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Title: |
1907 Article-Fowler, John, & Co., Three Cylinder Compound Steam Tractor |
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Source: |
Engineering, V84, 13 Dec 1907, pg. 818 |
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Insert Date: |
1/13/2017 9:23:52 PM |
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The greatest novelty in the way of steam hauling engines is a three-cylinder compound tractor of the enclosed type, which is exhibited by Messrs. John Fowler and Co. (Leeds), Limited, and is the first engine of this kind we have seen. We illustrate it above. It has been constructed in com£ with the Light Locomotive Act and the Heavy Motor-Car Order of 1904, and weighs when empty under 5 tons. The driving-wheels are 5 ft. in diameter by 8 in. wide, and the front wheels 3 ft. 7 in. in diameter and 5 in. wide; the working pressure of the boiler is 200 lb. per square inch, and the arrangement of the cylinders consists of one high-pressure and two low-pressure cylinders of unequal size. The large low-pressure cylinder and the high-pressure cylinder are placed side by side, and the small low-pressure cylinder is placed tandem with the high-pressure and works on the same crank, the arrangement of these two cylinders being clearly shown by our illustration. The large low-pressure cylinder, however, cannot be seen. The object of this arrangement, as stated by the makers, is to increase the ratio of expansion and equalize the power on each crank. In case of emergency, when the maximum power is required, a valve can be opened, and steam admitted direct from the boiler to the low-pressure cylinders, and the engine will then work as a double-cylinder engine, the high-pressure piston being in equilibrium. Another advantage claimed for the arrangement is that it produces a greater number of exhaust blasts in the chimney, in a given time, and so produces a clearer fire than is the case with an ordinary engine. The brackets which carry the crank-shaft and the second-motion shaft are in one casting, the bottom portion of which, combined with the side-frames of the engine, forms an oil - tight casing, in which the motion works, and produces splash lubrication. The tractor is mounted on Fowler's spring gear for the hind and front axles, and is fitted with patent locking-gear, which is operated by the driver from the foot-plate. The wheels are faced with wood and steel strips alternately. For winding purposes the tractor is fitted with a winding-drum, and 50 yards of steel-wire rope, the rope being capable of being worked fore and aft. |
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1907 Fowler, John, & Co., Three Cylinder Compound Steam Tractor
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