Newsletterrlhs.org/Publications/Quarterly/PDF/nl24-3.pdf · I like to new format for the News-letter. I hope a majority of other read-ers do too. The articles selected for this issue

NewsletterVol. 24, No. 3 Summer 2004

2 / R&LHS Newsletter 24-3

Editor / Publisher: Clifford J. Vander Yacht2363 Lourdes Drive West

Jacksonville FL 32210-3410<[email protected]>

Editorial AdvisorsJim Smith

Bruce HeardJohn Gruber

Copyright © 2004 by The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc.Printed by Raintree Graphics of Jacksonville, Florida

R&LHS Archives Services, see address be-low. A list of available rosters may be obtainedfor $2.00.

Back Issues of Railroad HistoryMany issues of Railroad History since

No. 132 are available at $7.50 per copy. Forinformation on the availability of specific is-sues and volume discounts, write R&LHS Ar-chives Services, see address below.

Articles from the Bulletin & RailroadHistory

Copies of back issues of these publica-tions of the Society are available to membersat twenty cents per page ($5.00 minimum)from R&LHS Archives Services, see addressbelow.

Research InquiriesSource materials printed, manuscript,

and graphic are included in the Society’s Ar-chives. Inquiries concerning these materialsshould be addressed to R&LHS ArchivesServices, see address below. To help expediteour response, please indicate a daytime tele-phone number where you can normally bereached.

Membership lists & DocumentsMembership lists and copies of R&LHS

official documents are available from R&LHSArchives Services, see address below.

R&LHS Archives Services, PO Box600544, Jacksonville, Florida 32260-0544

Membership MattersMembership applications, change of ad-

dress, and other membership status inquiriesshould be sent to:

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charge, the Trading Post section of the quar-terly Newsletter and the R&LHS Website toadvertise items they wish to sell, trade or ac-quire or to seek information from other read-ers. This service is intended for personal, notgeneral commercial, use. All items should besent to Clifford J. Vander Yacht, see addressabove.

Commercial AdvertisingAnyone may present, with payment, dis-

play advertising to the quarterly Newsletterand the R&LHS Website to advertise any rail-road oriented items. All advertisementsshould be sent to Clifford J. Vander Yacht,see address above.

Locomotive Rosters & Records ofBuilder’s Construction Numbers

The Society has locomotive rosters formany roads and records of steam locomotiveconstruction numbers for most builders. Cop-ies are available to members at twenty fivecents per page ($5.00 minimum) from

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Newsletter Online:www.rrhistorical-2.com/rlhs/rlhsnews/rlhsnews.htm

R&LHS Newsletter 24-3 / 3

Comments on NewsletterIt looks just like RRH should look!

And the subject matter — locomotivesand railroad history. A radical ap-proach if ever I saw one. Looks andreads just fine! — Vern Glover

I enjoyed Eugene Huddleston’s ar-ticle on A. G. Trumbull and AMCvery much, most interesting, and withlogically developed conclusions. —Don Leach

I received … the excellent News-letter which I read nearly immediatelycover to cover. — Alden Dryer

The new form of R&LHS News-letter is great and am glad to see it. …I do think your latest version is a greatimprovement over the old. More classtoo. — Jim McFarlane

I like to new format for the News-letter. I hope a majority of other read-ers do too. The articles selected forthis issue were excellent too, althoughI am probably prejudiced in this re-spect since the one on “loops” waswritten by the late John Humiston, aChicago Chapter member. — CharlesStats

Note: Use CHARCOAL lighterfluid to help remove the tabs and towipe the glue off the paper. ^

PM #1225, at Bannister, Michigan, onMay 31, 2003, shows that the AMCdesign still runs very well. Many newparts (piston rings, stay bolts, maindriver springs, syphon, etc.) keep itrunning. Photo by Adrienne Scholl.Courtesy Michigan State Trust forRailroad Preservation (Project 1225).

COVER: D&RG #1526, a M-67, has justuncoupled from the caboose (shownto the left on the original print), so itwas probably providing helper serviceto the eastbound freight at MoffatTunnel in 1947. Don Ball, Jr. photo,RGM&HS collection.

Printing Delay for RailroadHistory No. 190

A problem has arisen with the four-color press at our print shop. A por-tion of No. 190 (Spring-Summer2004) was completed when the rollsmalfunctioned, necessitating a majordelay as new controls are ordered andinstalled. As of this writing (June 21),it appears that the issue won’t be inthe mail until the end of July.

I appreciate your understanding. Apreview of No. 190 can be seen at:www.r rhistor ical-2.com/rlhs/rrhistry/current.html

Mark Reutter, RRH Editor


Newsletter NotesI had a Mac attack my Newsletter

files of the previous issue. RaintreeGraphics’s PC went down, so theytransferred the Newsletter to theirMacintosh which doesn’t have frac-tions. On page three, end of para-graph on notes is 7.25 inches, pagesixteen, Alaska is 1.5% grade, andpage seventeen, Morenci is for 1.5miles. Also delete the two extra linesat bottom of page seven. ^

Photo “Contest”Sort of

About 70 of us, plus a few regu-lars, performed a reenactment of theGolden Spike Ceremony, completewith a tolling of the bells amid silencein tribute to President Reagan on June11th. I personally had a role of colorguard. Adrian Ettlinger, who knowsMorse Code, tapped out “DOEN” (hegot distracted by his speaking role) atthe proper moment. It was fun.

