steamman
Private
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Location
- Columbus, Ga
A gas pedal on a car can be used to speed up and slow down, a transmission improves gas mileage and add reverse. A locomotive had something like a transmission although unlike a transmission it did not pass power.
Walschaerts valve gear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walsc.../en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walschaerts_valve_gear
The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear invented by Belgian railway mechanical engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844 used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam engines. The gear is sometimes named without the final "s", since it was incorrectly patented under that name. It was extensively used in steam locomotives from the late 19th century until the end of the steam era.
Similar to the Walchaerts is the Johnson reverser.
Seen in action in this video starting at 1:30
Stephenson was an earlier method.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenson_valve_gear
Inside Stephenson valve gear as applied to a French 0-6-0 outside cylinder mixed traffic locomotive (Midi 801) in 1867
In 1841 two employees in Stephenson's locomotive works, draughtsman William Howe and pattern-maker William Williams, suggested the simple expedient of replacing the gabs with a vertical slotted link, pivoted at both ends to the tips of the eccentric rods. To change direction, the link and rod ends were bodily raised or lowered by means of a counterbalanced bell crank worked by a reach rod that connected it to the reversing lever. This not only simplified reversing but it was realised that the gear could be raised or lowered in small increments, and thus the combined motion from the “forward” and “back” eccentrics in differing proportions would impart shorter travel to the valve, cutting off admission steam earlier in the stroke and using a smaller amount steam expansively in the cylinder, using its own energy rather than continuing to draw from the boiler. It became the practice to start the engine or climb gradients at long cutoff, usually about 70-80% maximum of the power stroke and to shorten the cutoff as momentum was gained to benefit from the economy of expansive working and the effect of increased lead and higher compression at the end of each stroke. This process was popularly known as "linking up" or “notching up”, the latter because the reversing lever could be held in precise positions by means of a catch on the lever engaging notches in a quadrant; the term stuck even after the introduction of the screw reverser. A further intrinsic advantage of the Stephenson gear not found in most other types was variable lead. Depending on how the gear was laid out, it was possible to considerably reduce compression and back pressure at the end of each piston stroke when working at low speed in full gear; once again as momentum was gained and cutoff shortened, so lead was automatically advanced and compression increased, cushioning the piston at the end of each stroke and heating the remaining trapped steam in order to avoid temperature drop in the fresh charge of incoming admission steam.
Walschaerts valve gear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walsc.../en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walschaerts_valve_gear
The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear invented by Belgian railway mechanical engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844 used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam engines. The gear is sometimes named without the final "s", since it was incorrectly patented under that name. It was extensively used in steam locomotives from the late 19th century until the end of the steam era.
Similar to the Walchaerts is the Johnson reverser.
Seen in action in this video starting at 1:30
Stephenson was an earlier method.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenson_valve_gear
Inside Stephenson valve gear as applied to a French 0-6-0 outside cylinder mixed traffic locomotive (Midi 801) in 1867
In 1841 two employees in Stephenson's locomotive works, draughtsman William Howe and pattern-maker William Williams, suggested the simple expedient of replacing the gabs with a vertical slotted link, pivoted at both ends to the tips of the eccentric rods. To change direction, the link and rod ends were bodily raised or lowered by means of a counterbalanced bell crank worked by a reach rod that connected it to the reversing lever. This not only simplified reversing but it was realised that the gear could be raised or lowered in small increments, and thus the combined motion from the “forward” and “back” eccentrics in differing proportions would impart shorter travel to the valve, cutting off admission steam earlier in the stroke and using a smaller amount steam expansively in the cylinder, using its own energy rather than continuing to draw from the boiler. It became the practice to start the engine or climb gradients at long cutoff, usually about 70-80% maximum of the power stroke and to shorten the cutoff as momentum was gained to benefit from the economy of expansive working and the effect of increased lead and higher compression at the end of each stroke. This process was popularly known as "linking up" or “notching up”, the latter because the reversing lever could be held in precise positions by means of a catch on the lever engaging notches in a quadrant; the term stuck even after the introduction of the screw reverser. A further intrinsic advantage of the Stephenson gear not found in most other types was variable lead. Depending on how the gear was laid out, it was possible to considerably reduce compression and back pressure at the end of each piston stroke when working at low speed in full gear; once again as momentum was gained and cutoff shortened, so lead was automatically advanced and compression increased, cushioning the piston at the end of each stroke and heating the remaining trapped steam in order to avoid temperature drop in the fresh charge of incoming admission steam.
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