_RUNNING A FAST PASSENGER TRAIN._
Materials for the following notes were taken during a trip on the
Pennsylvania Railroad:--
AVERAGE SPEED.
The New York and Chicago limited express train, run on the Pennsylvania
system of railroads, passes over the distance of 912 miles between
the two cities in twenty-five hours and twenty-nine minutes, making
an average speed of 35.29 miles an hour. All the known resources of
mechanical science have been ransacked to produce appliances for
reducing delays, so that the highest possible percentage of the time
provided for the journey should be devoted to running. Water for
steam-making is collected, as the train runs along, from troughs
placed in the middle of the track; a system of absolute block signals,
controlled by vigilant train-dispatchers, provides a clear line; and
stops are made only for the purpose of changing the locomotives at
the end of divisions. The lines over which the train runs traverse a
multitude of cities and towns, most of them having the streets crossing
the track on the level; and a great many other railroads are crossed
at grade. Therefore, although the actual stops between Jersey City and
Chicago are only seven, a run exceeding ten miles without meeting with
the necessity of checking the speed is rare.
SPEED BETWEEN JERSEY CITY AND PHILADELPHIA.
The run of ninety miles from Jersey City to Philadelphia is made at an
average speed of 45 miles an hour, leaving an average of 34 miles an
hour for the remainder of the journey. To keep on time, some parts of
the first division must be traversed at a speed over 60 miles an hour,
while 50 miles an hour must be maintained over a considerable portion
of the other divisions.
REQUISITES OF A HIGH-SPEED LOCOMOTIVE.
The first essential for a high-speed locomotive is the means of
generating steam freely as fast as it is used up by the cylinders. The
next consideration is properly designed steam-distribution gear, and
well-proportioned machinery, so that the heat energy produced by the
boiler may be converted into useful work in propelling the engine with
the least possible loss of power. To handle the fast trains between
New York and Philadelphia, the mechanical talent of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, aided by fifty years’ inherited experience, has produced the
form of engine known as Class K. This is an anthracite-coal-burning
locomotive, with 1,205 square feet of heating-surface to supply steam
to cylinders 18 inches by 24 inches, which turn two pairs of coupled
drivers 78 inches in diameter. The traction force of the engine is thus
(18^2 × 24)/78 = 99.69 pounds for each pound of effective pressure per
square inch of the pistons. The valves are the plain slide, with 1¼
inch outside lap, no inside lap, 1/16 inch lead in full gear, and a
full travel of 5½ inches. The steam-ports are 16¾ inches long and 1½
inches wide; while the exhaust port is 3¼ inches wide, securing free
emission of steam.
MAKING UP THE FIRE.
Locomotives belonging to this company are not permitted to cool down,
unless the fire has to be drawn that work may be done. At the end of
a trip, the fire is cleaned and banked to wait for the next run. By
getting to the round-house two hours before train-time, we find our
engine receiving the first work of preparation for the trip. The fire
is spread over the grates, and a fresh supply of coal laid over the
whole fire. To make an engine steam freely with anthracite coal, it is
very important that the fire should be properly burned through before
starting out. About two hours’ time is needed for this, so that the
mass of coal will get properly ignited without the aid of the blower.
A fire that has to be forced along with the blower never proves
satisfactory.
GETTING READY FOR THE TRIP.
The engineer and fireman reach the round-house about half an hour
before train-time, and each proceeds to do his own line of work
preparing the engine for the run. The engineer attends to oiling
round,--an important matter where ninety miles have to be passed
without stopping. Each bearing and rubbing surface is provided with
an oil-cup, with feed carefully regulated to supply the required
lubrication. Mechanical ingenuity has arranged excellent methods for
securing regular lubrication, but the care and skill of the engineer
are needed to keep them working properly. As he moves round the engine,
his trained eye detects the smallest defect; and, as he examines
every cup and reservoir, the touch in time that prevents delay is
given wherever needed. At the same time the machinery gets a final
inspection, and the air-pump is started going. Meanwhile, the fireman
has been attending to his duties,--giving the fire its finishing
touches, filling oil-cans, and brushing the dust off the cab-fittings.
