Engine room

“ If the engine is a single one, it must have a large fly-wheel, or a driving-wheel large and heavy enough to answer the same purpose. A good sensitive governor wanted. The engine requires a good sensitive governor, so as to keep the speed regular when some of the lamps are turned on or off. When the engine and dynamo are in the main engine-room, the throttle-valve, or a stop-valve, should be in a convenient place for the engineer on watch to get at so as to instantly shut off the steam if the belt slips off or breaks. ”

“ A system of bracing for both the chimney platforms and coal bunkers is carried down to the foundations in traverse planes about 30 feet apart.
The sixth tier of beams constitute a flat roof over a portion of the building at the center and sides. In the engine room, at this level, which is 64 feet above the engine-room floor, are provided the two longitudinal lines of crane runway girders upon which are operated the engine-room cranes. Runways for 10-ton hand cranes are also provided for the full length of the boiler room, and for nearly the full length of the north panel in the engine room. ”

“ The lower-deck is given up to stores, coal bunkers, the engine room, the stoke-hold, a stack of electric accumulators which keep the electric lights going when the engines aren't working, and the gymnasium. The engines are designed not for speed but for smooth running. We can whack up to twelve knots an hour but our average is eight. ”

“ Machinery Cars.—Six machinery cars are provided, each containing one engine installation, with a direct-driven propeller fitted at the aft end. These compartments give the mechanics easy access to each of the six engines, and allow them to handle all parts of the machinery. Engine room telegraphs of the electrical type communicate between the forward compartment and each of the machinery cars.
Whereas the living quarters and the control compartment must be heated by electric radiators, arrangements can be made to warm the machinery cars by utilizing the exhaust heat. ”

“ The steam-engines in motor-cars are not very different from the engines used to run locomotives, factory machinery, or street-rollers, but they are much lighter and, of course, smaller—very much smaller in proportion to the power they produce. It will be seen how compact and efficient these little steam plants are when a ten-horse-power engine, boiler, water-tank, and gasoline reservoir holding enough to drive the machine one hundred miles, are stored in a carriage with a wheel-base of less than seven feet and a width of five feet, and still leave ample room for four passengers. ”

“ Engine rooms and other machinery spaces should be provided, wherever practicable, with soundproof centralized control rooms for engine-room personnel. Working spaces, such as the machine shop, should be insulated, as far as practicable, from the general engine-room noise and measures should be taken to reduce noise in the operation of machinery. ”

“ Tanks for the reception of latex, scrap rubber, etc., should be placed along the opposite wall to the machines, and the intermediate length of the building should be entirely free from fixtures. It was not uncommon in older factories to find the engine situated in the middle of the floor, so that what with the space occupied by the engine, and the space rendered unavailable by the belt-drive, the real accommodation of the factory was sadly diminished. In no modern factory should the engines be brought into the main room. ”

“ The engine is, indeed, a beautiful working model, moving with its strong arm the entire machinery used throughout the building, yet so quiet that, without seeing it, you would hardly know it was in motion. In the same room is the boiler, of the locomotive tubular pattern, large enough not only to furnish steam for the engine, but also for heating the entire factory, and furnishing heat for all things requisite in the building. ”

“ But this advantage of saving room comes much more prominently forward in marine engines, especially in war ships, where every inch of room saved is valuable; and in the new type of triple-cylinder engines now coming so much into vogue in the mercantile marine, whether those engines be only the ordinary three-cylinder engines with double expansion, or the newer, triple expansion engine, expanding the steam consecutively through three cylinders—the form of marine engine which promises to come into use wherever high-class work and economy are required. ”

“ But, what is much more important in a locomotive engine, a portion of the weight of the engine is saved without any sacrifice of its power. There is still another great advantage attending this process. The feeding water in the worm just mentioned, while it takes up the heat from the surrounding steam in the blowing box, condenses 1/6th of the waste steam, which is thence conducted to the tank, from which the feeding water is pumped, saving in this manner 1/6th in weight and room of the water necessary to be carried in the carriage for feeding the boiler. ”

