|
Lateral Motion Device
A lateral motion device is a mechanism used in some railroad locomotives which permits the axles to move sideways relative to the frame. The device allows easier cornering. Purpose Before the introduction of the lateral motion device, the coupled driving wheels on steam locomotives (often simply called "drivers") were held in a straight line by the locomotive's frame. The flanges of the drivers were spaced a bit closer than the rail gauge, and they could still fit between the rails when tracking through a mild curve. At some degree of curvature, though, the flanges on the center driver would begin to bind in the curve. The closer the front and rear drivers were, the smaller the radius of curve that the locomotive could negotiate. One solution was to make the center driver(s) "blind," i.e. without flanges on the tires. The other solution was to allow at least one of the axles (often the front driver) to move laterally relative to the frame, and such designs incorporated various devi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locomotive
A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight trains, companies are increasingly using distributed power: single or multiple locomotives placed at the front and rear and at intermediate points throughout the train under the control of the leading locomotive. Etymology The word ''locomotive'' originates from the Latin language, Latin 'from a place', Ablative case, ablative of 'place', and the Medieval Latin 'causing motion', and is a shortened form of the term ''locomotive engine'', which was first used in 1814 to distinguish between self-propelled and stationary steam engines. Classifications Prior to locomotives, the motive force for railways had been generated by various lower-technology methods such as human power, horse power, Gravity railroad, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GS-4
The Southern Pacific GS-4 is a class of semi-streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1941 to 1958. A total of 28 locomotives were built by Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio, with the first batch of 20 built between March and May 1941, and the second batch of eight built between March and April 1942. The initials ''GS'' stands for ''Golden State'' or ''General Service''. The GS-4s served as the primary motive power of SP's famous '' Coast Daylight'' passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, via San Luis Obispo, California. They also hauled the '' San Joaquin Daylight'' and the overnight ''Lark'', both of which ran between San Francisco and Los Angeles as well, although the former ran via the San Joaquin Valley and Tehachapi Pass. Some of the GS-4s were first assigned to haul troop trains during World War II. In the mid-1950s, SP began to modernize their mainline passenger trains with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimum Railway Curve Radius
The minimum railway curve radius is the shortest allowable design radius for the centerline of railway tracks under a particular set of conditions. It has an important bearing on construction costs and operating costs and, in combination with superelevation (difference in elevation of the two rails) in the case of train tracks, determines the maximum safe speed of a curve. The minimum radius of a curve is one parameter in the design of railway vehicles as well as trams; monorails and automated guideways are also subject to a minimum radius. History The first proper railway was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. Like the tram roads that had preceded it over a hundred years, the L&M had gentle curves and gradients. Reasons for these gentle curves include the lack of strength of the track, which might have overturned if the curves were too sharp causing derailments. The gentler the curves, the greater the visibility, thus boosting safety via increa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luttermöller Axle
A Luttermöller axle is an unusual steam locomotive component. Steam locomotives with several axles or wheelsets connected to one another by coupling rods are not able to negotiate tight curves well. In order to assist such locomotives, the manager of the Orenstein & Koppel factory in Berlin, Dr. Luttermöller, built the axle system named after him. Overview With this system, the outermost of several sets of successive driving wheel sets are not connected by coupling rods to crankshaft journals on the outside of the wheels, but by cogwheels located in the centre of the axles. The axles are housed in the locomotive frame such that they are able to move at right angles to the axis of the rails to a certain degree, likewise the cogwheels are able to slide relative to one another. In this way curves can be negotiated with less friction being generated. Use Germany For the Hamburg Harbour railway with its tight curves, the ten-coupled steam locomotives of Class 87 were built wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleminson's Patent
A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more wheelsets (two wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transport. A bogie may remain normally attached (as on many railroad cars and semi-trailers) or be quickly detachable (as for a dolly in a road train or in railway bogie exchange). It may include suspension components within it (as most rail and trucking bogies do), or be solid and in turn be suspended (as are most bogies of tracked vehicles). It may be mounted on a swivel, as traditionally on a railway carriage or locomotive, additionally jointed and sprung (as in the landing gear of an airliner), or held in place by other means (centreless bogies). Although ''bogie'' is the preferred spelling and first-listed variant in various dictionaries, bogey and bogy are also used. Railway A ''bogie'' in the UK, or a ''railroad truck'', ''wheel truck'', or simply ''truck'' in Nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beugniot Lever
The Beugniot lever (''Beugniot-Hebel'') is a mechanical device used on a number of locomotives to improve curve running. It was named after its inventor Édouard Beugniot. Overview Around 1860, when Beugniot was the chief engineer at the firm of André Koechlin, André Koechlin & Cie. in Mulhouse, he developed a system whereby Wheelset (railroad), wheelsets are housed in pairs in the locomotive frame, with side-play, and connected by a lever. These levers are fixed to the frame in the centre and thus enable the sideways movement of the connected axles in opposite directions. In this way, instead of being fixed in the frame, the axles are able to move sideways rather like a bogie, but clearly nowhere near as much. On locomotives with a side rod drive, the axle side-play is balanced using longer coupling pins (''Kuppelzapfen'') on which the coupling rods are also able to move sideways. Operation On running round a bend, the first axle is pushed sideways by the curve of the rails an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Articulated Locomotives