Now we back up to the train. The air-hose is coupled, two minutes’ fast
pumping of the air-pump charges the car reservoirs with their full
pressure of air, and we are ready for the start. While waiting for the
signal, I look into the fire-box, and see a furnace 10 feet long and
42 inches wide filled up with coal to a depth of 10 inches. It takes
about a ton and a half of coal to make this fire ready for the road.
The fire was level on the surface; but the greatest depth was in the
front, where the grates slope downward. The fire-box alone gives a
heating-surface of 120 square feet.
THE TRAIN TO BE PULLED.
The train consists of five Pullman sleeping-cars and one dining-car,
the six cars weighing 200 tons. The engine and tender, in working
order, weigh 74 tons, which gives a total weight of 274 tons to be
moved by the force exerted by the pistons.
THE START.
As the signal is given to start, the engineer drops the links full
forward by means of the steam reverse gear, pulls the throttle lever
open, and the engine responds by moving forward. A sprinkling of sand
is dropped upon the rails, the throttle-valve is opened a little wider,
and with resounding exhausts the engine is working into speed. From the
start, the necessity of pushing forward, and utilizing every second of
time, is recognized. The train has not moved more than its own length
when a speed of ten miles an hour is reached. The engineer now hooks
back the links to cut off at ten inches, pulls the throttle wide open,
and “lets her go.” While waiting at the station, steam was kept down to
130 pounds by the injector and heater. The injector was shut off just
before starting. When we got out about half a mile, the steam-gauge
began to point towards 140, the popping pressure; and the engineer
started the injector, and it was kept going continually during the
remainder of the trip. It is a No. 9 Sellers, and can supply the boiler
during the heaviest work without reaching the limit of its capacity.
There is a No. 8 injector on the fireman’s side, but it is never used
to run by. The injector and air-pump are two things about these engines
that seldom need to be touched on the road after they are set to work.
GETTING THE TRAIN OVER THE ROAD.
The first two miles out of Jersey City a grade of about 40 feet is
ascended, but the summit is reached in four minutes; then the links are
hooked up to the 8-inch cut-off, which is the ordinary running-point
with this train. Next mile is passed in 85 seconds, but is finished
by shutting off steam to let the engine roll over a bridge. Here the
valves are oiled, a duty which is repeated three times during the
trip. Although steam was shut off for only about 300 yards, the speed
was perceptibly reduced; and it took a minute and a half to make the
next mile. Three miles succeeding that were traversed in 3½ minutes,
one of them being run in 59 seconds; but again a demand for reduced
speed intervened in the shape of the street-crossings of Newark,--the
city being approached by a sharp curve. Here the speed was reduced to
12 miles an hour, and two miles were run at a rate under 30 miles an
hour. A spurt is again made; and the second mile, after getting clear
of the street-crossings, is passed in 63 seconds, the next mile in 61
seconds, when another reduction of speed for Elizabeth streets and a
railroad crossing takes place. After passing this town, a speed of one
mile in 57 seconds was attained, several miles having been traversed
in a minute each: then came the watering-point, where the speed was
reduced under 20 miles an hour. Thus it was through the whole trip,--a
struggle to get up speed: then comes the necessity for dissipating
part of the power gained in raising the load to the required velocity.
The engine maintained a speed of sixty miles an hour easily enough;
but it was a laborious proceeding, increasing the speed in a couple
of miles from a mile in two minutes to a mile in one minute. Several
heavy grades were ascended, one of them three miles long, which reduced
the speed in the second two miles to 30 miles an hour, although the
links were dropped to ten inches cut-off. The highest speed attained
during the run was a mile in 55 seconds. The greatest speed was
reached with the links hooked back to cut-off at 7 inches. It is well
understood by engineers running these trains, that high velocity
can only be attained with the lever well notched back. Sixty miles
an hour is nearly the maximum speed these engines will make cutting
off at 8 inches, and the train is so heavy that the amount of steam
represented by that cut-off is needed to maintain the speed on curves
or slightly ascending grades. The fastest running is done under the
favorable conditions of a straight, level track, or descending grade,
where the engine can handle the train at 6 or 7 inches cut-off. When
running over 60 miles an hour, if the lever be advanced a notch the
speed will decrease; for more steam gets into the cylinders than can be
exhausted at the high piston velocity, and back pressure ensues, which
acts as a brake upon the engine. Even with the big driving-wheels of
this locomotive, the piston-speed at 60 miles an hour is very high.
