Re: Thought exercise - steam VFT

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

James Brook (ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au) wrote:
> The only possibility I can think of would be some sort of steam-electric
> type of loco.

It can be done with a reciprocating loco.

Here's the short version:

8-8-8+8-8-8 cab forward garret. Maximum axle load 22t.

120" driving wheels (c.f. GWR Hurricane).

10 cylinders, 22" bore x 21" stroke. Banks of 5 on each engine unit. Each
bank drives a single cam, via a lay shaft to the coupled wheels. This
removes all hammer blow.

Caprotti valve gear, which allows 0.5% cut off.

202 ft2 grate with a big combustion chamber above.

Boiler barrel 16' long, 10.5' dia, 350psi.

12,000 ft2 of heating area in thermic syphons, flues and tubes.

50,000 ft2 of superheater area.

55t of coal.

13,500 gal of water, plus toughts about every 70 miles.

Advesive mass = 8 x 22t = 176t.

Total mass = 520t.

Should be able to haul 6 cars (roughly 300t) non-stop in about 3 hours.

Cheers
David