An articulated vehicle, articulated locomotive is a steam locomotive (rarely, an electric locomotive) with one or more engine units that can move independently of the main frame. Articulation allows the operation of locomotives that would otherwise be too large to negotiate a railroad's curves, whether mainlines or special lines with extreme curvature such as Forest railway, logging, Industrial railway, industrial, or mountain railways. Articulated locomotives saw service in many nations, but were very popular on narrow-gauge railways in Europe. The largest examples were developed in the United States, where the Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4s and the Allegheny H-8 2-6-6-6s were some of the largest steam locomotives ever built, with Union Pacific 4014, Big Boy 4014 remaining as the largest, and last of its kind, to still operate. Many schemes for articulation were developed over the years. Of these, the Mallet locomotive and its simple-expansion derivative were the most popular, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adams Axle
The Adams axle is a form of radial axle for rail locomotives that enable them to negotiate curves more easily. It was invented by William Bridges Adams and patented in 1865. The invention uses axle boxes that slide on an arc in shaped horn blocks, so allowing the axle to slide out to either side. This is similar to the movement of a Bissell truck, but with the notional centre point of the curve being where the pivot of the truck would be. This design, using slide bearings, is more expensive than one employing a shaft, but takes up less space. Trials In 1865 the Society of Engineers, London, made direct comparison between the radial axle, invented by William Bridges Adams, and a bogie design with an india-rubber central bearing invented by William Adams: during trials on the North London Railway the laterally sprung bogie was thought superior to the radial axle, but when William Adams moved from the NLR to the London and South Western Railway he adopted the design of his riva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4-14-4
The SZD Class AA20 was a one-off experimental 4-14-4 steam locomotive constructed in the Soviet Union by Krupp and the Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Factory in 1934 for the Sovetskie Zheleznye Dorogi (SŽD). Two locomotives were set to be built, but due to the construction of the railway's more powerful FD Class, only AA20-1 was built, leaving the second AA20 incomplete. Wheel arrangement The AA20 was a "4-14-4" (Russian notation: 2-7-2) locomotive (using the Whyte notation classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement). It featured four leading wheels, fourteen coupled driving wheels (seven axles) in a rigid frame, and four trailing wheels. Equivalent classifications in other notations would have been: * AAR classification: 4-G-4 *UIC classification: 2G2 (also known as German classification and Italian classification) *French classification: 272 * Turkish classification: 711 * Swiss classification: 7/11 * Russian classification: 2-7-2 History Prerequisites for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giuseppe Zara
Giuseppe Zara (Fermo, 1856 – Sanremo, 1915) was an Italian inventor. He was a member of the Società Italiana per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali, and the director of Ferrovie dello Stato from 1905. He graduated at the Technical Institute of Fermo in 1875, and started working as a repairing operator in Rimini, he was later sent to Florence where he worked as a designer. In the emergency of having faster and cheaper trains, he invented a simple bissel truck system to replace Mogul 130 in steam locomotives ( « ''Carrello Italiano'' ») which was used from 1907 to 1930 not only in Italian train companies, but also in others like the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans in France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan .... References Sources * ''Giuseppe Zara'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Degree Of Curvature
Degree of curve or degree of curvature is a measure of curvature of a circular arc used in civil engineering for its easy use in layout surveying. Definition The Degree (angle), degree of curvature is defined as the central angle to the ends of an agreed length of either an Arc (curvature), arc or a Chord (geometry), chord; various lengths are commonly used in different areas of practice. This angle is also the Body relative direction, change in forward direction as that portion of the curve is traveled. In an ''n''-degree curve, the forward Bearing (angle), bearing changes by ''n'' degree (angle), degrees over the standard length of arc or chord. Usage Curvature is usually measured in radius of curvature. A small circle can be easily laid out by just using radius of curvature, but degree of curvature is more convenient for calculating and laying out the curve if the radius is as large as a kilometer or mile, as is needed for large scale works like roads and railroads. By using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zara Bogie
A Krauss-Helmholtz bogie (''Krauss-Helmholtz-Lenkgestell'') is a mechanism used on steam locomotives and some electric locomotives to improve curve running. Operation The bogie comprises a carrying axle connected to a coupled axle via a shaft or lever. In straight running, any radial movement of the carrying axle results in a sideways movement of the coupled axle in the opposite direction. However, the carrying axle is centred by means of two heavy duty springs just behind it. In addition the pivot pin may be allowed to move sideways, but again is held centrally by heavy springs. When travelling round a curve, the carrying axle swings to one side causing the coupled axle to move sideways in the opposite direction. In this way radial forces during curve running are more or less evened out on both axles, so that riding qualities similar to those of a normal bogie are achieved and wear and tear reduced on wheel flanges and rails. The bogie is a type of pony truck and was named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