I now present the following chal-lenge. I will devote the center eightpages of the next issue to photos takenby the attendees with the best shotmatching the famous photo (see be-low for 1998 photo) as the 9x12 cen-ter fold. With some luck ($310.57more is needed for color printing tobe raised by advertising and/or do-nations) the full eight pages can be incolor. Send donations to me.

For those on the trips (yes, pleaseinclude all aspects of the convention)select your best shots and send themto me. If you took slides or color printfilm, send the slides or negative strips(you may include a print so I can seewhich one you want). All photos andnegatives will be returned. If you tookdigital photos, send, via e-mail or ona CD or floppy, the file as it came fromyour camera. Try to avoid JPG con-version and use compressed TIF ifpossible. Add your captions for fulleffect. The prize? National recogni-tion. ^

1998 R&LHS Convention. Courtesy of the Golden Spike National Historic Site.


Counterbalancing 10-Coupled Powerby Don Leach

Powering five driving axles in asingle engine (called “ten-coupled”for the number of drive wheels) of-fered a special challenge to steam lo-comotive designers and shop men. Re-ciprocating and rotating parts frompistons to drive wheels could causerough riding and damage to the trackwithout proper balancing. Previousbroad generalizations of this subjectsuggest an examination in detailwould be helpful. Variables affectingbalance and overall roughness of rideinclude reciprocating weight, driverdiameter, construction materials, con-necting rod design, expected operat-ing speeds, etc. The analysis of fun-damental mechanical principles devel-ops comparative “figures of merit” forevaluation. That is my intent here.

DESIGN

To understand the improvementsmade, one can first examine connect-ing rod design and practice during theperiod just before WW I and throughthe 1920s, the period when large10-coupled power first appeared andthen attained widespread use. A verycommon type of main rod design wasthe open back end, assembled with

large bolted blocks, brasses and retain-ers. This is commonly illustrated inperiod photos of USRA power, andpreceding and following power intothe mid-1920s. Its advantage wasquick convenient replacement of mainrod crankpin brasses, the brasses sub-ject to the greatest wear, without re-moving the main rod from the cross-head, considerably easing handling,and saving significant shop time.Similar designs were common in the19th century. This made perfect senseduring the “drag” era, with severelyrestricted speeds, an era which pre-vailed until the advent of Super Powerencouraged higher speeds

Its principal disadvantage was thelarge mass applied at the worst pos-sible location, from a counterbalanc-ing perspective, right at the maincrankpin, requiring great weight forcounterbalancing rotating weight,thereby reducing available weight tocounterbalance reciprocating weightand forces. This was most problem-atic on 10-coupled power. The largemass also imposed high dynamic loadson the crankpin at higher speeds.

During the late 1920s and into the1930s, as operating speeds increased,these connecting rods were replaced


with more modern closed-end de-signs, with varying provisions forbrass replacement, by “shrink fit” orin some cases requiring brasses castin place, or employing floating bush-ings, for the reasons just described.The improvement in connecting rodconstruction brought a significantimprovement in counterbalancing,and reduction in track maintenance.This rod replacement was often doneselectively according to engine assign-ments. For example, Pennsy installedmodern main rods on its N-2sa USRA2-10-2s, for general road service, butnot on its N-1s class assigned entirelyto mineral service to and from lakeports.

Another main rod design of inter-est, innovated by Lima with its Su-perpower initiative, was the tandemrod, sometimes called the articulatedmain rod by Lima. By employing afixed bushing in the main rod, whichhad a forked end surrounding the rear-ward side rod, a portion of main rodforces were transmitted directly to therearward drivers, thus reducing forceon the main crankpin. This innova-tion was likely motivated by the in-creased main crankpin loads fromLima’s high horsepower engines, andresulting wear and overheating ofbrasses. Conversely, this design alsoincreased weight at the main rod backend, aggravating counterbalanceproblems. This feature offered advan-tages at low speeds and with heavyloads, such as in climbing the Berk-

shires on the B&A, but these advan-tages would be overcome by theweight and counterbalance problemsas speed increases.

Some very clear illustrations oftandem rod use are provided inLocomotive Quarterly vol. VIII no.2, with the article “Texas Typesof the Burlington Route.” These2-10-4 engines were built by Baldwinin 1927 and 1929, designated class M-4 for coal service, and originallyemployed massive tandem rods,though constructed of chrome-vanadium steel (Railway Age 6/23/28), a major innovation. Theillustrations clearly show the changesto connecting rods resulting fromrebuilding to class M-4a, for improvedspeed in general service.

Reducing cylinder diameter to 28"from 31" on the CB&Q engines re-sulted in an 18.4% reduction in maxi-mum connecting rod compressiveload, and a corresponding reductionin cross-section. Further, installingconventional tapered main rods withfloating bushings and cross-counter-balanced disc main drivers achievedfurther counterbalance and speed im-provements. This required an alteredside rod with knuckle pins interme-diate to the 3rd and 4th drivers. Thelimited cutoff feature was also re-moved, to improve starting character-istics with the smaller cylinders.

