the whole train
A not-very-reliable source, by the sound of it. But when has that ever stopped people posting things here? 
Cheers,
Mark.
Somwhat paraphrased, the OP claims that:
by the 1850’s, (US) steam locomotives had equalizing levers and springs, and engine brakes…things American trains had, in advance of European trains of the time… British railroads of the period were flatter, smoother, and somewhat less curvy, thus there had not been a need to develop these improvements yet in Britain.
And this is simply not true. UK and European design practice in the 1850s included equalizing levers, springs, and engine brakes. Planet types, which were 2-2-0s, BTW were sprung - one is illustrated on page 31 of CHE’s book that you referenced. Most long-boiler 0-6-0 engines that I’m familiar with were equalised. The oldest locomotive I have worked on was a Stephenson-built 0-4-2 dating from 1854. It has springs, equalisation, and brakes.
The problem with relying on publications such as the two you quoted is that they are intended for a non-technical readership, and are not definitive sources on early locomotive design.
All the best,
Mark.
And this is basically irrelevant to the subject being discussed.
Cheers,
Mark.
points taken…i still look at most of Stephensons work as conformist…the firm didnt change designs until it had to…
i was not equating sprung drivers with an equalized springing system hence the mention of 3 point suspension as opposed to a ridged suspension…the Planet type you mentioned is indeed sprung but the axles are still limited in their movement in relation to the other axles…the Patentee and others still had srung axles but were n
Um… I’m not posting it and saying it’s the truth by any means. I asked for some explanation of the parts, as I’m unfamiliar with them. I added the context of the remarks, because it made them somewhat more relevent to my understanding. Thanks all for the explanations. The source is the book Nothing Like it i the World, about the transcontinental railroad*.*
Thanks, Norris. What’s a guy to do when he finds an error, but alter his understanding. I am happy that you made the effort to find out more about my heart-beat, the steam locomotive. And if you are on a learning curve, so am I. I’ll never know half of what Mark knows because I haven’t fired, run, or re-built such beasts.
I’ll live. [:D]
-Crandell