In traversing a mile in one minute, the wheels make 258½ revolutions,
giving a piston-speed of 1,034 feet.
HOW THE ENGINEER DID HIS WORK.
The engineer exhibited remarkable skill and intelligence in handling
the engine. The water was carried steady without any fluctuation,
which enabled the fireman to maintain the steam at an even pressure.
Where the speed had to be reduced, no more braking was done than was
absolutely necessary; and the brake was applied so gradually, that it
was hard to distinguish that the speed was not being reduced merely
through natural loss of inertia. Every time the steam was shut off,
the links were dropped, giving the valves full travel. Many engineers
do not recognize the urgent necessity for doing this. They will shut
off steam, and leave the engine running hooked up, a practice which
proves destructive to valves, their seats, pistons, and cylinders.
Take the case of this engine cutting off at six inches of the stroke.
As the piston moves from the point of cut-off to the point of release,
a partial vacuum is formed in the cylinder; and, as soon as the valve
opens the exhaust, the hot, cinder-laden gases from the smoke-box
rush in through the nozzles to fill the void in the cylinder. During
the return stroke, compression begins about eight inches before the
completion of the stroke; and, as the compression is too great for the
valve to hold down, it is jerked violently away from its seat, causing
the clattering so well known where engines are running hooked up after
the steam is shut off. I have known several cases of valves getting
“cocked” from this cause alone.
QUALIFICATIONS THAT MAKE A SUCCESSFUL ENGINEER.
The ability to manage his engine skillfully, so that its best
powers may be economically developed, is the first requisite of
a good engineer; but that qualification must be supplemented by
others scarcely less essential. Sagacity, sound judgment, judicious
self-reliance, are attributes which advance men in all callings; and
they are peculiarly valuable possessions for the man who presides over
the safety of a railway train. It would be hard to find a business
where capacity for suddenly adapting circumstances to ends is likely to
prove so useful as it is to an engineer. Some men get along smoothly
with engine and train so long as every thing goes on regularly,--trains
on time, and engines in perfect order. But let the least difficulty
arise, and they succumb like a house of cards. Imbecile, helpless
creatures, they are vanquished by the first cloud of trouble. Their
true vocation is away from railways. Self-confidence is not always
popular; but the engineer who is perfectly satisfied with his own
ability to grapple successfully with every emergency, to overcome every
difficulty, and avoid every danger, is the individual who gets trains
promptly over the road. He who possesses adaptability for railroading
acquires a mastery of the work quickly, but mere affinity for the
calling will not invest a man with the aggregation of facts respecting
the business which are requisite for meeting the emergencies of train
service. This must be acquired by industry and observation.
HOW THE FIRING WAS DONE.
The fireman’s part of the work of getting the train over the road was
no less skillfully done than that of the engineer. During the first
seven miles of the trip, he did nothing for the fire other than crack
up some coal-lumps. All the coal burned was broken down to pieces about
the size of two bricks. When he seemed to think the proper time had
come, he glanced at the fire, then threw in one shovelful of coal. To
pitch coal upon the right spot in a fire-box ten feet long, requires
considerable skill when the engine is swinging at a mile-a-minute
speed; but this youth seemed equal to the task. He did not pile in a
load of coal, and then climb up into the cab, to wait for it to burn,
as is the practice of the poor fireman. After he began to fire, he kept
at it. About every two minutes he got in a shovelful of coal. When the
engine was working hard getting into speed, he varied his intervals
of firing; but he worked on a system, which was to keep up the body
of fire, and maintain the temperature as nearly even as possible. He
followed scientific methods, whether he understood any thing about
science or not. He never hesitated about the spot where the coal was
going, but pitched it in, and closed the door quickly, waiting till the
turn for the next installment came round. By this means the steam never
felt the chilling effect that results from heavy-charge firing. The
steam-gauge index kept pointing at 135 as steadily as if it had been
fastened there. About eight miles from Philadelphia the fireman stopped
putting in coal, and in the remainder of the run he several times used
the hoe to level the fire.
When we stopped at the station, about four inches of glowing cinders
covered the grates.