It is interesting and logical thatBessemer and Lake Erie, which ac-quired 47 near duplicates of the


Burlington engines, made no changesto improve speed, since its Texas typesserved entirely in coal and iron oreservice. These also had a higher96,700 lbs tractive effort, since theydid not have limited cutoff. A dozenof these later served DM&IR.

It seems often to be assumed thatall 10-coupled power was similar, withsimilar limitations and problems. Thisis not the case, as the characteristicsdepend very much on individualspecifications and, of course, actualoperating conditions. The Union Pa-cific, for example, tended to empha-size speed in its tough competitivebattle with the Santa Fe and otherWestern roads. It limited its driveraxle loads to 59,500 lbs until the mid-1930s, long after others had raised lim-its sometimes to 70,000 lbs or more.It also specified the relatively modestcylinder dimensions at 29" X 30" forits 2-10-2s, producing a similarlymodest 70,500 lbs starting tractive ef-fort. These specifications allowedmuch lighter connecting rods andother reciprocating parts compared tosay the Erie R-1s and R-2s with their31" X 32" cylinders, and nominal83,000 lbs TE. All of these engineshad 63" drivers, which were standardfor medium sized (non-articulated)freight power preceding the era ofSuper Power, where 69" to 70" becamestandard.

The results were predictable, ac-tually. Union Pacific’s engines oftenattained 50 mph, (some sources say 60

mph, Locomotive Quarterly vol. XI no.3, “Union Pacific Engines in the BlueMountains”) and were regularly as-signed to mountain passenger service,while the Erie engines were really suit-able only for mineral or helper service,and became noted as rail kinkers whenassigned to merchandise traffic, when-ever they exceeded 30 mph (BaldwinMagazine, April-July 1934). Thismade the Erie Berkshires of the late1920s (with 70" drivers) most wel-come indeed! This comparison illus-trates that seemingly small changes inspecifications can produce major re-sults.

An important improvement camewith the 69"-70" drivers as first em-ployed by C&O T-1s of 1930. Thissizable increase in diameter on a2-10-4 allowed room for the requiredcounterweights in the larger drivers,and also reduced driver rpm, allow-ing 40-50 mph operation for ex-tremely large 10-coupled power withhigh tractive effort and heavy connect-ing rods. In 1937, Santa Fe employed74" drivers on its 5001 class and otherinnovations for improving power andspeed!

MATERIALS

The improvements made possiblewith high-alloy connecting rods aremajor, and often overlooked. In fact,it is no exaggeration to say that thiswas the most important single im-provement in the counterbalancing of


10-coupled steam power. This im-provement in material is dramaticallyillustrated in results reported for Chi-cago Great Western 2-10-4s by Rail-way Age, vol. 110 no. 14, 4/5/41.These Texas types were built in 1930by Lima and Baldwin as essential du-plicates of the Texas & Pacific enginesof 1925, which originated the type.When refitted with chrome-vanadiumsteel connecting rods and rebalanceddrivers, calculated dynamic augmentat 60 mph (that is, pounding on therails) was reduced from 34,200 lbs to2700 lbs, a figure even lower than theoriginal value of 3800 lbs at 20 mph(Table 3). Surprisingly, they retainedthe tandem rod construction origi-nally provided. Some roads usedchrome-nickel alloys instead. South-ern Pacific refitted fleets of engineswith alloy rods, extending even to lightHarriman 2-8-2s, after discoveringthat the lessened dynamic load re-duced brass wear enough to pay forthe improvement. Allowed compres-sive stress was increased by 25% overheat-treated carbon steel, whereastensile strength was increased consid-erably more.

All of the 10-coupled power notedfor fast running employed alloy rods,including Santa Fe 5000s, IllinoisCentral rebuilt 2-10-2s, Canadian Pa-cific Selkirks and of course the rebuiltBurlington and Chicago Great West-ern engines. Selkirks were allowed 65mph for regular passenger assign-ments, while IC 2-10-2s attained 60

mph on Iowa meat trains. Santa Fe5000s attained 70-75 mph in occa-sional passenger, express and trooptrain service.

An anecdote about WW II, and itsrestrictions by the War ProductionBoard on use of alloy steels is of in-terest. Some may recall that N&W wasnot permitted alloy steel connectingrods for its wartime class J-1 4-8-4s,nor metal for streamlining. They werebuilt with heavy carbon steel rods andlarger counterbalancing weights ondrivers. Many other roads encoun-tered similar restrictions. Santa Fe,however, was allowed alloy steel rodsfor its 25 wartime 5011 class 2-10-4s.The reasons are really quite logical,if one examines the details and cir-cumstances. N&W could achieve sat-isfactory speeds and operations withits modern 8-coupled 4-8-4s, operat-ing in “mountain” territory not re-quiring high passenger train speeds.The Santa Fe, however, would havebeen crippled in desert operatingspeeds with carbon steel rods on 10-coupled Texas types, over an arteryvital to supplying the Pacific war, sothey were provided the required al-loys. After the war, N&W, acquiringalloy rods, rebuilt and redesignated itswartime engines as class J, and appliedstreamlining. The 5011 class was no-tably heavier than the 1937 5001 classbecause of material restrictions oncomponents other than connectingrods, as were the 2900 class 4-8-4 com-pared to prewar engines, a situation


typical throughout the country. Insome cases, including for the 5011class, the added weight improved ad-hesion and over the road performance.