“ All the work not painted is highly polished.
The whole is surrounded by a bronzed rail, and a cast-iron flooring, ornamented with stars in relief, covers the floor.
The engine house is about 60 feet square, and 60 feet high. The boilers are placed in a fire-proof room adjoining; they are three in number, 26 feet long, 7 feet in diameter, and are ordinarily used at a pressure of 50 lbs.
The engine works two draining pumps, each 63 inches in diameter, having 8 feet stroke, one being connected to each arm of the beam. ”

“ The steam, passing through the cylinder, went into an air condenser. The power of the engines was communicated from the piston rods to the driving wheels of the carriage by sweep rods, the lower ends of which were provided with driving pinions and detents, which operated upon toothed gear fixed to the hind carriage axle. The object of this mechanism was to keep the driving pinions always in gear with the toothed wheels, however the engine and other machinery might vibrate or the wheels be jolted upon uneven ground. ”

“ From the boiler the steam goes through the throttle-valve—the handle of which is by the driver's side—direct to the engine, and there expands, pushes the piston up and down, and by means of a crank on the axle does its work.
The engines of modern automobiles are marvels of compactness—so compact, indeed, that a seven-horse-power engine occupies much less space than an ordinary barrel. The steam, after being used, is admitted to a coil of pipes cooled by the breeze caused by the motion of the vehicle, and so condensed into water and returned to the tank. ”

“ Chiefly in consequence of the high value of the ground, vertical engines were adopted at the new station; the proximity to the river made the foundations somewhat costly, and the risk of occasional floods rendered it desirable to set the level of the engine bedplates 20 inches above the floor of the building; the foundations of the engines are continuous, but are quite independent of the building. There are three compressing cylinders in each set of engines, one being above each steam cylinder. Two of these are employed to compress the air to about 30 lb. ”

“ An efficient system of connections and cross-overs is provided for all tracks, and there is ample storage capacity for 10 steam engines at the western end of the platforms and 20 electric motors at the eastern end, both of which are conveniently located for quick movement, with provision for additional storage tracks, if required. Steam engines, upon being disconnected, can be quickly sent to the main engine storage yard, and by the use of a loop track no turntable is required. ”

“ In fact, by high-pressure engines is meant engines in which no vacuum is produced, and, therefore, in which the piston works against a pressure equal to that of the atmosphere.
In these engines, the whole of the condensing apparatus, viz. the cold-water cistern, condenser, air-pump, cold-water pump, &c. are dispensed with, and nothing is retained except the boiler, cylinder, piston, and valves. Consequently, such an engine is small, light, and cheap. It is portable also, and may be moved, if necessary, along with its load, and is therefore well adapted to locomotive purposes. ”

“ The pressure on the key at headquarters releases the horses in the stalls of the various engine-houses. Instantly these clever beasts dash out of their boxes and place themselves at the shafts, the collar clasps around their necks and harnesses them to the engine; the men slide down the poles to their places, the gates swing open, and the engine is out and dashing along the road in less time than it takes to tell about it. ”

“ Fuel and water stations were placed at suitable points, and engine houses were provided 50 miles apart, built of the most substantial masonry, circular in form, 180 feet in diameter, surmounted by a dome, and having stalls for 22 engines each. Repair shops were attached to every engine house, furnished with every tool or implement that the wants of the road could suggest. ”

“ This chamber catches all the gases from the furnace, and causes the heat generated by them to be used to the utmost for the production of steam. Though heavier than any engine previously built, yet it is so made that no greater weight than usual rests upon any of the [45] wheels, thus throwing no extra strain on the railway or the bridges. The two couples of driving-wheels are placed before the furnace, and an additional couple of small wheels behind the furnace, and beneath the foot-plate where the driver and fireman stand. ”

