Steam Locomotive Construction and Maintenance

by Ernest Leopold Ahrons

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
CONSTRUCTION
AND MAINTENANCE

describing workshop equipment and practice in
the construction of modern steam railway
locomotives, with notes on inspection,
testing, maintenance and repairs

by

E. L. AHRONS
M.I.Mech.E., M.I.Loco.E.

LONDON
SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.
PARKER STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2
BATH, MELBOURNE, TORONTO, NEW YORK
1921

Printed by
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd
Bath, England

CONTENTS

chap.		page
	Preface	v
I.	General considerations affecting methods of construction	1
II.	boiler shop	8
III.	Foundries	27
IV.	Forgings, springs, etc.	35
V.	Machine shops—frames and cylinders	46
VI.	Machine shops—axles and wheels	56
VII.	General machine shop	70
VIII.	Erecting shop	80
IX.	Setting the valves	96
X.	Inspection and testing	107
XI.	Locomotive maintenance and repairs	116
	Index	133

ILLUSTRATIONS

fig.			page
1.		Diagram illustrating the manufacture of locomotive engine and tender	2, 3
2.		Sections through locomotive boiler	10
3.		Radial drilling machine for boiler plates	12
4.		Diagram of plate-bending rolls	13
5.		Boiler shell drilling machine	14
6.		Hydraulic flanging press	16
7.		Completed locomotive boiler	25
8.		Axlebox moulding machines and moulds, G.W.R. Iron Foundry, Swindon	30
9.		Iron foundry, Swindon Locomotive works	33
10.		Blocks for forging straight axles	36
11.		Stages in forging a crank axle	38
12.		Buffer forging	40
13.		Forged buffer casing	42
14.		Pieces for forging buffer casing	42
15.		Stamping shop with drop hammers	43
16.		Underhung laminated spring	44
17.		Frame plate	46
18.		Punching the outline of the frame plate	47
19.		Marking-off cylinders	49
20.		Marking-off cylinder port faces	50
21.		Double cylinder-boring machine	51
22.		Horizontal drilling and facing machine for cylinders	53
23.		Straight axle	56
24.		Centre driven axle lathe	57
25.		Crank sweep milling machine	59
26.		Horizontal turning and boring mill for wheel centres and tyres	61
27.		Boring tyres on horizontal boring mill	62
28. 29.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Tyre fastenings	63
30.		Locomotive wheel lathe	65
31  to  34.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Tyre gauges	66
35.		Wheel balancing machine, Great Western Railway, Swindon	68
36.		Cast iron cylinder for piston rings	72
37.		Tools in turret for machining piston rings	72
38.		Grinding a piston rod	74
39.		Crosshead and slide blocks	75
40.		Milling connecting rods	77
41.		Trammelling the frames	81
42.		Erecting locomotive frames and cylinders	83
43.		Marking the valve spindle for valve setting	100
44.		Finding the dead centres	102
45.		Locomotive testing plant, Great Western Railway, Swindon	114
46.		Oval tube holes and cracked tube plate	119
47.		Patch on firebox plate	121
48.		Bushed tube holes in tube plate	122
49.		Cracked and broken stays, with heads wasted away inside firebox	123
50.		Tread of tyre showing wear and section after re-turning	127