In retrospect, it is somewhat puz-zling that application of alloy rods wasnot more focused and selective. Sincethe major difficulty in weight controlis for the main driver, one would ex-pect flanged alloy main rods and cen-ter side rods, while slab carbon steelrods would seem perfectly satisfactoryfor the end main rods. Perhaps rail-roads wanted to avoid differing han-dling and machining characteristics,or a possible mix up on materials forreplacement rods. Perhaps there wasconcern over differing thermal expan-sion for dissimilar material. Manyroads did apply alloy main rods, whileretaining carbon steel side rods, a par-tial realization of potential economies,while maximizing operating benefits.

ANALYSIS

Mechanical fundamentals and as-sociated mathematics affect an under-standing of counterbalancing. Theappendix provides these fundamen-tals, with an explanation in simplifiedform for comparison purposes only,not for design. With these fundamen-tals, tractive effort is the predominantparameter, for two models, not driverdiameter as is often supposed. Rodmass increases as the square of driverdiameter, due to increased span lengthof connecting rods, compensated for

by reduced rpm, with effects inverselyproportional to the square of driverdiameter.

Table 1 presents numerical resultsof the inverse of Fc, required centrip-etal force, providing a useful figure ofmerit for comparison. Both modelsindicate results in reverse order oftractive effort, with but two excep-tions, the C&O T-1 and Pennsy I-1sa.These exceptions will be discussedbelow. The second model representedby equation (15A) is more sensitive,with a high/low ratio of 1.81, com-pared to 1.44 for the first model perequation (15). This agreement in-spires some confidence in the ap-proach. Engines with alloy rods areranked separately, since the two cat-egories are not directly comparable.

Table 2 addresses a fundamentalneglected by Table 1, that larger driv-ers provide more space for counter-balance weight. For present purposes,this space is considered proportionalto area, hence D squared. In fact, acubic relationship is possible, sincelocation of counterbalance weight atlarger diameters has more beneficialeffect than weight closer to the cen-ter. The analysis of this is complex,and is a focus of future work. Realis-tically, a difference in rank of 1 shouldbe considered insignificant, but 2would be significant.

Column (i) presenting a ratio of thetwo models’ results, shows somegroupings of engines with exception-ally high and exceptionally low TE.


There are some notable anomaliesbetween tabulated results, and knownperformance in operation. In particu-lar, the Pennsy I-1sa 2-10-0 shows alast place ranking in Table 2, but wasallowed 50 mph in service, thoughgenerally assigned to mineral trains,or as pushers on heavy grades.Pennsy’s early adoption of 130 lb railis likely a significant factor in the 50mph speed allowance. The I-1sa de-sign was actually quite sophisticated,with hollow-bored crankpins withgrease reservoirs, heat-treated carbonsteel flanged rods, and other featuresquite advanced for 1916. In fact,Pennsy data shows that the J-12-10-4s, nearly identical to the C&OT-1, had 37% more dynamic augmentat 50 mph compared to theI-1sa (Pennsy Q Class, Classic Power5, Exhibit 3), in spite of 70" driverscompared to 62" for the 2-10-0s. Hatsoff to Axel Vogt, for a great drag en-gine design, though they were knownto be rough riding for the crew. Thisshows that great design can transcendordinary limits.

The USRA heavy 2-10-2 of 1918-1919 shows quite a good ranking, yetthe Pennsy, with a fleet of 130, allowedonly 35 mph for this design, whileBurlington, Colorado & Southern andErie allowed 45 mph. The latter fig-ure, however, was after the massiveopen-end main rods were replacedwith modern designs. Later, afterWW II, Burlington and C&S installedchrome-vanadium main rods, achiev-

ing improved counterbalance and re-duced track maintenance. Thesespeeds are comparable to very similardesigns for Santa Fe, Southern Pacificand others.

Experience on the Seaboard withlight 2-10-0s is also worthy of note,from a group of 23 Russian Decapodsand 28 others of improved design,both shown in the Tables. Both werewidely used on other roads, includ-ing the Gainesville Midland, wherelight rail or swampy conditions pre-cluded heavier power or higher axleloads. Generally operated in slow ser-vice, they proved surprisingly agilewhen pressed, achieving 45-50 mphon occasion. (Locomotive Quarterlyvol. XXII, no. 4, “The Seaboard AirLine’s Decapods”). An explanationwould be that exceptionally light re-ciprocating parts, allowed by smallTE, compensated for small drivers of52" and 56".

