Cheshire Lines--Manchester to Liverpool. | -- | 51 |
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With this problem then before them, increased weight, increased speed, and
increased duty, the locomotive superintendents of our various railways
have designed numerous types of engines, of which the author proposes to
give a brief account, confining himself entirely to English practice, as
foreign practice in addition would open too wide a field for a single
paper.

Commencing then with passenger engines for fast traffic, and taking first
in order the Great Western Railway, we find that it holds a unique
position, as its fast broad gauge trains are worked by the same type of
engine as that designed by Sir Daniel Grooch in 1848, although, of course,
the bulk of the stock has been rebuilt, almost on the same lines, and
rendered substantially new engines. They are single engines of 7 ft. gauge
with inside cylinders 18 in. diameter, and 24 in. stroke; the
driving-wheels are 8 ft. in diameter, and there are two pairs of leading
wheels, and one of trailing, all of 4 ft. 6 in. diameter. The total wheel
base is 18 ft. 6 in.; the boiler is 4 ft. 6 in. diameter, and 11 ft. 3 in.
long. The grate area is 21 square feet, and the heating surface is, in the
fire-box, 153 square feet; tubes, 1,800 square feet; total, 1,953 square
feet. The weight in full working order is, on the four leading wheels, 15
ton 18 cwt.; driving wheels, 16 tons; trailing wheels, 9 tons 10 cwt.;
total, 41 tons 8 cwt. The tender, which is low-sided and very graceful in
appearance, weighs 15 tons 10 cwt., and will hold 2,700 gallons of water.

The boiler pressure is 140 lb. on the square inch, and the tractive power
per pound of steam pressure in the cylinders is 81 lb. These engines take
the fast trains to the West of England; the Flying Dutchman averages 170