Ernest Leopold Ahrons
Steam Locomotive Construction and Maintenance
Published by Good Press, 2020
EAN 4064066062774
Table of Contents
STEAM LOCOMOTIVE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
PREFACE
This book describes in an elementary manner some of the processes which the principal parts of a locomotive undergo during construction, and may be considered as a companion volume to the primer on The Steam Railway Locomotive in this series.
The subjects of foundry practice and general machine shop processes being dealt with in other primers, they are here considered briefly and only in their special relationship to locomotive construction. Naturally, no attempt can be made to deal exhaustively with machinery and processes in so small a book, and those readers who wish for a more detailed treatment of the subject may be referred to The Construction of the Modern Locomotive, by George Hughes, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., which, though not of very recent date, remains the only standard work on British locomotive workshop practice, and contains a mass of valuable information.
At the request of the publishers a chapter has been added on the maintenance of the locomotive in service, which gives, also in an elementary form, a short account of the wear and tear of some of the more important parts, and some idea of the repairs required.
The thanks of the author are due to Mr. G. J. Churchward, M.Inst.C.E., Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway, and to the various manufacturers of special machine tools for the photographic illustrations. For a few other illustrations, including the method of erecting the locomotive cylinders and frames, the author is indebted to the kindness of The Locomotive Publishing Co., Ltd.
E. L. AHRONS.
Nottingham,
December, 1920.
STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
CONSTRUCTION
AND MAINTENANCE
CHAPTER I
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
A large
volume would be required to deal fully with the manufacture of the many different parts of a locomotive and to describe the various processes in the foundries, smithy and forge, boiler-shop, machine shop, and erecting shops. Moreover the methods of construction of the various parts differ considerably in a small works, where perhaps only one or two engines are built at a time, from those in a large works, where from a dozen to fifty engines of the same class may be built to a single order. In the first case the methods and machines of an ordinary well equipped engineering shop would be used to a large extent, but in the second case there are employed special templates, “jigs,” fixtures, and above all, special machinery adapted for certain definite operations. The cost of such special machinery and appliances requires a large
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Fig. 1.—Diagram Illustrating the Manufacture of Locomotive Engine and Tender.
capital outlay, which could not profitably be expended by a small works. It pays to make the necessary special time and labour-saving tools and appliances only when several similar engines are built together, or, as in many railway works, when much of the “motion work” and other parts of one class of engine are interchangeable with those of another class. Naturally when the conditions are such that a large number of similar engines can be constructed together with the help of special tools and “jigs,” the cost per locomotive is very considerably reduced. An isolated engine of a new design is necessarily expensive, but it generally pays a railway company to build such an engine, so that it can be tested thoroughly, and the necessary modifications and alterations made before placing a large order.
Progress of Work through the Workshops. A general idea of the order in which work passes through the various shops may be gained from Fig. 1, beginning with the raw materials. The latter term may and generally does include a considerable quantity of semi-finished material. Steel castings, axles, and tyres may be mentioned specially in this connection. One or two locomotive works, both of the railway companies and private firms, make their own steel castings, but generally these are purchased from outside manufacturers. The same applies to rough forged axles. Tyres are, in most cases, rolled at the mills of the steel makers who make a speciality of such work.
The diagram Fig. 1 explains itself, but there are considerable variations in the practice at different works. For instance, boiler mounting work is frequently done in an annexe of the boiler shop itself. Of general machine shops there are frequently two or even three, one or two being devoted to the