The lone 8-coupled engine in thetabulation, the D&RG M-67, ranksfirst in Table 2, but with only trivialdifferences compared to the UnionPacific TTT (UP talk for Two TenTwo) or Seaboard Decapod. This con-firms that tractive effort is the domi-nant consideration, not the number ofcoupled drivers. It might actually beargued that the Union Pacific TTTcould achieve better counterbalancebecause it has five pairs of 63" driversin which to locate counterweights,rather than four. Another trick to im-prove counterbalance on engines with


Notes for Table 1 and 2 (pages 12-13)(a) 1000 times Reciprocal Fc from Eq. (15A) 1000 used for convenient

magnitude(b) 100 times Reciprocal Fc from Eq. (15) 100 used for convenient mag-

nitude(c) Original specifications at 190 psig. Erie, Burlington, others upped to

200 psig(d) Heavy 63" drivered 4-8-2 included for comparison to UP TTT .(e) Below this line, engines have Alloy Rods, usually chrome-vanadium(f) Varies with boiler pressure, typical 240 psig selected(g) D2 factor recognizes space in driver for counterweights, ~ area and ~

D2

(h) Similar to (g), except using model of Eq. (15A)(i) Represents ratio of model Equation (15) results to model Equation

(15A)(j) Where Models agree, that rank was selected. Otherwise, ranking

based on sum of two models. Selkirk tied with M-4a, ranked 2 fromoperating history. IC 2-10-2 and CGW 2-10-4 judged a tie from oper-ating history.

(k) Carbon Steel and Alloy Rod Engines ranked separately, not directlycomparable.

2-wheel engine trucks, is a lengthenedpiston rod, and correspondinglyshortened main rod and relocatedcrosshead, as exemplified by Santa Fe5000s and L&N 2-8-4s.

There is an interesting discussionof engine balancing in the currentProspector, vol. 2 no. 4, published byThe Rio Grande Modeling and His-torical Society, in “3-Cylinder Loco-motives and the Denver and RioGrande Western’s M-75s” by RobertB. Schaefer. It cites the landmark in-dustry source, The Balancing of En-gines, (D.E. Dalby, 1929), a major trea-tise on dynamic balancing. This article

confirms the counterbalancing mis-judgments of Baldwin during thatearly Super Power era, and its lag inadopting disc drivers and cross coun-terbalancing. Alco took the lead in thisrespect. Those roads buying Baldwinpower which avoided these problems— including Santa Fe, Southern Pa-cific, Northern Pacific, Burlington,etc. — enforced their own methodsand calculations.

Hopefully, the clarification pro-vided by this investigation and surveywill invoke further thought and in-sights from others. Thanks for yourpatience.

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TABLE 1 - Engine Specifications and Calculated Parameters(b) (a) Notes

Class TE D D2 S 100 1000

K lb in in S2/3 TE1/3 TE2/3 [DS]1/3

C&O T-1 93 69 4761 34 2.10 3.67

Erie R-1 83 63 3969 32 2.27 4.16

USRA 2-10-2B 74 63 3969 32 2.36 4.49 (c)

UP TTT 70.5 63 3969 30 2.50 4.74

Seaboard GM 2-10-0 46.5 56 3136 28 3.02 6.66

Russian Dec. 52 52 2704 28 2.91 6.33

Pennsy I-1sa 97 62 3844 32 2.16 3.77

D&RG M-67 67 63 3969 30 2.55 4.90 (d)

SF 5011 93 74 5476 34 2.10 3.58 (e)

IC 2-10-2 91 64.5 4160 32 2.20 3.88 (f)

Burl. M-4a 83 64 4096 32 2.27 4.14

CP Selkirk 77 63 3969 32 2.33 4.37

CGW 2-10-4 83 63 3969 32 2.27 4.16

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TABLE 2 - Calculated Parameters and Engine Rankings(g) (k) (h) (k) (i) (j)

Class D2 Rank D2 Rank [TE D/S]1/3 Overall

S2/3 TE1/3 TE2/3 [DS]1/3 Rank

C&O T-1 100 2 17.4 5 5.74 4

Erie R-1 90.1 6 16.5 7 5.47 6

USRA 2-10-2B 93.7 5 17.8 4 5.26 5

UP TTT 99.2 3 18.8 3 5.29 3

Seaboard Dec. 94.7 4 20.9 1 4.53 2

Russian Dec. 78.6 8 17.1 6 4.58 7

Pennsy I-1sa 83.0 7 14.5 8 5.73 8

D&RG M-67 101 1 19.5 2 5.20 1

SF 5011 115 1 19.6 1 5.87 1

IC 2-10-2 91.5 4 16.1 5 5.68 4

Burl. M-4a 93 2 17.0 3 5.50 3.

CP Selkirk 92.5 3 17.4 2 5.33 2

CGW 2-10-4 90.3 5 16.5 4 5.47 4

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APPENDIX AVariables Affecting Counterbalancing

An exploration of their interaction, and a simplified analysis for comparison purposes.The intent is to arrive at a “figure of merit” facilitating comparison. The governing load condition for steam locomo-

tive connecting rods is the compression load, where the rod in effect behaves as a long slender column, with crankpinsallowing vertical rotation at each end. From Timoshenko and Young, “Elements of Strength of Materials,”

Pcr = Pi2 E I / L2 (1) solving for I I = Pcr L2/ Pi2 E (2)By working in ratios and proportions, for comparison only, we can dispense with all constants, Pi and E (modulus of

elasticity, constant for a fixed material). L is the length of the column; for our purpose L is the same as driver diameter D(3) where the small driver spacing is comparable to the reinforced journal ends of the rod. I is moment of inertia, anindication of resistance to bending. Pcr is critical compressive force, at which rod bending begins and commences struc-tural instability. Pcr is proportional as follows:

