The Baguley valve gear is a type of steam engine

valve gear The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle. It can also serve as a reversing ...

invented by Ernest E. Baguley, the Chief Draughtsman of the W.G. Bagnall company of locomotive manufacturers and patented in 1893. It was used by Bagnall during Baguley's time there, then by his own company of

Baguley Cars Ltd Baguley Cars Ltd (later Baguley (Engineers) Ltd, then E. E. Baguley Ltd) was a British engineering company, specialising in railway locomotives. it was founded in 1911 by Ernest E. Baguley and subsequently acquired by Drewry Car Co to form B ...

History

The

was invented by Ernest E. Baguley, the Chief Draughtsman of the W.G. Bagnall company of locomotive manufacturers and patented in 1893. A modified version was introduced in 1895 which eliminated a curved link. Following Baguley's departure from Bagnall's in 1901 that company developed the Bagnall–Price valve gear which was primarily based on

Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgian railway engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes named without the final "s", since it ...

. Baker identifies one common feature retained from Baguley in Bagnall–Price: "the application of the lap and lead motion by oscillating the expansion link (or sector) bodily, and thus superimposing this motion on the. normal die block travel, the lead remaining constant in all positions of the gear." Baguley formed his own company,

, in 1911, which constructed

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...

vehicles. In 1920 a petrol-hydraulic engine, works No. 621, which had been started in 1914 but delayed by

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was completed as an steam locomotive works No. 2001 with original Baguley valve gear, the only standard gauge locomotive to ever be so fitted. The Company went on to complete 30 more steam locomotives through to 1928 all of which were fitted with Baugley value gear, mostly the modified variant.

Operation

The valve gear is used to operate the inlet and outlet valves of reciprocating steam locomotives. It uses a

rocking sector Rocking may refer to: *Rocking chair *Uprock, the street dance known as "Rocking" Music Albums *Rockin' (The Guess Who album) *Rockin' (Frankie Laine album) 1957 Songs *"Hajej, nynjej" Czech children's carol, recorded as "Rocking" by Julie Andre ...

whose motion is driven via a link from a

crankpin A crankpin or crank pin, also known as a rod bearing journal, is a mechanical device in an engine which connects the crankshaft to the connecting rod for each cylinder. It has a cylindrical surface, to allow the crankpin to rotate relative to the ...

between the

coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mov ...

and connecting rods. The ends of this link are circular and offset from the

pivot Pivot may refer to: *Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system *More generally, the center point of any rotational system *Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body *Pivot turn, a dance move Companies *Incitec Pivot, an Austra ...

s. On these circular bosses the sector is oscillated by a second link from the rod to an extension to the rear of the sector.

Locomotives with Baguley valve gear

Only a few locomotives with Baguley valve gear remain, the list is known to include: * ''Isabel'' at

Amerton Railway The Amerton Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in the English county of Staffordshire. It is owned by Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Limited, a registered charity, and operated by volunteers. Construction of the railway started in ...

, an built in 1897 by W. G. Bagnall. * Ledo Coal Mines 885 at the

National Rail Museum, New Delhi The National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, displays exhibits on the history of rail transport in India. The museum was inaugurated on 1 February 1977. The museum spans over an area of over 11 acres and the indoor gallery compris ...

, a built in 1897 by W. G. Bagnall. * ''Rishra'' at the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway, an built in 1921 by

Baguley Baguley ( ) is an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in Wythenshawe, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,794. Baguley is derived from the Old English words Bagca, badger, and Leah, clearing or meadow. Historically in Cheshi ...

History

Operation

Locomotives with Baguley valve gear

References

Footnotes

Sources