Steam Locomotive Development

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE DEVELOPMENT Although there were numerous predictions and suggestions of steam-propelled carriages, notably those of Sir Isaac Newton, in 168o, Cugnot's steam-driven road wagon in 1769 and Murdock's in 1784, there is little authentic information as to when actual locomotion by steam power first occurred, but there is definite record of the first success in heavy haulage, obtained on a pre pared track, in England, when Richard Trevithick, a Cornish mine captain had his first locomotive built in i8or. Trevithick's next locomotive (1803), had four wheels, all drivers, 4 ft. 6 in. diameter, and the boiler was 6 ft. long and had a return flue, bringing the stack over the fire door. There was only one cylinder, which was 8 in. diameter, by 54 in. long. Trevithick found that smooth tread wheels had sufficient adhesion, and that the exhaust steam, when turned back in the stack, could be effectively utilized to promote combustion in the fire-box.

The Rocket.

Between Trevithick's steam engine of 1803, and the "Rocket" (1829), came the Blenkinsop colliery locomotive, built by Fenton, Murray and Wood of Leeds in 1812, Hedley with his "Puffing Billy" in 1813, Stephenson's "Blucher" in 1814 and various other developments. After George Stephenson produced his first locomotive his energies were devoted to the improvement of the steam locomotive by the various stages which led up to the "Rocket." The Stockton and Darlington Railway Company, the first public railway, was opened in 1825, and Stephenson was the engineer of the "Locomotive," which was built by him in that year. Several other locomotives were built, but none were entirely satisfactory. In 1829, the directors of the Liverpool and Manchester railroad offered a prize of L500 for the best locomotive engine. There were originally ten competitors, but the number was reduced on the morning of the trials to five : "The Novelty," "Sans Pareil," the "Rocket," the "Cycloped" and the "Persever ance." The trials lasted seven days, after which on Oct. 26, 1829, Stephenson's "Rocket" which was the only engine that fulfilled the conditions of the competition, was awarded the prize. When drawing a load equivalent to three times its own weight, the "Rocket" travelled at the rate of 12-1 m. per hour ; and with a carriage and passengers at the rate of 24 m. an hour, with the cost per mile for fuel about 3 pence. Its success was due to the combination of the tubular boiler, suggested by Henry Booth, and a suitably proportioned blast pipe, first used by Richard Trevithick, and a simple power transmission mechanism in the direct drive between the cylinder piston and the driving wheels. The principal characteristics of the "Rocket" were : boiler pres sure 5o lb. ; cylinders 8 by 161 in. ; one pair drivers, 3 ft. 84 in. diameter; boiler, 3 ft. 4 in. diameter, by 6 ft. long; fire-box, 3 by 2 ft.; boiler tubes, 23 ft. 3 in. ; fire-box heating surface, 63 sq.ft.; boiler tube heating surface, 7 sq.ft.; total heating surface, 138 sq.ft.; weight of engine, about 9,500 pounds.

Other Early Developments.

The early canal, quarry and coal mining engineers in the United States favoured the building of railroads as the result of their investigations in England at about the time that public opinion was being influenced in that direction there. About i800 the American people began to realize the need of highway and other inter-communication as a means for developing the extensive unsettled districts of the country. The difficulty of constructing artificial waterways, the slowness of canal boats and the freezing of transportation channels for a con siderable part of each year, gave impetus to the movement. In 1828, John B. Jervis, chief engineer of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, convinced of the feasibility of rail motive power, presented a plan to the management, with the result that Horatio Allen, assistant engineer, was sent to England, to study railroad operation and to contract for rails and locomotives.

Jervis planned to bring the anthracite coal of the Susquehanna valley, by rail, into the valleys of the Delaware and the Hudson rivers, and on to the ocean. Allen in 1828 contracted for four locomotives. The locomotive "America," furnished by Robert Stephenson and Company, arrived in New York on Jan. 15, 1829. It was transported up the Hudson river and through the canal from Rondout and cleared Eddyville on July 16, 1829. There its record is lost, and so far as is known, it was never operated in America. The other three locomotives built by Foster, Rastrick and Company, of Stourbridge, England, were the "Stour bridge Lion," "Delaware" and "Hudson." The "Stourbridge Lion" reached New York on May 13, 1829. It was transported up the Hudson to Rondout, and by canal to Honesdale, Pa. It was set up and made a trial trip on Aug. 8, 1829, this being the first operation of a locomotive in the Western Hemisphere. The second and third locomotives from Foster, Rastrick and Company arrived in New York on Aug. 9 and Sept. 17, 1829, respectively. Their subsequent history is obscure. The "Peter Cooper," the first locomotive built in the United States, was successfully operated on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, as early as Aug. 28, 1830. A speed of from 5 to 18 m. per hour was attained with a car and 23 persons, and the average tractive force developed represented about 1.43 h.p. or more than three times as much as the "Rocket" developed. This improvement was due to the higher pressure steam used by the "Peter Cooper." On Jan. 4, 1831, the Baltimore and Ohio offered $4,000 for the best American engine of 31 tons, to pull 15 tons, on level track at a speed of 15 m. an hour. Phineas Davis won the prize with the "York," a vertical engine with four 3o in. wheels. In 1832 the "Ironsides"—Matthew Baldwin's first engine—was put into service in the United States. After a trial and some imperfections had been remedied, it was put into regular service and did duty on the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown railroad and others for over 20 years. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com pany was a pioneer in the United States, it having been chartered by the State of Maryland on Feb. 27, 1827, and incorporated on April 24 of the same year. Its centenary pageant and exhibit held near Baltimore, Md., during 1927, gave a graphic exhibition of transport since the first settlement of the nation. For this exhibit the "Tom Thumb," built by Peter Cooper, of New York in 1829-30, to prove the practicability of steam operation, was reproduced and operated. The original "Tom Thumb" ran suc cessfully on the rails of the Baltimore and Ohio and was followed by the "Thomas Jefferson," 1834; "Winans Camel Back," 1848; "William Mason," 1856, and the "J. C. Davis," 1875, first pas senger engine of the Mogul type used by the Baltimore and Ohio. The first Mallet type locomotive built in the United States in 1903-04, Baltimore and Ohio No. 2,400, named "John E. Muhl feld," was exhibited, as well as numerous later steam and electric locomotive designs. The "King George V.," No. 6,000, the most powerful locomotive in Great Britain, was also sent over for the pageant. This locomotive, on its trial trip, ran from Paddington to Plymouth, a distance of 2264 m. in 4 hours and 2 minutes, at the rate of 61.7 m. an hour, with a load of 410 tons. It is of the ten-wheel type, with four cylinders, 161 by 28 in. ; the inside cylinders are connected to the forward pair of drivers, and the outside cylinders to the second pair of drivers. The boiler pres sure is 25o lb., drivers, 78 in. diameter, weight on drivers, 151,200 pounds.