Pcr ~ TE D/ S (4) combining with (2) I ~ TE D3 / S (5)Where TE is tractive effort and S is stroke. From Timoshenko, for a rectangular rod section of width b (taken con-

stant) and height h I = bh3 / 12 (6)Ignoring constants, combining with (5) I ~ h3 (7) h3 ~ TE D3/ S (8) h ~ D [TE/S]1/3 (9)For rod mass, m = Ro bh L = Ro bh D (10) from (9) and dropping constants m ~ D2 [TE/S]1/3 (11)Note the important result that rod mass m increases with the square of diameter D. This is, however, compensated for

by the effect that rate of rotation Omega varies inversely with D, and centrifugal force Fc varies directly with the squareof Omega!

Fc = m OM2 r (12) radius of rotation r ~ stroke S , and OM ~ 1/DFc ~ m S / D2 (13) substituting from (11) above, we obtainFc ~ {D2 [TE/S]1/3} S / D2 then Fc ~ S [TE/S]1/3 (14)

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Thus we have the curious result, after all the computational sausage making, that connecting rod centrifugal force (ormore correctly, the centripetal force required to prevent the rod from flying into space) depends only on stroke S andtractive effort TE !!

The Reciprocal of Fc is useful as an indicator of Locomotive Speed Potential (high score wins).1 / Fc ~ 1 / [S2/3] [TE1/3] (15)There is also a possibly more sophisticated treatment considering required crankpin diameter dc , and bearing contact

area ac , and using proportions (4) and (6). The crankpin is loaded in shear and bending by Pcr requiring the following:dc ~ [Pcr1/2] ~ [ TE D / S ]1/2 ac ~ dc ~ [Pcr1/2] but req’d ac ~ PcrTherefore, bearing width / rod width b ~ [Pcr1/2] ~ [ TE D / S ]1/2 (6A)From (5) I ~ TE D3/ S From (6) and (6A) I ~ h3 [TE D / S ]1/2 (6B)and dropping constants TE D3 / S ~ h3 [ TE D / S ]1/2 (6C)then solving for h3 and h h3 ~ [ TE D3 / S ] [S / TE D ] 1/2 h3 ~ [ TE / S ]1/2 D5/2 (8A)m = Ro bh D (10) h ~ [ TE / S ]1/6 D5/6 (9A)This model gives a great increase in TE effect compared to original (11).Fc ~ m S / D2 (13) Fc ~ [ TE / S ]2/3 D7/3 S D-6/3

Fc ~ TE2/3 [ D S ]1/3 (14A)Note that by dropping dimensional constants, dimensional consistency is lost.Now we can observe changes compared to previous b=constant model:Previously Fc ~ S2/3 now ~ S1/3 Parameter effect is now reversed!Previously Fc ~ TE1/3 now ~ TE2/3 Plus D is now a factor.Again, the Reciprocal of Fc is used as indicator of speed potential, or figure of merit.

1 / Fc ~ 1 / TE2/3 [ D S ]1/3 (15A)Now parameters of interest will be calculated for the two models, then compared and analyzed. Results are shown in

Tables 1 and 2, and discussed in the text.


ABOVE: Note the change from as builtM-4 (massive tandem rods shownabove) to M-4a as rebuilt (much lighterconventional rods with knuckle pins,and tapered main rod with floatingbushings shown below). Photo fromLocomotive Quarterly Winter 1984,Vol. VIII. No. 2. by Robert J. Foster.BELOW: Photo by Charles T. Felstead.

BELOW LEFT: USRA 2-10-2B withmassive open-end main rod, asoriginally built, from Kalmbach’sTrains Album of Photographs, no. 17,“Locomotives of the PennsylvaniaRailroad.” BELOW RIGHT: Lima A-1

Table 3*Comparative Calculated Dynamic

Augment in Pounds at SpeedsChicago Great Western 2-10-4

Speed Old Rods New Rodsm.p.h. and Wheels and Wheels

5 238 1910 950 7515 2,140 16920 3,800 30025 5,935 46930 8,550 67535 11,630 91840 15,200 1,20045 19,230 1,52050 23,770 1,87555 28,800 2,26560 34,200 2,700

* From Railway Age, April 5, 1941, C.G.W. FreightPower Improved

Don Leach is a retired mechani-cal/process engineer who worked 11years for Gulf Oil, 4 years forBechtel, 4 years for MW Kellogg,and others. Mostly process plant de-sign, equipment selection, contrac-tor/vendor liaison, general calcula-tions and specifications, rotatingequipment, heat exchange, reactors,fractionation columns, etc. ^

tandem rod photo from Super Power Steam Locomotives by Richard J. Cook.Despite the ponderous size of the main pin connections, the forked main roddid transfer thrust to fourth driver.


B&M Perspective,The Station & The Dawg Wagon

By Alden H. Dreyer

It has been nearly 40 years sincethe Boston and Maine Railroad dis-appeared (4/30/64) and over 20 yearssince Guilford Transportation Indus-tries, Inc. purchased the Boston andMaine Corporation, Inc. (6/30/83).Things have changed since we had aRailroad-with-no-ampersand-please,but lets think a bit of what has not.

