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The High-Stepping Beauties
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Joseph stood on the platform, his eyes tightly shut, straining with his whole self to hear the whistle. It was time. The schedule said it was time, the whistle would tell. There it was, the distant chime. It was the first notes of a hymn always played by Mr. Schneider. Then there was the cloud . . . all white steam. And then the engine, a gleaming sparkling thing of power. Big wheels with bright red centers, shining rods dancing up and down like they were at a ball, glittering brass, blue trim, and sparkling iron. Under the window of the cab it said "Thomas." Joseph was excited. And today, he was to go, to Grandma's.
As time passes in Grantville, geared locomotives will not meet all the needs of the railroads. Stronger, faster locomotives will be needed to fill the demands that shipping and transporting people will bring. While geared locomotives are strong enough, they are, by their very nature, slower; and longer distances will require higher speeds for the trains.
The faster locomotives will probably be what is known today as American-class locomotives. This locomotive has a four-wheel pilot truck and four driving wheels; with a pilot wheel being about 24 inches in diameter, and a driving wheel being as much as 70 inches in diameter. It was commonly designated as a 4-4-0, and was the first truly successful class of locomotive made in North America. The four-wheel pilot allowed the locomotive to follow tight curves on relatively rough track, and the four drivers allowed a balanced and even application of power from the cylinders to the track.
These locomotives weigh somewhere between 20 and 90 tons, and should be able to pull about 15 full-size passenger cars or 25 to 33 freight cars. The locomotives are known as dual-purpose locomotives, because they can haul freight or passengers, with almost equal capacity.
The first locomotives in this class built after the Ring of Fire will probably have wooden frames with the cylinders bolted on. Also, all the running gear and suspension will be bolted to the wooden frame. The driving wheels will be large castings made of iron with steel tires fitted to the outside of the wheel. The drivers will also need counterbalancing weights cast into the wheel itself. This balances the thrust from the cylinders and the driving rods.
The complicated form of the drivers will require significant progress in casting large pieces of iron. The cylinders of the locomotive will probably be around 15 inches in diameter and will also be cast of iron. They then must be bored out to the piston diameter. Steam enters into the cylinders via a valve system, which will select the proper end of the cylinder for the entry of steam, allowing the cylinder to both push and pull, making it dual acting. The valves are controlled from a cam mounted on one of the axles ...
That ends the preview. Probably in the middle of a sentence. Sorry.