“ As everyone is aware, it furnishes the favorite type of motor, combining extraordinary power with relative lightness, and making it feasible to carry fuel for a long journey in a receptacle of small compass.
With the gas engines a complication arises precisely opposite to that which is met with in the case of the cylinder of the steam engine—the tendency, namely, to overheating of the cylinder. To obviate this it is customary to have the cylinder surrounded by a water jacket, though air cooling is used in certain types of machines. About fifty per cent. ”

“ Special forms of engine have been devised for special kinds of work. Small, light tank-engines (Fig. 125) , carrying their own fuel and water without “tenders,” are used for moving cars about terminal stations and for making up trains; powerful, heavy, slow-moving engines, of large boiler-capacity and with small wheels, are used on steep gradients and for hauling long trains laden with coal and heavy merchandise; and hardly less powerful but quite differently proportioned “express”-engines are used for passenger and mail service. ”

“ Farther on the motor is swung over by a small hoist and lowered into position on the frame. Presently the dash slides down and is placed in position behind the motor. As the rapidly accumulating mechanism passes on, different workmen adjust the mufflers, exhaust pipes, the radiator, and the wheels which, as already indicated, arrive on the scene completely tired. Then a workman seats himself on the gasoline tank, which contains a small quantity of its indispensable fuel, starts the engine, and the thing moves out the door under its own power. ”

“ The engine makes thirty-six revolutions per minute, and for driving them there are twenty Corliss boilers capable of developing fourteen hundred horse-power, and of standing a pressure of one hundred pounds to the square inch. The platform on which the engine stands is breast high. From this, on either side, a long iron staircase mounts to the top of the A frames, where narrow walks with brass railings lead about among the moving masses aloft in the air. It is five times a man’s height from the platform to the top of the walking-beam. ”

“ In Fig. 12 it will be seen that the engine is located under the body of the carriage between the two axles, and that motion is imparted to the hind wheels by means of chains and sprocket wheels. The boiler is located at the back of the vehicle, the lower part projecting some distance below the rear axle. A small smoke stack at the rear of the body allows the gases of combustion to escape. Between the front wheels, a compact condenser is located, and into this the steam from the engine is exhausted. ”

“ Some automatic cut-off gear is almost always used. A high speed engine may attain 900 revolutions per minute, 600 being common. In many ways it is economical.
CONDENSING AND NON-CONDENSING.
In the traction engine the exhaust is used in the smokestack to help the draft, since the smokestack must necessarily be short. A stationary engine is usually provided with a boiler set in brickwork, and a furnace with a high chimney, which creates all the draft needed. In other words, the heated gases wasted in a traction engine are utilized to make the draft. ”

“ The completely repaired frame of the large machine is now stored in one of the workshops at the Smithsonian Institution. The large engine, the steam-driven models Nos. 5 and 6, and the quarter-size model, driven by the three [p282] horse-power gasoline engine, are on exhibition at the U. S. National Museum. The launching-car and a small amount of materials have also been stored away. ”

“ A gasoline engine should be mounted on a substantial base of concrete or heavy timbers, or on a well-built truck, and should be put in good order before the woman or girl begins to use it. The engine must be level. If more than one device is attached to it, be sure to use the right pulleys on the engine and the machine to be operated. An engine is usually equipped with pulleys of two or more sizes. The size of the wheel on the washing machine or vacuum cleaner must be of a size to make the desired number of revolutions per minute. ”

“ The two exciter engines are each direct connected to a 250 kilowatt direct current generator. Each engine is a vertical quarter-crank compound engine with a 17-inch high pressure cylinder and a 27-inch low-pressure cylinder with a common 24-inch stroke. The engines will be non-condensing, for the reason that extreme reliability is desired at the expense of some economy. They will operate at best efficiency when indicating 400 horse power at a speed of 150 revolutions per minute with a steam pressure of 175 pounds at the throttle. Each engine will have a maximum of 600 indicated horse power. ”