You can still board the cars inWashington and Philadelphia andNew York City for Brattleboro, Bel-lows Falls and W R Jct and beyond.And likewise boarding in North Sta-tion will get you to Exeter, Dover andWells. Folks in fancy dress still rideeach morning from Fitchburg, Lowelland Rockport and the freights stillwhistle along the Stony Brook andthrough the valleys of the Millers,Deerfield and Hoosick Rivers.

Men who worked under AlanDustin still switch the cars at EastDeerfield and answer the telephonesand change out the rails and chase thetrespassers. Not to say there hasn’tbeen natural attrition and new hires,but at least in Western Massachusetts,it’s pretty much the same old crew. Butall that will change in the next fiveyears or so.

Perhaps the most constant item isa gentleman by the name of S. B.

Culliford, who is listed in GRS ETTNo.3 as Vice-President Transporta-tion. When Whit Haynes retired asGeneral Manager circa 1968, SBCtook over that position and 35 yearslater, in his 70s now, he still holds thatfunction. A rather amazing recordconsidering the turmoil of the pasthalf century.

Turning now to what has changedthat you probably know nothingabout: D. A. Biskerski retired recentlyas a GRS Train Operation Managerand was well known to everyone inoperations and anyone who used ascanner. I trained David to become aDS in the early 1970s in Greenfield

Sidney B. Culliford as a signaldraftsman in January, 1953, just priorto entering military service. Photofrom Boston & Maine RailroadMagazine, March, 1953.


and was always proud of this particu-lar student. What is noteworthy froma historical standpoint is that DAB wasthe last TOM to have worked in aformer B&M office as a DS that wasnot in North Billerica. There is a lotto be said for the training you receiveby personal contact with the employ-ees that dispatchers were subjected toin Dover, Concord, Boston, Gardnerand Greenfield but was, and is, no-ticeably lacking in North Billerica.

The Station, at the foot of MilesStreet in Greenfield, Massachusetts,is simply the world’s finest train view-ing pavilion. It is accessible for the mo-bility handicapped, well lit and fencedand in the middle of a lovely park withnormally adequate parking on pre-mises. The site is that of the formerT&G, FRR then B&M RR Stationand is really in downtown Greenfield.

There is a caboose museum to explore,lots to read and study and a woodentrain for children of all ages to playon. Adjacent is the former B&MFitchburg Division administrationbuilding that was opened on 01 March1914 and locked for the very first timeever by this writer at 1930 hours onThursday, 13 April 1972, after person-nel and equipment had been dis-bursed. The building has not changedmuch since then and visitors are wel-come to walk through during normalweekday business hours.

The Station was built with privatefunds and volunteer labor and, ofcourse, serves many functions besidestrain viewing. The only negative hereis the lack of trains during daylighthours when the park is open. The parkis located in the wedge between theformer Connecticut River Division


and Fitchburg Division main lines.The Conn. River is all but dormantwith no more than a train a day.

The Fitchburg Division route willsee 7-10 movements on a normal day.But since the railroad from Greenfieldto Rotterdam Jct. is a single trackmountain railroad, trackwork takespriority during daylight hours espe-cially on weekdays during the warmermonths. So you may see 5 trains atThe Station, or none on any particu-lar day.

Now if you visit The Station on aweekday, try to arrive hungry aroundthe midday hours and look up JimBreton at his Dawg Wagon on MainStreet near the intersection withRoutes 5&10. Jim is a personableyoung man who worked many yearsas a B&M trainman, then engineman,and then as a ConRail and CSX en-gineman. Why would a talented youngman give up running thruough thebeautiful Berkshire Hills, with an ex-citing, lucrative and secure career, andtake up operating a hotdog cart in thedying industrial city of Greenfield?Catch Jim when he’s not too busy andhe may give you a hint. Tell him AldenDreyer sent you. And talk to Jim be-fore you give up that day desk job forthe glory of running thruough thoseHills on CSX or GRS. ^


TRADING POSTSubmissions should be made to the Newslettereditor via e-mail or mail for inclusion in the nextissue. All items subject to editorial decisions as tocontent. Also posted on our Website.<http://www.RLHS.ORG>

FOR SALE - PC Fonts for stationery to pro-totype lettering. $10.00 each, add $3.00 s/h.

Clifford Vander Yacht, 2363 Lourdes Dr.W., Jacksonville FL 32210-3410.

WANTED - Steam, Diesel, and ElectricBuilder’s and Number Plates. I have beencollecting for 41 years, and I am still lookingto fill voids and purchase traders. I am look-ing for a Rutland number plate with name castin, PRR E-6 and T-l original keystones, anyearly Pre-Alco number plates, early first gen-eration diesel plates, a round Lima Shay plate,and many others. Ron Muldowney, 52Dunkard Church Road, Stockton NJ 08559-1405, (609) 397-0293.<[email protected]>

FOR SALE - Dealer selling remaining inven-tory of Milepost 1: books, videos, pamphlets.Send LSSAE ($.60 postage) for list. All itemssubject to prior sale. Sale ends 12/31/2004.Derail Books, P.O. Box 10087, Eugene OR97440-2087. No phone calls please.

FOR SALE - Dealer selling personal collec-tion of RR magazines and Poor’s Manuals.Many issues of R&LHS Bulletins, Railroad

Historys. Send LSSAE ($.60 postage) for list.Buyer pays shipping. David L. Dorrance,P.O. Box 10087, Eugene OR 97440-2087.

STILL AVAILABLE - The Chicago Chapter’sreprint of Rock Island’s General Roster No. 66,of Sept. 1, 1925, containing everything youwould want to know about the company, itsofficers, agents, stations, structures, mileage,connections, clearances, and equipment, etc.at the time of its greatest prosperity. Every-thing except actual train schedules. 297 pages.Softcover. $20 plus $2 shipping. Order from:D. T. Davis Treasurer, Chicago Chapter, 2945Everett St., Blue Island IL 60406.

FOR SALE - Railroad books (Fiction & Non-fiction), Videos, Western Railroader (loose andBound), other magazines. For list, send yourname and address to David Graeber, 7840Antelope Rd. Apt. 112, Citrus Heights CA95610. <[email protected]>

WANTED - Photos of the St. Louis andO’Fallon Railway, freight equipment, pas-senger cars, caboose, hoppers,. Larry Tho-mas, PO Box 1688, St. Louis MO 63188.(314) 535-3101. ^


New RR BooksPress releases for new railroad oriented booksappear here. They are not paid advertisementsand carry no endorsement by the R&LHS. Allitems subject to available space and editorial de-cisions as to content. Photographs are limited to7/8 inches high.

Locomotives of the Up-per Midwest Photo Ar-chive: Diesel Power in the1960s & 1970s by MarvinNielsen with a personal

look at makes and models of diesels used bythe Soo Line, Chicago & North Western, Bur-lington Northern, Milwaukee Road, Wiscon-sin Central, Green Bay & Western and oth-ers. Softbound, 128 pgs., 10¼x8½, 122 B&Wphotos. $29.95 +$4.95 s/h. Iconografix Dept.PR, PO Box 446, Hudson WI 54106. (800)289-3504.

Classic StreamlinersPhoto Archive: TheTrains and the Designers byJohn Kelly features stream-liners designed by

Raymond Loewy for the Pennsylvania Rail-road, Henry Dreyfuss for the New York Cen-tral, Otto Kuhler for the Milwaukee Road andB&O, and the Electro Motive Division styl-ing team. Softbound, 128 pgs., 10¼x8½, 122B&W photos & ills. $29.95 +$4.95 s/h.Iconografix Dept. PR, PO Box 446, HudsonWI 54106. (800) 289-3504.

Lawrence A. Brough and JamesH. Graebner brings you FromSmall Town to Donwtown: AHistory of the Jewett Car Com-pany, 1893-1919. Started inJewett, Ohio, and moved to Ak-

ron, the firm was never large, but gained anexcellent reputation for its elegant, well-builtwooden interurban cars. An extensive appen-

dix is given on the Jewett production.Hardbound, 270 pages, 7x10, 101 photos,bibl., 2 indexes. $49.95. Indiana UniversityPress, 601 N Morton Street, Bloomington IN47404-3797. (812) 855-8817.

150 years ago, the Rock Islandreached the Mississippi Riverand celebrated. Grand Excur-sion on the Upper Missis-sippi River: Places, Landscapes,and Regional Identity After 1854

is edited by Curtis C. Roseman and ElizabethM. Roseman. Whole sections explore thebuilding of the railroad; give eastern news-paper accounts of the excursion; plus detailsof steamboating, the pictorial landscape, pas-senger trains along the scenic river, featuresof the river towns, river navigation, develop-ment of preserves and parks, the lumber in-dustry and commercial fishing. Softbound,272 pages, 6x9¼, $19.95. University of IowaPress, 100 Kuhl House, Iowa City IA 52242.

Rods Down and DroppedFires: Illinois Central and theSteam Age — In Perspective byRichard P. Bessette, is a newvolume on the Illinois Central.With over 1,000 b&w photo-

graphs, this work presents an extensive viewof the Railroad’s steam locomotive photog-raphy archive in one definitive source. Hard-cover, 608 pages, 8½ x 11, $59.95, $6 s/h($5.10 tax for IL res.). RTN Press LLC, POBox 2333, Orland Park, IL, 60462. ^


Mystery PhotosHere are some nice photos of engines and maybe an excursion. Can you

identify any of these? With the photos run so far we have had fair results. Thetwo aerial views of a yard published in the last Newsletter received no addi-tional information. These here have been presented to the R&LHS InternetForum (or RLHSGroup) without being identified. The rest of those 20 pho-tos have a range of information from very basic to rather complete captions,thanks mainly to Thomas T. Taber, III, Herb Harwood and John Gruber.

MY019 Taunton?

MY021 M&STL #130


MY006 Hayes collection, #51, Boxcar: MVRR 3841

MY002 #331

Send information to Clifford J. Vander Yacht, R&LHS Newsletter Editor,2363 Lourdes Drive West, Jacksonville FL 32210-3410 or via e-mail [email protected].

^

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